Risk pays off for INXS

What could have been an embarrassment turned out to be a good album.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Decide for yourself whether the current lineup of INXS is like listening like thieves or a new sensation.
For many fans of INXS, getting over the undeniable initial shock and, well, embarrassment that the Australian band had ventured down the reality television show road -- last summer's "Rock Star: INXS" -- in an effort to find a replacement for its original singer, Michael Hutchence, who died 10 years ago, was hard to overcome.
Invariably, all reality television does is, ironically, circumvent the intangible and prerequisite interactions of reality itself. So finding a new lead singer for your established rock band is tantamount to finding a new wife.
And when the ratings have passed and the relationship doesn't work six weeks or six months from now, all you're left with is whether the experience was worth the risk.
"It's funny," said INXS drummer Jon Farriss. "It's a common question and I sort of find it quite funny. Everyone is fascinated by weren't we afraid of it cheapening [INXS], and I just got to thinking, isn't that funny? No, all it's done is make us great. It's shown that INXS is a great band now with a great singer."
New singer
That singer is former Elvis impersonator J.D. Fortune. Granted there have been a few examples of bands enjoying a second coming with new singers -- AC/DC with Brian Johnson, Van Halen with Sammy Hagar (twice) -- but for the most part, the lightning rarely strikes again.
Having gone to the well too many times, Van Halen learned this with the ill-fated Gary Cherone experiment.
So what makes INXS feel that "Rock Star: INXS" was the right choice?
"Sure there were a lot of risks involved but we never really set out to replace anyone," Farriss said. "We want a new singer. We don't want to replace Michael. So we did that all in the public eye and to have that whatever could go wrong, completely sort of exposed is partly what I think makes INXS great. It's taking risks and putting your butt on the line."
Whether you drink the Kool-Aid or not is your own choice, but the truth is the band's new album "Switched" is more notable for what it is than what it isn't. What initially feels as if it's going to be a train ride to noveltyland ending in embarrassment truly is a decent INXS album.
While Fortune does channel a Hutchence vibe, the album does nothing to diminish the INXS name. Furthermore, you have to remember by the time Hutchence died, the Down Under band was past its arena glory days.
So a show at Cleveland's Playhouse Square, where it is scheduled to perform May 19 at the State Theatre, seems right in line with where the group should be.
Perhaps the question that will never be answered is whether Hutchence would approve of the band's "Rock Star: INXS" decision.
"Absolutely, I know he does," Farriss said. "I feel it every night. Every night the band feels it. Life goes on. We play music. That's what we do and we've done it since we were kids. And we're a family. And families stick together and families move on."