''Michael Hutchence'' is the only solo posthumous album by
INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
frontman
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...
. It was released on 14 December 1999, just over two years after Hutchence's death.
Hutchence began work on what would become his posthumous solo album in 1995 with Tim Simenon. He then phoned
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...
guitarist
Andy Gill
Andrew James Dalrymple Gill (1 January 1956 – 1 February 2020) was a British musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976. Gill was known for his angular, jagged style of gu ...
and asked him to play on the album. Ten minutes later he phoned back and asked Gill to co-write the album. Gill joined Hutchence at his house and home studio in Roquefort-les-Pins and over a five-month period continued to write and record in France and London. They were fans of Black Grape and decided to enlist Black Grape producer
Danny Saber
Danny Saber (born 1966) is a musician in Los Angeles. He is an audio engineer, record producer, and remixer as well. He is a former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur. He plays organ, and keyboards, and is a prominent Los Angeles DJ.
Sa ...
as co-producer with Gill of the album. After Hutchence's death in 1997, Gill asked U2 singer, and Hutchence's friend,
Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.
Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
to record additional lyrics which were added to the track "Slide Away".
This album was simply dedicated to "Tiger" in reference to Hutchence's daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence. The last song that Hutchence worked on before his death was "Possibilities", which is track 2 on the album.
Commercial performance
In the singer's native Australia, the album entered and peaked at number three on the Australian Albums Chart on the week of 24 October 1999, and spent a total of three weeks in the charts. The album was quickly certified Gold by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA). In the UK, the album peaked at number 90 and lasted one week in the charts.
Track listing
Critical reception
The album received positive reviews upon its release and was noted by some critics for being dark and moody. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' staff writer David Fricke gave the album three and a half out of five stars, stating "Much of the music on this record has a gray chill". He admired the singer's motivation on the record saying "Hutchence was as serious about his craft as he was intoxicated by rock-star living" and that "he set his arena-rock torch singing in a provocative landscape of melancholy-machine music." In his
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
review, journalist
Carlo Wolff
Carlo Wolff is a prolific freelance journalist and author who has written for publications including ''The Boston Globe'', ''Chicago Sun-Times'', ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', ''The Plain Dealer'' (Cleveland, Ohio), and ''The Christian Science Mo ...
rated the album three stars out of five and wrote "there is enough good material here to warrant a listen, perhaps even shed a tear." He added, "this curious, occasionally exciting collection showcases the more vulnerable side of Hutchence" and that "this autobiographical album resonates beyond its sad, faintly kinky pedigree". Editor and writer Patrick Schabe scored the album 8 out of 10 stars in his review for ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' writing "On Michael Hutchence's eponymously titled solo album, it's not a disappointing pastime" and that "this piece is thankfully an incredible success."
Personnel
*
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...
– vocals
* Kenny Aronoff – drums on "Possibilities", "Baby It's Alright", and "Breathe"
*
Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.
Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
– vocals on "Slide Away"
*
Harry Borden
Harry Borden (born 1965) is a British portrait photographer based in London. His subjects have included celebrities and politicians. Examples of Borden's work are held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, LondonKevin Cummins – photography
* Gail Ann Dorsey – backing vocals on "Flesh and Blood" and "Slide Away"
* Bernard Fowler – backing vocals on "Baby It's Alright"
*Joanna Gammie – viola on "Flesh and Blood" and "Slide Away"
*
Andy Gill
Andrew James Dalrymple Gill (1 January 1956 – 1 February 2020) was a British musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976. Gill was known for his angular, jagged style of gu ...
– guitar on "Let Me Show You", "Get on the Inside", "Fear", "All I'm saying", "A Straight Line", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "She Flirts for England", "Flesh and Blood", "Put the Pieces Back Together", and "Slide Away"; bass guitar on "Fear", "Flesh and Blood", and "Slide Away"; keyboards on "She Flirts for England", "Slide Away", "Flesh and Blood"; programming on "Let Me Show You", "Fear", "All I'm Saying", "A Straight Line", "Get on the Inside", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "She Flirts for England", "Flesh and Blood", "Put the Pieces Back Together", and "Slide Away"; production
*Denise Johnson – backing vocals on "Get on the Inside", "Fear", "A Straight Line", "Put the Pieces Back Together"
*
Ged Lynch
Ged Lynch (born 19 July 1968, Blackburn, England) is an English percussionist and composer.
Lynch had early commercial success drumming with the Ruthless Rap Assassins. In 1989 he joined The Icicle Works. He joined Shaun Ryder and Bez in Bla ...
– drums on "Let Me Show You", "Fear", "A Straight Line", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "Put the Pieces Back Together" and
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
on "Get on the Inside" and "All I'm Saying"
*Steve Madaio – trumpet on "Get on the Inside"
*Steve Monty – drums on "Fear"
*Susan McGill – violin on "Flesh and Blood" and "Slide Away"
*Tony Morse – string arrangement on "Possibilities" and "Baby It's Alright"
*
Tim Palmer
Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock music, rock and alternative rock, alternative music. He Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed Pearl Jam's d ...
Guy Pratt
Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...
– bass guitar on "Let Me Show You", "Fear", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "Put the Pieces Back Together"
*Steven Price – acoustic guitar on "Flesh and Blood" and string arrangement on "Flesh and Blood" and "Slide Away"
* Herb Ritts – photography
*
Danny Saber
Danny Saber (born 1966) is a musician in Los Angeles. He is an audio engineer, record producer, and remixer as well. He is a former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur. He plays organ, and keyboards, and is a prominent Los Angeles DJ.
Sa ...
– bass guitar on "Let Me Show You", "Possibilities", "Get on the Inside", "A Straight Line", "Baby It's Alright", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "Put the Pieces Back Together", "Breathe"; guitar on "Let Me Show You", "Possibilities", "Get on the Inside", "Fear", "All I'm Saying", "A Straight Line", "Baby It's Alright", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "Put the Pieces Back Together", "Breathe"; keyboards on "Possibilities", "Get on the Inside", "All I'm Saying", "A Straight Line", "Baby It's Alright", "Breathe"; drums on "Breathe", programming on "Let Me Show You", "Possibilities", "Get on the Inside", "Fear", "All I'm Saying", "A Straight Line", "Baby It's Alright", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "Flesh and Blood", "Put the Pieces Back Together", "Breathe"; production
* Stevie Salas – guitar on "Baby It's Alright"
*Paul Stoney – assistant engineer at Nomis Studios, London, UK
*
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
– vocals on "Let Me Show You"
*Natalie Thompson – violin on "Flesh and Blood" and "Slide Away"
*David L. Woodruff – horn on "A Straight Line"
*John 'X' – backing vocals on "Get on the Inside", mixing on "Let Me Show You", "Possibilities", "Get on the Inside", "Fear", "All I'm Saying", "A Straight Line", "Baby It's Alright", "Don't Save Me from Myself", "She Flirts for England", "Put the Pieces Back Together" and "Breathe"