X  by INXS

Three years after the huge success of Kick, the Australian band INXS returned in 1990 with their seventh studio album, X. The stakes for INXS were high regarding whether they could replicate the same success.

Thus, Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence primarily wrote the songs for X, while the album's producer was the Englishman Chris Thomas, with whom they continued to work consistently for another album. The album recordings took place at Rhinoceros Studio in Sydney during 1989 and part of 1990. The first single from the album was Suicide Blonde, followed by three more: Disappear, Bitter Tears, and By My Side.

The album naturally reached No. 1 in Australia, No. 2 in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and No. 5 on the Billboard chart. Despite being a very good and well-crafted album, X's 3,000,000 sales did not come close to the 14,000,000 of Kick.