Welcome to Wherever You Are

Welcome to Wherever You Are
Studio album by INXS
Released	3 August 1992
Recorded	1991–1992 at Rhinoceros Recordings, Sydney, Australia
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock
Length	45:49
Label	Atlantic (US) Mercury Records East West Records
Producer	Mark Opitz, INXS
INXS chronology
X (1990) Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992) Full Moon, Dirty Hearts (1993)

Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth album by the Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992.

Ultimately, however, with lack of promotion by their label and the band not touring for the album (wanting a break), the record failed to match the success of INXS's two previous albums, Kick and X. Though it still reached number-one in the UK, the band's popularity soon waned. While the single "Baby Don't Cry" was a Top 20 hit in the UK, the album's biggest American hit was "Not Enough Time", which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and stayed there for five consecutive weeks.

In 2002, a remastered version of the album was released that included five previously unreleased tracks.

Further background

Rehearsals for the album took place at the Sydney Opera House, with the band finally recording at Rhinoceros Studios.^[1] The album was produced by Mark Opitz who was also behind the production of the band's third studio album, Shabooh Shoobah, which was also considered to be a change of direction for the band at the time. Opitz went on to produce the follow-up, Full Moon, Dirty Hearts a year later continuing the band's experimentation with their musical style.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Independent	(favourable)[4]
Q	[5]

The album was generally positively received by the critics and fans, particularly in Europe and the UK, where it went to the top of Album charts in the UK. The Independent and Q magazine also included the album in their top 10 albums of the year of 1992.^[4][5] However, Vic Garbarini, for Rolling Stone, was less positive and felt "this is music that attracts but hasn't the gravity or resonance to hold your attention ... Hutchence seems dissociated from his material, dispassionately competent ... the wealth of musical gifts on the album makes the one-dimensional delivery stand out all the more dramatically".^[6]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, except where noted. 

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Questions"	Andrew Farriss	2:19
2.	"Heaven Sent"	A. Farriss	3:18
3.	"Communication"		5:29
4.	"Taste It"		3:27
5.	"Not Enough Time"		4:26
6.	"All Around"		3:30
7.	"Baby Don't Cry"	A. Farriss	4:57
8.	"Beautiful Girl"	A. Farriss	3:33
9.	"Wishing Well"		3:40
10.	"Back on Line"	Jon Farriss, Hutchence	3:24
11.	"Strange Desire"		4:39
12.	"Men and Women"	Hutchence	4:38

Bonus tracks on 2002 Remaster
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"The Answer"	A. Farriss, Hutchence	4:53
14.	"Wishing Well (Alternate version)"	A. Farriss, Hutchence	3:30
15.	"All Around (Alternate version)"	A. Farriss, Hutchence	3:25
16.	"The Indian Song"	A. Farriss, Hutchence	4:50
17.	"Heaven Sent (Waltz version)"	A. Farriss, Hutchence	3:01

Personnel

• Michael Hutchence – vocals
• Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals
• Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar
• Andrew Farriss – guitar, keyboards
• Jon Farriss – percussion, drums
• Tim Farriss – guitar

Singles

1. "Heaven Sent"/"It Ain't Easy" (June 1992)
2. "Not Enough Time"/"Light the Planet" (August 1992)
3. "Baby Don't Cry"/"Questions" (September 1992)
4. "Taste It"/"Light the Planet" (November 1992)
5. "Beautiful Girl"/"Strange Desire" (remix) (February 1993)

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7]	2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8]	18
Canadian Albums (RPM)[9]	10
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[10]	35
French Albums (SNEP)[11]	31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12]	8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13]	8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14]	3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15]	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16]	2
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	1
US Billboard 200[18]	16

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[19]	Gold	50,000
Sweden (GLF)[20]	Gold	50,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[21]	Gold	25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[23]	Platinum	1,000,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. INXS: Story to Story (the official autobiography), page 207
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Welcome to Wherever You Are – INXS". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 December 2001.
3. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 406. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
4. "Rock / Records: Going public with the personal: Andy Gill listens to INXS discovering The Beatles, and Sophie B Hawkins discovering herself". The Independent (Alexander Lebedev, Evgeny Lebedev). 6 August 1992. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
5. "1992:Q Magazine Recordings of the Year". Rocklist.net (Julian White). 12 April 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
6. Garbarini, Vic (3 September 1992). "INXS: Welcome to Wherever You Are". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
7. "Australiancharts.com – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
8. "Austriancharts.at – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
9. "100 Albums". RPM 56 (9). 29 August 1992. ISSN 0033-7064. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
11. "Tous les "Chart Runs" des Albums classés depuis 1985 dans le Top Albums Officiel". InfoDisc. Locate INXS under the drop-down menu and click OK. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
12. "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
13. "Charts.org.nz – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
14. "Norwegiancharts.com – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
16. "Swisscharts.com – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
18. "Welcome to Wherever You Are – INXS: Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
19. "Canadian album certifications – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Music Canada. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
20. "Gold & Platinum 1987–1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
21. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (INXS; 'Welcome to Wherever You Are')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
22. "British album certifications – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 April 2013. Enter Welcome to Wherever You Are in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
23. "American album certifications – INXS – Welcome to Wherever You Are". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 7 April 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH