INXS music style and influences

Blog post - INXS

1.       INXS

2.       INXS’s music style was always hard to pin-point an exact genre of music. Their hard rock, punk, dance, funk and new wave influences made them into superstars in the late 80’s. INXS is unique from other performers due to Michael Hutchences’ powerful and passionate vocal style which gave them an edge and made them stand out from the rest.

3.       Three major musical influences of INXS’s music are:

·         David Bowie

·         Queen

·         The Beatles

They used these bands as inspiration and got some of their musical ideas from them.

4.       David Bowie songs which are similar and /or have influenced INXS are:

·         Let’s Dance - http://youtu.be/N4d7Wp9kKjA

·         Dancing In The Street - http://youtu.be/9G4jnaznUoQ

Queen song which is similar and/or has influenced INXS are:

·         Another One Bites The Dust - http://youtu.be/rY0WxgSXdEE

5.       David Bowie being one of INXS’s musical influences might have inspired them to use the synthesizers. They both use the synth in an experimental way and found new ways of incorporating it into their music. INXS has made the synthesizer fit in with their own unique style of music by using it with a saxophone and in a new ‘funky’ way which is a unique feature of INXS’s music style.

Similarities between INXS and David Bowie’s musical concepts include the use of the saxophone, in many of each of the artist’s songs they use saxophone, and they also use strings quite a lot too, in David Bowie’s “Life on Mars’ and also in INXS ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. David Bowie’s lyrics were deep and meaningful and are seen as ‘lyrical’. INXS also sing about controversial issues and use meaningful lyrics for example in their song ‘Original Sin’.

Differences between INXS and David Bowie are that INXS uses a lot of electric guitar whilst David Bowie didn't he used a lot of acoustic guitars.

Another of INXS influences is Queen; they both have/had flamboyant and unique front singers whose style and stage presence was always loved and with powerful voices which is thought of as a great quality to have in the musical industry. Michael Hutchence changed this by using the same kind of confidence as Freddie Mercury but making it his own.

Similar musical concepts between INXS and Queen include both of the artists using catchy guitar riff they use in their songs. These riffs are memorable and get stuck in your head; they’re enjoyable to listen to. Another similarity is the use of string instruments. Queen use a lot of orchestral instruments in their music for a different effect in their music, INXS also use string instruments in their songs.

Differences between Queen and INXS are that while INXS use a lot of synthesizers in their music whilst Queen didn't use the synth at all… in the beginning. In the beginning of their career they had a ‘no synth’ “rule” but then began to use them in songs like ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ as sound effects.

The Beatles were an influence of INXS and some of the stylistic features taken from the Beatles and put into INXS’s music include dance orientated beats which can be danced to, they also worked together as a team the same way The Beatles did. They wrote together and played their instruments together like a real band and a real group.

Similarities between the two include the use of string instruments and not over using them, they used them just enough in their music and didn't over power it with the string instruments.

Differences include the Beatles being a bit more pop than INXS, INXS was new wave and different and didn't really fit into a specific genre whilst the Beatles were more genre specific and fit into one. The Beatles were also not using a lot of synthesizers like INXS, they used guitars and used their guitars to give effects and didn't use synths. The Beatles did experiment with the Moog synthesizers for a little while on one of their albums though.