Switch
| INXS
Switch
Switch is the eleventh studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, and their last to be composed of entirely new material. It was released on 29 November 2005. It is notable for being the only album with new lead singer J.D. Fortune since the 1997 death of Michael Hutchence as well as for having production work by English hit-maker Guy Chambers.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Salon
Back with their first album since 1997, the most notable thing about the new album from INXS, "Switch," is that it's the first album in history to feature a lead singer picked by reality TV fiat: "Rock Star" winner J.D. Fortune takes up the crooning duties with his spot-on impression of late frontman Michael Hutchence. The Aussie band . . . picks up right where the old INXS left off, heading deeper into the waters of adult contemporary.
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Stereogum
Without a singer who's in on it, winking as they try to pull you into their debauchery, everything singular about INXS falls apart.
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AllMusic
All of which brings us to Switch, INXS' first post-Hutchence album and the first with Fortune. Switch isn't much better than 1990's X or 1997's Elegantly Wasted.
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Bullz-Eye.com
Switch isn't great, but it's everything that INXS could have possibly hoped for, given the circumstances. They found a guy that can emulate their famous dead singer, and the ringers they brought in to co-write some tunes (the Matrix, yikes) did just well enough to create something a cut above Full Moon, Dirty Hearts and Elegantly Wasted.
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Audio Video Revolution
January 24, 2006. With Switch, INXS should prove a few of its doubters wrong; the band – at least for now – is still very much alive and well. This CD may not make you trash your older INXS catalogue, but it can sit comfortably with the group’s previous releases.
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People
Turns out the Canadian frontman is exactly what the band needed for its first studio album since Hutchence committed suicide in 1997. Despite the change in personnel, Switch isn’t so much a reversal for INXS as a return to the good, trashy fun that marked hits like “Need You Tonight.”
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Music Stack
Musically, the band picks up where Kick left off, so folks who miss 1987 should have lots of fun with this one.
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PopMatters
January 3, 2006. . . . Switch sounds like the kind of first album an Idol winner would make. It sounds rushed, undercooked, and a bit uncomfortable, and it even features a cameo from another contestant. Switch doesn't sound like an INXS album, it sounds like Rock Star INXS: The Album.
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The Sydney Morning Herald
November 26, 2005. So, is Switch re-creating their best moments or repeating their only ideas? Well, this album is such a good facsimile of INXS it could possibly be the best INXS cover band around.
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The Review Revue
December 23, 2005. Despite all of the reasons not to like this album, if you listen with an open mind rather than with pre-conceived notions and the long list of reasons you’re not supposed to like it—if you actually give it a chance, you might find yourself reacting the same way I did—pleasantly surprised that it IS actually that damn good!
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The New York Times
February 15, 2006. With New Lead, Much the Same Sound. It sounds like the hitmaking INXS of the 1980's, mixing three-chord rock and guitar funk, and it rode the television publicity into the Top 10 last year.
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Entertainment
December 12, 2005. But in the end, secondhand INXS is all Switch is.
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Contactmusic.com
January 17, 2006. A tribute to Hutchence, it's reminiscent of the recent work of Coldplay, beautiful musically and lyrically. It's a positive way to end a record on which INXS don't come anywhere near close to their classic work, but they also show that they made the correct decision in carrying on with the band.
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laut.de
One hit on the snare and the tom, and it's clear whose CD you hold in your hands. Rarely have the first notes of an album achieved such a high recognition value as with "Switch", the new Australian album by INXS. Anyone who has thought hastily that a Michael Hutchence can not be replaced should urgently risk at least one ear.
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Metro News
October 19, 2006. It’s clear that the rest of the band were just as important to the INXS sound as Hutchence, but unfortunately this only means their MOR rock now sounds very dated.
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Switch review
I don’t feel sorry for buying the CD, infact, i love the set of songs! The new singer, JD Fortune, has a good voice, very emotional, and he knows what he’s doing.
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