I'm Only Looking: the Best of INXS (Andrew Farriss, Tim Farriss) 1/2 for INXS fans, 1/2 for non-INXS fans
For the past few years, INXS fans have been inundated with an influx of re-releases, greatest hits compilations and blatant scouring of the music vaults in the wake of the untimely passing of lead singer Michael Hutchence in November of 1997. With the exception of one song from last year, promoted in conjunction with a video game ("I Get Up", featuring temp vocalist Jon Stevens), the surviving members of INXS haven't recorded a new studio track in eight years. With a sluggish career status and the recent announcment that the band would be throwing its name and reputation into the reality TV circus ring, the prospect of yet another hits-based release made me less than enthusiastic. Surely another self-promoting anthology would be the final nail in the coffin.
To my staunch surprise, the DVD release I'm Only Looking: the Best of INXS is a superior and definitive compilation that does not dwell on nostalgia as much as it re-invigorates the innovative spirit of the music through reverent and meticulous digital transfers. Although the CD release Shine Like It Does from a few years back was thorough and a great reference for the novice listener, the first disc was saturated with more obscure material from the pre-Kick era and, more importantly, very little tinkering had been done to most of the tracks themselves. I'm Only Looking boasts a formidable 25 bona fide hits, and each has clearly been remastered and remixed to their full capacity.
I am not normally one to be able to distinguish recordings that have been remastered from their source material. I have a few albums from other artists that claim to have been vamped up under the not-so-noble veil of a commercial re-release, and rarely can I note a remarkable difference between it and the initial recording. With I'm Only Looking, the improvements will be noticeable to fans and highly agreeable, particularly for those such as myself, who have been hoarding numerous VHS releases over the years. Whether it's the renewed presence of Andrew Farriss's keyboards on their electric first single, the punk-ish "Just Keep Walking", or a snappier snare to Jon Farriss's drums on the overtly orchestral opus "Baby Don't Cry", much of the X-quisite instrumentation has been isolated, made clearer, and magnified. All of the material, both old and new, has never sounded better.
When presented in chronological order, the videos underscore that INXS had some recurring patterns in their visual presentation. Stop-motion animation was used in the clips "What You Need", "New Sensation", "Bitter Tears" and a technique of continual advancement toward the camera was used in "Suicide Blonde", "By My Side", "The Gift" and, again, "Bitter Tears" (while not featured, "Guns In the Sky" also used this technique). These somewhat lamentable echoes aside, it is a testament to the direction of Richard Lowenstein over the years that he has helmed so many of the band's videos and that these were almost uniformly successful across the board.
Included in the collection is a second disc, ripe with bonus material. A formidable and wide-spanning "live in concert" section offers some rare footage spanning from their earliest years (a performance of their late 70's romp "Simple Simon") to their final gigs with Michael (a stunning performance of "Searching" from the ARIA awards, filmed before the Elegantly Wasted album was released). There are also some familiar remixes from the X era, and a feature from the days of Welcome to Wherever You Are that combines live and studio recordings. Fans of the band's final album Elegantly Wasted will at long last be appeased when they check out the unreleased section; all of the videos are included and are finally available for the first time in any format ("Don't Lose Your Head", "Everything", "Searching", and the title track). There are also a few choice selections from the ultra-rare Full Moon Dirty Hearts video album, a behind the scenes documentary, and a short but satisfactory photo gallery.
In parts of I'm Only Looking, the surviving five members introduce the material, relaying little known pieces of information or re-iterating how much fun they had in working on each project. There's only so much you can cram into a package of this kind, and the material that has been included proves more than enough for fans both young and old. INXS's heyday may have long since passed, but this double DVD set makes a fine case for keeping the namesake around when referring to gifted and sensational shining stars in pop music.
