At the time where U2 had seemingly thrown out their rock sound and reinvented themselves, INXS to a certain extent did the same with Welcome to Wherever You Are. I thought that was a strange album. Without having gone through Kick and X, it would be a hard album to swallow. But as a fan who is more likely to give it a second listen, I found it to be a fantastic album.

This album came along, and their popularity plummeted. They became labelled 'has-been'. But I listened to it consistently, and found it to be the most touching of all their albums. For me, this was probably the most soul baring of all the other records. The edgy greasy sound was a probably their response to the grunge rage, but worked perfectly. The stripped down production also made the songs as they were meant to be: just songs.

Sometimes fans don't ever want their bands to grow. People dismissed Pop (U2). People will dismiss Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (well, see how many reviews this got), but I think this would probably be one album Michael Hutchence held close to his heart.

If you can think of one INXS song you like, you'll like this
Okay why does this album deserves a five star rating? Every song on this album really does rock. The Gift is one of the best alternative rock songs ever. Give it a listen to and I'm sure you'll agree. Make your Peace has great gutiar and some great lyrics. Then Time has a driving beat with a universal message. Cut your Roses down has a nice pop beat that reminds me of Elegatly Wasted. I thought this was a great album to follow Welcome. This is a classic INXS album just as good as Kick, just not quite as commercial. But who cares about that. It's a short album that you can just throw in and rock to from track 1 through 12. The video for The Gift was excellent as well. With lyrics like "The gift you gave is going to last forever" is very fitting when, in the video, they show Jesus Christ being curcified. His sacrifice for all of mankind is still and forever giving. Just ask him into your heart today for salvation. That's the best gift one could ever recieve.

"Full Moon" - not their best, yet highly under-rated
By C.S.

"Full Moon, Dirty Hearts" represents INXS's second outing since the monster success of "Kick" in 1988. The success of the campaign of that record was built by a steady progression of airplay and new fan base that increased and co- opted with the loyal die- hards.
Oddly enough, the bus emptied quickly upon the following release,"Welcome To Wherever You Are" and one would be hard pressed at this juncture to find knowledge and interest in 'Full Moon"

Upon dissecting this collection of songs, the whittled down approach taken is nothing new or earth -shattering as evidenced on "Days Of Rust" or "Time, but any chance of boring continuity setting in is quickly eliminated on the U2 meets Aussie power -funk rhythm of "The Gift". With it's heavy drum sound and crunchy,fuzzy toned riff,this qiuckly ascends up the INXS list as one of their better moments,accentuated by Hutchence's lounge chair- rock star delivery
The almost too riffy vocal run- on of "Make Your Peace" is saved by a nice beat and Hutchence's un- canny ability on more than one occasion to make something out of nothing which he pulls off once again, with the aid of some decent guitar work.
Sometimes a weapon can be over-used,and upon taking in the first few bars of "I'm Only Looking",it sounds like a repeat of "Kick" rhythm - guitar wise, but takes a turn for the better as a soaring synth swoops in a the end of each verse - punctuating the lyrical points being made.
Then the old school meets new Aussie funk swagger as blues/ soul legend Ray Charles drops in to combine efforts. Both he and Hutchence are comical and entertaining with the line, Hutchence chiming in with the line "Please..You Got That"
Charles chips in at the end of each verse with his "umm hmm's and well" in conjuction with the bluesy funk and machine gun guitar riffs.
"Full Moon" loses a bit of momentum in the middle rounds, but gains a measure of redemption with "the slow to mid- tempo "Freedom Deep" and it's synth matching vocal approach and sitar working with guitar flavor, but falls off again with the predictable "Kill The Pain" and "Cut Your Roses Down".
Hutchence surveys the damage, some of which has been self- imposed, and leads off "The Mesenger" with "Look around- give your eyes time to look at a new adventure- what you see is a mix of past and future".The band then break off into a funky arrangement. The predictable twang is gone, replaced by a deep menacing tone that runs in full force with a heavy drum fill.
In the final analysis, one has to jump around a bit to get to the stronger tracks on "Full Moon",yet the sheer briliance of each make this a decent body of work.
Though his project falls short of being their best, "Full Moon, Dirty Hearts" by a scant whisker gets a (3) star rating.

C.S.
6-14-03

Sad sign of times past
I can remember the funnest and most entertaining music of the late 80s and extreme early 90s being churned out by INXS. Then, like many of their counterparts, they got pushed back because of the trends in grunge rock and hip hop. Not caring for the trend, just about the only radio stations me and most of my friends listened to in 1993 and 1994 were country stations, because that was the only genre that I thought put out good music at the time. As a result of the trends in radio and my turning off rock and roll, I totally missed this album. Early in 2001, I found this CD on the discount rack at a Family Dollar Store and remembered how much I used to like INXS. The album is brilliant. With not a bad song on there, I would put it up against any album put out that year. If only people would have paid less attention to the trends and more attention to good albums like this, we might still be able to enjoy new INXS albums. I know Michael Hutchence's death was nobody's fault but his own, but what a great band INXS was and should still be.

Underrated.
For some reason, this album often gets overlooked in the INXS back catalog. This is quite a strong album, full of good guitar grooves. 'Days of rust' is a killer opening track. 'The Gift' is full on with a great video. 'Time' has some great guitar. The four songs from 'Please' to 'Kill the Pain' are as good a sequence as you will find on any INXS album.

The album does suffer from inconsistency, a flaw that marked all of INXS's post Kick albums. By comparison to their previous albums, to me this album most resembles 'Shabooh Shabah,' perhaps due to the fact Mark Opitz is again producing (I think). An album worth a listen.
Fans have long hailed INXS for the soulful intensity of its live shows, but the rap on the Australian sextet has been that it makes uninteresting, one- dimensional studio albums. Recently, the group has aimed for complex studio creations in the style of U2's Zooropa or Achtung Baby, and the result has been uninteresting but multi-dimensional. It's a minor improvement, and though Full Moon, Dirty Hearts is better than many of the group's recordings, it isn't as good as the weirder 1992 release, Welcome to Wherever You Are. Ambitious, bizarre productions can't mask the fact that INXS has been riding the same groove since 1981, and it's more than a little bit tired. --Jim DeRogatis