U2 copied INXS in the 90's?

[jonnytakeawalk]

So says INXS's ex manager Chris Murphy in their biography....

'I thought U2 were trying to replicate us. It's big statement to say but it's true. I saw them persuing the fusion between cool and dancy and groovy in leather and cowboy hats with Zooropa. It was getting all too interwoven. Michael was close with Bono by then and we kep telling him to stop talking to Bono about what we were planning creatively.'

I honestly don't see it. Zooropa is nothing like INXS ever did. I love INXS but I think this may be just sour grapes by Chris Murphy at the fact that while U2 had successfully reinvented themselves and were still relevant in the 90s, INXS were not.

 

[topplehatU2]

Yeah I really don't see it. INXS didn't change nearly as much as U2 did, they mostly retained their 80s sound.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

It's spelt "Murphy".

 

[coolian2]

nah, yeah nah.

 

[U2387]

Yeah I really don't see it. INXS didn't change nearly as much as U2 did, they mostly retained their 80s sound.

Right.

The sound is absolutely non debatable.

INXS made no real evolution there.

I love INXS.

I think they were a great band. Everyone knows about Bono and Michael, but the 2 bands as a whole always had a mutual respect and admiration for each other.

I think this Murphy guy is talking about Bono's Zoo TV era stage presence being more of a Hutchence type presence. True enough, but Hutch did not invent the exaggerated moves and sex appeal presence(Elvis, Jim Morrison, the list goes on) and more importantly this was simply one aspect of an overall new stage presence for Bono. The irony, the Fly, The Mirrorball man and MacPhisto were not in any way INXS inspired.

"Cool, dancy and groovy" is extremely vague-haven't almost all artists tried to be all of these things. Who doesn't want to be cool and have the crowd up moving around to their songs?

Going to something this vague, neither INXS nor U2 invented anything having to do with it.

Overall, who is the more innovative band, in terms of sound, live performances, image, stage set and presence, INXS or U2?

I love INXS, but you would have to be insane not to answer with U2.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

yeah, "cool, dancy, and groovy" describes...a lot of early 90s music. i know u2 have been accused of bandwagon hopping with the achtung baby/zooropa sound, but i don't ever recall anyone ever saying it was u2 they "ripped off".

not to mention welcome to wherever you are came out well after achtung baby, and i'd put zooropa as sounding more like ab than wtwya. but even then, i wouldn't accuse inxs of ripping off u2. like i said, a ton of bands made similar music in the 90s. many of them were also friends, friends usually have similar interests, so they'll be inspired by the same things to make similarly-sounding music without even trying. i do think inxs evolved though; kick and x do have many similarities but wtwya keeps their rock roots but is more of that early 90s alternative music rather than straightforward rock.

 

[BVS]

Well actually Michael made these accusations in interviews during the early 90's. They always came off half jokingly, yet you got the feeling that he held some resentment; if it was just jealousy, delusion, the drugs who knows? it's hard to tell.

But I remember reading an interview during the 90's where Michael said something like well I don't want to give too much away, I think we'll just release it quickly so that U2 don't have time to rip us off again...

So I wonder if this had anything to do with Murphy's feelings...

Who knows

 

[U2girl]

Was probably a joke, Bono and Michael were friends.

That said, I do remember a review of AB saying Even better than the real thing had U2 sounding like INXS.

 

[65980]

That's funny, as Edge once said that "Even Better Than the Real Thing" was "as close to the Rolling Stones as we would want to get", or words to that effect.

Much ado about nothing here. U2 after Zooropa = world's biggest group. INXS after Welcome to... = washed up 80s band. Even if someone did get copied, only one of them did good music with it.

 

[U2girl]

I'd take Desire for "U2 does Rolling Stones" but ok...

 

[65980]

I know what you mean -- I never heard The Rolling Stones in that track either, but that's what Edge said (and I think Bono said something to the same effect). I think they had the cyclical guitar riff of the song back in the Rattle & Hum period, and maybe the basic structure of the tune, and maybe at that time it sounded more Stones-y.

 

[djerdap]

Well, if this trend continues, this would mean that a reality show star/singing contest winner will be replacing our good old Boner on lead vocals in the next couple of years...

 

[corianderstem]

I'd take Desire for "U2 does Rolling Stones" but ok...

Which is really "U2 does Bo Diddley," since everyone and their mother copied Bo's riff at one point or another.

 

[LemonMelon]

Well, if this trend continues, this would mean that a reality show star/singing contest winner will be replacing our good old Boner on lead vocals in the next couple of years...

NLOTH never would have flopped if a reality show winner were on vocals; no one would have expected that to sell in the first place.

 

[U2387]

That's funny, as Edge once said that "Even Better Than the Real Thing" was "as close to the Rolling Stones as we would want to get", or words to that effect.

Much ado about nothing here. U2 after Zooropa = world's biggest group. INXS after Welcome to... = washed up 80s band. Even if someone did get copied, only one of them did good music with it.

I always thought Edge and Bono made the Stones comments about Ultraviolet.

In that case, I don't really hear it either.

As for Real Thing and INXS, I don't see it.

What, Need You Tonight and Real Thing are both about desire, particularly of a sexual nature???

I have racked my brain for a bit now, and can't think of an INXS song besides Need You Tonight that could possible be compared with Even Better.

Countless songs written about that.

So can we maybe try and put our heads together now. Anything 1990s U2 sound like something INXS did before them? Can anyone point us to a song or album?

Yes, U2 adapted their sound to play to the times in the early 1990s, and secured their place as one of the great acts in history by doing so. But they did it in a way they completely and entirely owned- it had the influences of the day, but it was still authentically U2. Come on, they centered AB around Edge's divorce, they weren't reading the times that much!!

Murphy maybe has not heard the "dream it all up again" speech in 1989, before the dance, dance and alternative/grunge scenes had come to dominate things. U2 responded as much to a sense of personal stagnation with their work as they did to the times.

 

[U2DMfan]

Oh, so that's why they released 3 shitty albums after Achtung came out?
U2 stole their thunder by hogging up all good songwriting.
We all know it's a finite commodity. There's only so much to go around.
Somebody should have told Depeche Mode to scrap Songs of Faith and Devotion then.

I like INXS too but you could stop at 'X' and not miss a fucking thing.
Well...maybe besides a song like Not Enough Time.
That said, they had some really good stuff in the 80's.

Is there an INXS influence in U2's 90's material?
If there is, it isn't strong enough to notice.

 

[Niceman]

I always thought that Achtung Baby was heavily Kick influenced.
It's sad that INXS peaked when they did.... In 1987 I had a hard time deciding whether I liked The Joshua Tree or Kick better.

 

[U2DMfan]

I wouldn't say it's "heavy". But I also wouldn't argue against it being there, there are some sonic touchstones but part of that is just both groups sharing a similar post-punk heritage.

I get sort of a 'shoulda/coulda' vibe from what their manager says.
There is a fair amount of deluded jealousy but probably also some bits of truth involved.

 

[david]

Eh. I just always remember thinking in the video for the Fly the way Bono posed during some of the black and white scenes (I think they were black & white) anyway reminded me a bit of how Michael Hutchence would pose/posture. That's about all.

 

[soctheo]

Re:Inxs & U2

I read the same book (authorized autobiography by INXS) when it came out a few years ago and as a fan of both bands, it did seem like sour grapes from the INXS camp. INXS became superstars in 1987 but poor decisions made by the band and their management killed the group in the 90's.

Welcome to Wherever You Are was a great album but I wouldn't exactly call it innovative. The material was interesting but because the band themselves always struggled with the notion of moving away from their R&B/Rock roots, their music continued to feel very safe even when the band felt they were taking challenges. The decision not to tour this album and go back to the studio proved fatal for their career. Heaven Sent and Not Enough Time were getting consistent airplay at that time.

Full Moon Dirty Hearts was just all over the place. The only thing interesting about that album was the decision to make videos for every song. Granted, none of those videos ever received substantial airplay.

Then in 1994 they launch a tour in North America playing non traditional venues like airport hangers. I remember reading their itinerary and not recognizing most of the venues they were playing. It was game over at this point. I remember seeing a live interview in late 1994 with Micheal Hutchence when he was in town promoting the Greatest Hits album and he looked pretty defeated.

Sometimes good management and a common vision with a band can make the difference. INXS had neither.

 

[Niceman]

Ever see INXS Rocks the Rockies? Michael looked so out of it..... And he looked like he wanted to look like 1992 Bono..... It was a terrible shame to see him fallen like that.

 

[65980]

Good point above about Songs of Faith & Devotion. That's a great record, but I was 16 or 17 when it came out, and when I first heard it, I immediately thought, "Okay, Depeche Mode is doing an Achtung Baby."

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I can definitely see the INXS influence on U2, but certainly not in the terms Murphy claims. And I think in namechecking Zooropa he probably just means that whole Zoo era. I think there's no doubt that part of that evolution from the black and white/serious late 80s into the technicolour/sexy 90s owes at least a nod and wink to Hutchence and INXS. Both in persona and music.

I've definitely read that both Bono and Hutchence were very jealous of what the other had in terms of on stage persona/audience relationship. Bono was envious of Hutchence's overt sexuality, and the power in that, and Hutchence was jealous of Bono's ability to connect on a more emotional/spiritual level with the audience, especially such a huge audience. Remember that in the late 80s both bands were stadium acts. There was a moment there where they were the two biggest bands in the world, but both had a distinctly different (opposite) image, both as personalities and in their music. One very serious, one very sexy.

Given that, you could absolutely say that what came next for U2 - the overt injection of sex, both into U2's music with Achtung and Bono's on and off stage persona for ZooTV - at least owes Hutchence/INXS some credit, or at least that sly wink.

Hard to see now, given the trajectory of both bands from that point on, but at the time they were very much in each others orbit in every way. Bono drew on a lot for that change, but in terms of anyone immediate that could have/would have influenced it, definitely, absolutely Hutchence/INXS. No doubt about it.

 

[mad1]

ach for fuk sake, a LOT of music can sound similar, dont mean one is copyin the other. Its down to era/present music sound, etc.

I have to say he just saw leathers and heard sound.

ooooooooooooooooooooooh!

 

[MikeyJB]

Sometimes good management and a common vision with a band can make the difference. INXS had neither.

Maybe some fans round here should cut McGuinness some slack.

 

[Katiesheb]

I listened to INXS a lot in the late 80s and early 90s. Their musical style couldn't even compare to U2's. Not sure where the manager was getting this crazy idea about copying music from...it all goes back to the old argument of comparing apples and oranges, I guess.

 

[U2girl]

The Fly wasn't about emulating Hutchence, either. There was more to it.

 

[purpleoscar]

Good point above about Songs of Faith & Devotion. That's a great record, but I was 16 or 17 when it came out, and when I first heard it, I immediately thought, "Okay, Depeche Mode is doing an Achtung Baby."

It was according to Flood. On the special edition CD they have a DVD where they talk about Flood which came off of Achtung Baby and told the band that they needed to play real instruments. One of the interviewees said that Flood had just came off of "one of those U2 records" like he didn't care. You can tell there is a lot of envy floating around. It's too bad that none of these bands could write better lyrics are work harder than U2 and none had a manager like Paul.

 

[U2387]

Maybe some fans round here should cut McGuinness some slack.

This

One of the best in the industry hands down, and no one has ever topped him in terms of looking after the artists he works for!

 

[rileybug]

I was a huge INXS fan before I was a U2 fan, but I just don't see the influence on U2 at all. Any similarities you can pick out are really stretching it I think. U2 was more influenced by European dance/trance/industrial and all that type of music.