X is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 25 September 1990 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US). Beers first toured with the group, and later recorded tracks for their debut album, Here's Looking Up Your Address. Guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, along with lead guitarist Tim Farriss, both paired up to help produce an album for local Sydney band, Crash Politics.
Upon entering the 1990s, INXS wanted to follow up on Kick, their multimillion-selling international success. In a radio interview shortly after the release of X, Hutchence said, "We had to follow-up (on Kick) otherwise we'd disappear".
Recording and production
The band worked again with producer Chris Thomas at the new Rhinoceros studio in Sydney, Australia. Regarding the new studio, Thomas felt that it imposed a different feeling on the band's sound, which reflected in the album's material. In a 2002 interview, Thomas commented, "We worked at the new Rhinoceros studio, which was ridiculously enormous. To some degree, it forced isolation on everything, including the control room. To get a vibe on playback, you had to turn everything up really loud because the room was so big". whereas "By My Side" was a collaboration between Andrew and Kirk Pengilly.
An idea that Andrew suggested to Hutchence and the rest of the band was the sound of a Blues harp.
Music and lyrics
Sticking to the formula that was built on Kick, Thomas urged primary songwriters Andrew Farriss and Hutchence to condense their song writing strengths on X. while "Disappear" describes how [Hutchence] is flushed with anxiety when he sees what's going on in the world, but all those problems and fears are cast aside when he's with the one he loves. Hutchence asserted that "The Stairs", a song about singular city life, was the most ambitious song he had ever written; the song describes how tens of millions lead daily lives separated by walls mere inches apart yet never meet. Andrew was inspired to write "By My Side" for his wife, Shelly, and said that the song is about "missing family and people while being on the road".
Reception
While reviews for X were generally favourable, with some critics commenting that INXS had stepped up their game, others felt that the album followed too much in the same formula as Kick. AllMusic's Steven McDonald mentions this in the beginning of his review, stating "The seventh album from Australia's INXS basically sticks to the formula set up on Kick, mixing solid remixable dance floor beats with slightly quirky production tricks, Michael Hutchence's rough-edged, bluesy vocals, and some good solid song hooks".
Double J (radio station) Their 50 Best Australian albums of the 90's, they included X at #45." Q (magazine) "Wrote" - 3 Stars - Good - listed X in their 50 best albums of 1990." Record Mirror's Robin Smith initiated that the album, isnt't all raunchy rock - not by a long chalk. 'Disappear' and 'The Stairs' shimmer into view, both trim tunes with understated yet memorable choruses and mellow ideas, the disc was given a 5 out of 5 "Perfect Rating"
Radio X (United Kingdom) Placed X at #19, on their list of the 25 best indie albums of 1990." Smash Hits Marc Andrews, called the album "Pretty Good" giving it a 7 out of 10 on the rating scale." Spin (magazine)'s Al Shipley also Put X in his list of the 30 Great Albums of 1990, That Deserve Their Own 30th Anniversary Pieces."
Commercial performance
Even though the album and its singles did not exceed the success of Kick, it did perform well worldwide, particularly in Europe; In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was certified platinum in January 1991 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 300,000 copies.
|align="center"|29
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!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|align="center"|83
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{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+1991 year-end chart performance for X
!scope="col"|Chart (1991)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"|39
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!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|align="center"|70
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!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|align="center"|45
|}