As brutal as it is accurate.
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statusainthood/archives/2006/07/rock_star_super.phpI was meaning to write something about Rock Star: INXS last year, but I never got around to it, mostly because the whole spectacle was just so obvious and grotesque: middle-aged men in Matrix sunglasses and motorcycle jackets looking thoughtfully on as tatted-up kids yowled decrepit rock "classics," a stage set so full of candles and velvet throw-rugs that you just knew someone's job was to keep the American Idol rip-off aspect of the show from becoming too obvious, Navarro. And the whole concept was just ridiculous, especially the idea that INXS was this amazing band who only fell out of mainstream fame when their singer, one of the greatest rock stars of all time, died tragically. Michael Hutchence was a pretty good frontman with a few amazing songs ("Never Tear Us Apart" and "Need You Tonight" both earn their five-star ratings on my iPod), but the band was just a passable bunch of Aussie funk-wave supporting players, and they'd faded spectacularly long before Hutchence tried to get a little too freaky in a hotel room one night. But the show still found itself a starry-eyed cast of youngsters who really thought they were doing something amazing and important, and the show turned out to be a success whether because of genuine public interest or pure car-wreck appeal. The new INXS album didn't sell shit, of course, but that didn't prevent CBS from convincing another group of has-beens to humiliate themselves on TV once again.