The Album Review Club - Week #194 (page 1303) - Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road

mancity111 said:
Most music devotees living in Australia would have heard these tracks many times over and I am no exception.

I think its reasonable to say they are a singles band clearly all extremely talented and I agree they are better live than in studio which is not the norm for me at least of artists I spend more time listening to than INXS.

MH is the quintessential frontman and the Farris Brothers wouldn't have got into Rob's playlist had MH not come along.

For me I actually prefer their earlier albums that have a rawer edge to them and simpler but effective production.

A bit more post punk less layered that you can listen and move to.

Single wise Just Keep Walking from there first album does it more for me than there many well known material from their more popular albums like Kick , LLT . The Swing and X.

Not a huge fan of INXS as I have said previously but a good choice from Rob nevertheless who we are slowly adopting an an honourable Aussie on the music front given his comparative ( meaning in a amiable way ) lack of ardency for all things UK.

Without seeming trite I only played the few songs I haven't heard repetitively in fairly recent times as you cannot listen to or watch many mediums here and not be inundating with INXS perhaps heightened by MH's sad early passing and decided on a 6/10.
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I'll happily become an honourable Aussie. Do I get the passport?

Fair enough comments and it shows that we all like a different sound. Naturally I worked my way backwards from Kick. There are some good singles on The Swing and Shabooh Shoobah but the step up in sound to Listen Like Thieves, at least for me, was phenomenal.

One thing that I forgot to mention in my review, which I'm sure you'll already know about, was that INXS started off as a pub band and then went on to support Midnight OIl, even sharing their manager in the early years.

On the video I mentioned, Andrew Farriss tells the story that in those early pub gigs, the band would all start off sitting a different tables around the pub or bar and one by one, they'd walk up to the stage, pick up their instruments and start playing, which is such a cool way of starting a show.

I think you are right - they never would have become the biggest band in the world in the late 80s if it wasn't for Michael Hutchence. I think it's sad that the rest of the band couldn't forge a career after he died (although I'm sure they are all multi-millionaires). I bought the Switch album they did with JD Fortune and it has a couple of good tracks on it, and he's a decent singer, but it just wasn't the same.
 
Finding this quite an interesting pick as I didn't really know much about them including how many/types of albums they had before they hit the big time.

I've only listened once so far, so early days but I might stumble on the fact that the style of music isn't really my thing. Their way of leaning into funk elements doesn't really do it for me. For my tastes, if you are going to funk then funk. By all means bust out your percussive techniques but if it's not in service of the groove then it sort misses the point for me. Not so much a criticism of them as just a statement of my preferences. Though they're not trying to make funk rock they do still hint at how difficult that is as a genre to do well. Getting the rock vibe without sacrificing the fluidity is hard and so lots of bands don't go there and just make it punchy and angular which works as a style but it's one I enjoy less. Of their contemporaries, few incorporate funk the way I prefer, Prince being the most obvious.

That said it's a decent set of songs albeit it does tail off. Enjoying reading about who they worked with and how they evolved too.
 
RobMCFC said:
I'll happily become an honourable Aussie. Do I get the passport?

Fair enough comments and it shows that we all like a different sound. Naturally I worked my way backwards from Kick. There are some good singles on The Swing and Shabooh Shoobah but the step up in sound to Listen Like Thieves, at least for me, was phenomenal.

One thing that I forgot to mention in my review, which I'm sure you'll already know about, was that INXS started off as a pub band and then went on to support Midnight OIl, even sharing their manager in the early years.

On the video I mentioned, Andrew Farriss tells the story that in those early pub gigs, the band would all start off sitting a different tables around the pub or bar and one by one, they'd walk up to the stage, pick up their instruments and start playing, which is such a cool way of starting a show.

I think you are right - they never would have become the biggest band in the world in the late 80s if it wasn't for Michael Hutchence. I think it's sad that the rest of the band couldn't forge a career after he died (although I'm sure they are all multi-millionaires). I bought the Switch album they did with JD Fortune and it has a couple of good tracks on it, and he's a decent singer, but it just wasn't the same.
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Yes very true and cut their teeth on the circuit and were a well knit unit when they released their first album over 3 years after playing their first gig at a house party.
 
Actually enjoying the random stuff being played on Spotify after the album has finished.
A lot of Australian stuff obviously as well as other stuff from the era.
GANGgajang are totally new to me.
Very catchy though.
This is Australia.
 
Blumooniac said:
"What you need" is a beltin track. Bought the album when it came out after seeing them on The Tube. They were already an established Aussie band but unheard of over here. Think their management/record company used the TV programme to launch them here. It certainly worked. IIRC, it was bundled with another album.
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Do you want to score the album out of 10 ?
 
RobMCFC said:
Do you want to score the album out of 10 ?
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Hi, Rob. If 1 = Clown Shoes and 10 equates to Life Changing Classic (lol), it's a 6.5 rounded to 7 from me. I haven't heard the full album in close to 40 years. Some good songs and memories. Good choice. BTW, I just liked your Lonesome Jubilee review. I need to keep up!
 
If this was Kick I'd be scoring it a lot higher. I've had two listens now and nothing has really grabbed me apart from the drum pattern from Western Promise by Ultravox appearing in Kiss The Dirt. Ish.

I've never been a fan of this sort of middle of the road rock. I suppose what made Kick stand out was the heavier production and the different styles. This album just seems to be rambling on and on with little or no shocks. There's no Never Tear Us Apart, there's no Guns In The Sky, no Need You Tonight, even no Mediate, songs that were evenly placed in Kick to move it up a notch.

It will get one more listen tomorrow, when I'm all relaxed and mellow...
 
I've liked some of the inxs songs I've heard on the radio but never wanted to listen to a whole album. Reflecting on this I think it's because I first heard them when they were already famous. MH was a rockstar and it all felt obvious and cliche and I was a bit of a snob. I've been meaning to take another listen because @BlueHammer85 keeps going on about them
 
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