All the years of building their British fan base reached critical mass for INXS in 1992. After three consecutive Top 10 albums in the UK, they wasted no time at all with the new release Welcome To Wherever You Are, which became an instant No.1 there on August 15 that year.
The Australian band’s two previous studio albums had both gone platinum in Britain – in fact, 1987’s Kick was certified triple platinum, during a chart run of just over two years. Welcome To Wherever You Are, INXS’ eighth studio release, was both an ambitious affair, with a 60-piece orchestra, but at the same time a stripped-down return to their raw rock roots.
The auguries for the new album weren’t the best in the UK, where the lead single “Heaven Sent” peaked at only No.31 in July, despite becoming a major rock radio favorite in the US. But another track on the LP, “Not Enough Time,” was giving them big exposure on the new various artists release Barcelona Gold, issued to coincide with the opening of the Summer Olympics there that month. That track went on to be a Top 30 hit in America.
Welcome to UK chart residency
The INXS album, produced by the band in a reunion with their early producer Mark Opitz, hit the street in the final week of the Olympics. In the UK (as well as in Sweden) it immediately outdid its performance even in their native country. The record raced straight to No. 1, unseating Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits 1966-1992 collection, and went on to an aggregate of 33 weeks on the UK chart, making its final appearance a year and a week after its debut.
Listen to the best of INXS on Apple Music and Spotify.
“Baby Don’t Cry” hit No.20 as a British single in September, and there were further Top 30 hits with ‘Taste It” and “Beautiful Girl.” Welcome To Wherever You Are was reissued in 2002, with the addition of five previously unavailable tracks.
Buy or stream Welcome To Wherever You Are.
