INXS "Switch (Limited Edition Enhanced CD, UK, MX3 Records, MX3CD002)"

Switch is the eleventh studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, and their last to be composed of entirely new material. It was released on 29 November 2005 and produced by Guy Chambers. It was their first full-length studio album since the 1997 death of vocalist Michael Hutchence, and the only album to feature singer J.D. Fortune.

The album received mixed critical reviews. The album's songwriting and quality from song to song was found to be inconsistent and varied by critics such as Matt Collar of Allmusic. However, some reviewers also complimented frontman J.D. Fortune's singing as well as the inclusion of guest vocalists such as Suzie McNeil, who had starred with Fortune in the program Rock Star: INXS. The album was also commercially successful, reaching the top 20 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

INXS co-founder and original lead singer, Michael Hutchence, died on 22 November 1997, reportedly of suicide. The band went through numerous lead singers following Hutchence's death, and performed irregularly, including a showing at the 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony alongside Men at Work. INXS were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001, as they faded out of the public spotlight.

In 2005, the remaining members of INXS – Andrew Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, and Jon Farriss – joined forces with Mark Burnett to be the subjects of the first series of Rock Star; Rock Star: INXS. Tim Farriss told Entertainment Weekly "after Michael died, we wanted to search the world for a new singer but didn't know how we could effectively do that ... By having Mark ... embrace the concept, we've now found a fantastic way to make that happen." J.D. Fortune ultimately won the competition, with Tim Farriss declaring the band chose him because of his "slightly dangerous edge" and "star quality".

The first single released from Switch was "Pretty Vegas", written by J.D. Fortune and Andrew Farriss. It was released exclusively through iTunes Store on 4 October 2005 for two weeks. Three singles were released from the album in America ("Pretty Vegas", "Afterglow", and "Devil's Party"), with "Pretty Vegas" reaching number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In an interview with guitarist/saxophonist, Kirk Pengilly, the last song in the track listing for Switch, "God's Top Ten" is dedicated to Hutchence and his daughter, Tiger. It paints Michael as a "wild colonial boy, drifting with the stars." "God's Top Ten" was only released as an airplay single in Canada and Poland to promote the album.

The song "Afterglow" is also dedicated to Hutchence.

The album was digitally released through US service providers with different non-album cuts such as "Let's Ride," "Amateur Night," "Easy Easy" and an alternate mix of 'Devil's Party'.[citation needed]

Upon its release INXS were praised for recapturing their old magic, but some critics commented Fortune may have relied too much on Hutchence's signature style of singing rather than adopting his own.

On 14 April 2006, a DualDisc version of the album was released in Australia. The CD audio side of the disc features the album in full. The DVD side contains all 11 songs in enhanced stereo, "The Making of Switch", a video documentary directed by Matt Skerritt, produced by Gregg Gilmore and Calvin Aurand and the "Pretty Vegas" music video. Then on 4 August 2006, a tour edition was also released in Australia with different cover art and a bonus disc featuring "Pretty Vegas", "Hot Girls", "Hungry", and "Devil's Party" all recorded live in Canada, plus music videos for "Pretty Vegas", "Afterglow", and "Perfect Strangers". "The Making of Switch" video documentary (30 min) was also added.

16 October 2006, saw the release of a UK edition with different cover art and featured extra tracks: "Taste It" (live), "Never Let You Go" (Digital Dog Remix), and "Afterglow" (Redanka's Afterdark Remix); plus the "Afterglow" music video. It was reissued by indie label MX3 (distributed by Universal, like the back catalogue).

Switch was released on 29 November 2005. In Canada, both the album and the single, Pretty Vegas, went platinum and reached number one on the chart. The album received platinum certification in Dec. 2005 by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), and Canadian sales of the album have exceeded 170,000 units. The album went platinum and peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and spent an up-and-down 30 weeks in the top 50. It also peaked at number nine on the RIANZ Singles Chart, on which it spent 34 weeks.

Switch peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200, and appeared on the Canadian Hot 100 and Top Internet Albums charts at numbers two and 56, respectively. The album has sold 391,000 copies in the US since release. The single "Pretty Vegas" received gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 26 January 2006.

Total sales of the album are estimated at just below one million.

The first leg of the Switched On world tour began with sold out dates in Vancouver, B.C. at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on 18 January 2006, Toronto's Massey Hall on 7 February, and included 20-plus dates through 18 February in Washington.

INXS would eventually tour Canada two more times (coast to coast) before finally wrapping up the tour in late 2007.

Track listing

1. "Devil's Party" Andrew Farriss, J.D. Fortune 3:25
2. "Pretty Vegas" A. Farriss, Fortune, Marty Casey, Jordis Unga 3:25
3. "Afterglow" A. Farriss, Desmond Child 4:08
4. "Hot Girls" A. Farriss, Guy Chambers, The Matrix 3:30
5. "Perfect Strangers" Garry Gary Beers, Tony Bruno, The Matrix, Shelly Peiken 4:12
6. "Remember Who's Your Man" A. Farriss, Gregg Alexander, Annie Roboff 3:28
7. "Hungry" A. Farriss 4:47
8. "Never Let You Go" Jon Farriss, Fortune 4:18
9. "Like It or Not" Kirk Pengilly, Hughie Murray 3:44
10. "Us" A. Farriss, Chambers 4:07
11. "God's Top Ten" A. Farriss 4:54
12. "Taste It (Live)" 8:56
13. "Never Let You Go (Digital Dog Remix)"  6:26
14. Afterglow (Redanka's Afterdark Remix)   8:03
15. Afterglow (Video)   Directed: Scott Duncan   4:02

Exclusive UK Edition Including Previously Unreleased Live Tracks And Remixes, Videos And Hidden Hyperlinks (No longer active).

Recording information:

Recorded at Westlake Studios (Los Angeles, California)

Mixed at Westlake Studios; Paramount Recording Studios (Hollywood, California); MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia); Sphere Studios (London, UK)

Mastered at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)

Guy Chambers – producer

Richard Flack – additional production, recording, mixing (1, 3, 5–8, 10, 11)

Tim Palmer – mixing (2, 9)

Paul Stanborough – additional engineer, digital editing

Todd Parker – additional digital editing

Zack Horne – assistant engineer

Steve Jones – assistant engineer

Assen Stoyanov – assistant engineer, mix assistant

Tracy Walker – assistant engineer

John Hanes – mix assistant

Tim Roberts – mix assistant

Jamie Seyberth – mix assistant

Doug Sax – mastering

Dylan Chambers – record coordinator

Brandy Flower – art direction, design

Sheryl Nields – photography

Scott Duncan – back cover photography

Lynne Bugai – stylist