Full Moon Dirty Hearts

Rolling Stone - 3 Stars - [INXS] has tried to sand off the glossy pop veneer they've borne since the mid-'80s, when KICK (not to mention MTV) catapulted them into the dance-rock stratosphere...." Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...[FULL MOON is] tougher-sounding and more aggressive than anything previously bearing [INXS'] name...it's still got weird corners and makes the best job yet of capturing the vitality of INXS' live performance..." Musician - "...[on FULL MOON, DIRTY HEARTS] INXS haven't abandoned their R&B roots....INXS have paid their dues; their still-intact lineup remains tight..." Entertainment Weekly - "...FULL MOON DIRTY HEARTS is full of killer hooks. There's something in nearly every song that jumps out at you - propulsive drum attacks, jabbing bass lines, and, above all, flashes of lightning-sharp melody..." - Rating: B Rolling Stone (2/24/94, p.56) - 3 Stars - [INXS] has tried to sand off the glossy pop veneer they've borne since the mid-'80s, when KICK (not to mention MTV) catapulted them into the dance-rock stratosphere...." Musician (1/94, p.89) - "...[on FULL MOON, DIRTY HEARTS] INXS haven't abandoned their R&B roots....INXS have paid their dues; their still-intact lineup remains tight..." Q (12/93, p.111) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...[FULL MOON is] tougher-sounding and more aggressive than anything previously bearing [INXS'] name...it's still got weird corners and makes the best job yet of capturing the vitality of INXS' live performance..." Entertainment Weekly (11/5/93, p.68) - "...FULL MOON DIRTY HEARTS is full of killer hooks. There's something in nearly every song that jumps out at you - propulsive drum attacks, jabbing bass lines, and, above all, flashes of lightning-sharp melody..." - Rating: B

1993's FULL MOON, DIRTY HEARTS was INXS's last album before a long, traumatic break ending only with 1997's ELEGANTLY WASTED, a fine return overshadowed by singer Michael Hutchence's suicide not long after its release. Although it seems as if it should foreshadow the difficult years ahead, if anything FULL MOON, DIRTY HEARTS is the most relaxed, breezy INXS album ever.
Their early, jittery, new wave sound was, by the time of 1984's THE SWING, refined into a tense but sexy swagger. But while this album features a few rattlesnake-shake dance-rockers early on, the overall mood turns surprisingly mellow by the appearance of the Elton John-like ballad "Kill the Pain", and the smoothly poppy "Cut Your Roses Down". By the weird, atmospheric closer, "Viking Juice", it's as if INXS have completely reinvented themselves.|