| Welcome to Wherever You Are | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 August 1992 | |||
| Recorded | 1991–1992 | |||
| Studio | Rhinoceros (Sydney) | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 45:49 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Mark Opitz, INXS | |||
| INXS chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Welcome to Wherever You Are | ||||
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Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four-star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK Albums Chart at number one since AC/DC's Back in Black, released in 1980.
Despite the positive critical reception, along with charting well on most countries' album charts (including topping the UK chart and reaching number two in Australia), the album marked a commercial decline for the band, especially in the United States, where it only peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The commercial decline was partially due to the lack of promotion by their label and changing musical tastes towards grunge and alternative. Also hurting promotions, the band elected to take a break and not tour in support of the album. The plan was that the band would instead record the follow-up (which went on to become 1993's Full Moon, Dirty Hearts) and then tour in support of both albums. The downside of this, however, was that Welcome to Wherever You Are faded from press and public attention more quickly, and, as a result, failed to match the success of INXS's two previous albums, Kick and X.
While the single "Baby Don't Cry" was a Top 20 hit in the UK, the album's biggest American hit was "Not Enough Time", which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for five consecutive weeks.
In 2002, a remastered version of the album was released, which included five previously unreleased tracks.