INXS - Platinum Greatest Hits - brief album review by request

One of my Facebook friends wrote to me a few days ago, asking about this album. She knows that INXS is a band that was always very dear to me. I grew up with them, I own every single one of their records and, when it comes to writing anything about them, you don't have to ask me twice.

So, Vicky, this one is for you.

INXS released "Platinum Greatest Hits" a couple of months ago, a collection that includes some of their best songs with Michael Hutchence. Was there really ever INXS after Michael Hutchence's tragic death? Not really, if you ask me. Yeah, you guessed it. To me, INXS means INXS WITH Michael Hutchence. Any other vocalist just won't do. This is what usually happens when the singer of a band is the very core of it. Michael wasn't just the vocalist, he was the brains and heart of INXS, he wrote songs, lyrics and once he was gone, it was pretty clear things would go downhill.

What we did see after his death were just bleak attempts to keep the band going (which is not really something condemnable after all), but there was only so much J.D. Fortune could do. Nevertheless, INXS did produce an ok album with J.D. as vocalist. Switch, released in 2005, included a very nice hit single called Afterglow (by the way, can you imagine if this song had been sung by Michael Hutchence? Awesomeness to the infinity).

Platinum includes 16 tracks, none of them being from INXS early albums. The oldest songs on this collection go as far back as the Kick LP (1987), which was the album that put INXS on the world's map. What we get here are indeed INXS biggest hits among which classics like Need You Tonight, Suicide Blonde and Never Tear Us Apart. I'm not very happy about the fact that they left out songs like Taste It and The Gift, but in compensation we get The Loved One, a highly underrated song when it originally came out.

At the end of the day, this is a nice collection that should introduce INXS and Michael Hutchence to the younger generations. Something that Michael very much deserves. We're talking here about one of the best and most charismatic band leaders in music history. He had it all: voice, talent, looks and star power.

Platinum Greatest Hits Track listing :

1. Suicide Blonde
2. Heaven Sent
3. By My Side
4. Bitter Tears
5. Mystify
6. Full Moon Dirty Hearts
7. Baby Don't Cry
8. Please (You Got That Need)
9. The Loved One
10. Beautiful Girl
11. Never Tear Us Apart
12. Disappear
13. Not Enough Time
14. Devil Inside
15. Need You Tonight
16. New Sensation

Platinum Greatest Hits can be purchased from iTunes, or, if you prefer an actual CD, you can get it from Amazon or from the band's official website, INXS.com.

However, if you want to experience the greatness of Michael Hutchence to full effect as well as INXS at the top of their game, audio material is just not going to be enough. I wholeheartedly recommend the Live Baby Live DVD - INXS Live at Wembley and the I'm Only Looking DVD Collection, a great compilation of INXS videos and rare footage. They're both getting hard to find, but they do show up every now and then on Amazon UK or Amazon Germany.

Photos from INXS.com