"Taste It" is the fourth single from the 1992 album Welcome to Wherever You Are

Welcome to Wherever You Are

Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth album by the Australian rock music group INXS, released in 1992. With grunge music and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, à la U2 and Achtung Baby, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra,...

, by Australian rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band INXS

INXS

INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

. The song was written by Andrew Farriss

Andrew Farriss

Andrew Charles Farriss is a rock musician , best known as the keyboardist and main composer for the Australian band INXS.-Career:...

 and Michael Hutchence

Michael Hutchence

Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...

.

The lyrics were written by Michael and reflect "the scars" of an accident a year prior to making the song. While riding home from a nightclub in Copenhagen, an altercation with a taxi driver resulted in him falling and hitting his head on the pavement. The result was a fractured skull along with severed nerves that left him with only about 10% of his senses of taste and smell. The song talks about Michael's inability to taste and the struggles of coming to terms with losing his sense of it.

B-sides

The B-sides include a solo compositions from guitarist Kirk Pengilly

Kirk Pengilly

Kirk Pengilly is an Australian musician, best known as a member of the rock group :INXS.-Early career:...

 entitled "Light the Planet" as well as Youth remixes of "Taste It" and a Ralph Rosario club mix of future single "Not Enough Time". In the UK, a second CD was available with further club mixes of three singles from the X

X (INXS album)

X is Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, released in 1990. It peaked at No. 1 in Australia, No. 5 in the United States, No. 2 in the United Kingdom, No. 5 in Switzerland and No. 10 in Sweden. The album contains four hit singles, "Suicide Blonde", "Disappear",...

 album.

Track listings

7" single INXS23 Mercury/UK

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Light the Planet"

CD5 maxi single INXCD23 Mercury/UK

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix)
3. "Not Enough Time" (Ralphi Rosario Mix)
4. "Light the Planet"

CD5 maxi single INXCB23 Mercury/UK

1. "Taste It" (Youth Acapella Mix)
2. "Suicide Blonde" (Oakenfold Milk Mix)
3. "Disappear" (Morales Mix)
4. "Bitter Tears" (Lorimer 12" Mix)

CD5 864 685-2 Mercury/Germany

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix)
3. "Light the Planet"
4. "Suicide Blonde" (Oakenfold Milk Mix)

CD5 45099-1293-2 EastWest/Australia

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix)
3. "Not Enough Time"

CD single 7-87409-2 Atlantic/US

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Questions (No Vocals)"

CD3 WMD5-4123 WEA/Japan

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Taste It" (Youth 12" Mix)

Cassette single INXMC23 Mercury/UK

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "Light the Planet"

Cassette single 7-87409-4 Atlantic/US

1. "Taste It" (LP version)
2. "11th Revolution"

Charts

The song reached #21 in the UK and #37 on the Australian charts. In the United States, it reached #5 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	36
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	21
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	5