mancity2012_eamo
Well-Known Member
Listen like thieves
INXS
The Album Review Club - Christmas Break Until 8th January
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
INXS
mancity2012_eamo
Well-Known Member
Ooops.
Was I not supposed to write that out loud?
Was I not supposed to write that out loud?
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Yes, a few of you got it and I did say it was easy.
The Album Review Club
Listen Like Thieves – INXS (1985)
Selected by RobMCFC
Introduction
Some of my favourite artists have been with me since my first two years of serious music listening, whereas others that I initially liked have faded in the rearview mirror.
INXS are amongst a small selection of my favourites, that includes Tom Petty and Rush, where after some initial excitement, they too were beginning to fade and then something happened to propel them back into the spotlight. In the case of INXS, a combination of factors means that they are now an all-time top-5 for me.
A Year of Change
Summer 1989. When I look back, this was a time of significant change for me. I was on the work placement year of my 4-year sandwich degree, working for an engineering company in Salford. More significantly, I was approaching the end of a short relationship with my first girlfriend.
We weren’t really that compatible, but the one thing that we shared was a love of music. She actually introduced me to Steve Earle and The Rainmakers, but this wasn’t enough for the relationship to survive and things would be over before the end of the summer.
Significant to this story was the fact that she bought me a video for my 21st birthday; more on that in a while.
Like many people, I first got into INXS through the relentless TV and radio coverage of the singles from Kick. This was a bit different to the Springsteen, Mellencamp and Steve Earle-type of stuff that I was listening to, but after a few months I played the album less and less until it was just another CD in the pile.
In Search of Excellence
So, anyway, that 21st birthday present was the perhaps clumsily titled, INXS: In Search of Excellence. On receipt of the present, I distinctly remember thinking, “Thanks and all, but I don’t really listen to them anymore.”
But of course, later that week, I put the tape in and began to watch. Wow! Whilst not up with the great music documentaries, this was a good mix of backstory, music videos, plus live clips, interviews and travelogue from the recent Kick tour.
Of significance here were the four videos for singles from the Listen Like Thieves album: “What You need”, “Listen Like Thieves”, “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)” and “This Time”. All four of these songs are superb and the videos for the title track and “Kiss the Dirt” have a Hollywood/Mad Max feel to them - Alex Proyas, later to direct Hollywood films including The Crow and I, Robot – shot the video for “Kiss the Dirt”. But the point is that this video tape re-ignited an appreciation for a band that obviously had more going for them than just the recent Kick.
I played the video many times but didn’t get around to buying the album until later that year. Mere weeks later, I met my wife. Whilst I like all the stuff you already know about, she liked Duran Duran, Wet Wet Wet and Simply Red. But where our music tastes met was INXS. We went to see them twice on the X tour and three years later on a smaller stage at the Academy. These live performances, together with an increasing number of superb studio albums were what put INXS firmly in my all-time top 5.
Listen Like Thieves
Producer Chris Thomas had previously worked on The White Album, Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon. He remarked that listening to the band’s previous albums, the sound didn’t reflect the excitement of one of the INXS gigs he’d witnessed. To be fair, the finished album is just that: a very good, polished studio album, but you can see where he’s coming from. Before Listen Like Thieves, INXS had been a mixture of new wave and lightweight art-rock, but the sound and production on this album benefits from a much-needed shot of adrenaline.
It’s easy to spot the future direction of travel for INXS: it’s on the very first track, “What You Need”. It’s one of those I-don’t-hear-a-single-go-and-record-something-in-the-three-hours-studio-time-you-have-left affairs. The slinky groove and catchy two-chord riff not only produced a fabulous lead single for the album, but it laid the groundwork for the world-conquering Kick that was to follow.
The guitars slash and chime, firing the title track along nicely and whilst “Kiss the Dirt” is generally more laid-back, it features a beautifully executed break; a quick acoustic strum leading into incendiary guitar solo. This is a sublime change of gears that has your hairs standing on end and works even better in the video with the striking visuals including the campfires burning in the desert at night.
Whilst the first three tracks and “This Time” are undoubtedly the best on offer, there’s a good selection of support tracks to choose from. “Shine Like It Does” is a simple but anthemic song. Listeners looking for more of an edge may find it in “Biting Bullets” or “Red Red Sun”. There are a couple more pacier numbers in “Good and Bad Times” and “Same Direction” and “One X One” exhibits the kind of cabaret style that David Lee Roth pulls off so well.
Final Thoughts
Michael Hutchence was the best singer I saw live (an easy task, some might say, given that I usually see singers like Mellencamp and Springsteen!) But INXS was so much more than just him. A band featuring three Farriss brothers, with Andrew being the quiet songwriter and the band’s secret weapon. After their star began to fall, they finished their Hutchence-era career with three albums that were as entertaining as they were experimental, and the day Michael Hutchence died was a sad one in our house, I can tell you.
I decided to go with Listen Like Thieves rather than the more well-known Kick because I think it’s one of those albums that represent a time of change for a band that was about to become huge. Thinking back, although I was four years late to the album, it also mirrors a time of change in my life, and I thought that that would make a fitting connection for our album club.
I’ll leave you with a brilliant line from Rolling Stone's Parke Puterbaugh in which he said that the album:-
“….. rocks with passion and seals the deal with a backbeat that'll blackmail your feet”.
The Album Review Club
Listen Like Thieves – INXS (1985)
Selected by RobMCFC
Introduction
Some of my favourite artists have been with me since my first two years of serious music listening, whereas others that I initially liked have faded in the rearview mirror.
INXS are amongst a small selection of my favourites, that includes Tom Petty and Rush, where after some initial excitement, they too were beginning to fade and then something happened to propel them back into the spotlight. In the case of INXS, a combination of factors means that they are now an all-time top-5 for me.
A Year of Change
Summer 1989. When I look back, this was a time of significant change for me. I was on the work placement year of my 4-year sandwich degree, working for an engineering company in Salford. More significantly, I was approaching the end of a short relationship with my first girlfriend.
We weren’t really that compatible, but the one thing that we shared was a love of music. She actually introduced me to Steve Earle and The Rainmakers, but this wasn’t enough for the relationship to survive and things would be over before the end of the summer.
Significant to this story was the fact that she bought me a video for my 21st birthday; more on that in a while.
Like many people, I first got into INXS through the relentless TV and radio coverage of the singles from Kick. This was a bit different to the Springsteen, Mellencamp and Steve Earle-type of stuff that I was listening to, but after a few months I played the album less and less until it was just another CD in the pile.
In Search of Excellence
So, anyway, that 21st birthday present was the perhaps clumsily titled, INXS: In Search of Excellence. On receipt of the present, I distinctly remember thinking, “Thanks and all, but I don’t really listen to them anymore.”
But of course, later that week, I put the tape in and began to watch. Wow! Whilst not up with the great music documentaries, this was a good mix of backstory, music videos, plus live clips, interviews and travelogue from the recent Kick tour.
Of significance here were the four videos for singles from the Listen Like Thieves album: “What You need”, “Listen Like Thieves”, “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)” and “This Time”. All four of these songs are superb and the videos for the title track and “Kiss the Dirt” have a Hollywood/Mad Max feel to them - Alex Proyas, later to direct Hollywood films including The Crow and I, Robot – shot the video for “Kiss the Dirt”. But the point is that this video tape re-ignited an appreciation for a band that obviously had more going for them than just the recent Kick.
I played the video many times but didn’t get around to buying the album until later that year. Mere weeks later, I met my wife. Whilst I like all the stuff you already know about, she liked Duran Duran, Wet Wet Wet and Simply Red. But where our music tastes met was INXS. We went to see them twice on the X tour and three years later on a smaller stage at the Academy. These live performances, together with an increasing number of superb studio albums were what put INXS firmly in my all-time top 5.
Listen Like Thieves
Producer Chris Thomas had previously worked on The White Album, Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon. He remarked that listening to the band’s previous albums, the sound didn’t reflect the excitement of one of the INXS gigs he’d witnessed. To be fair, the finished album is just that: a very good, polished studio album, but you can see where he’s coming from. Before Listen Like Thieves, INXS had been a mixture of new wave and lightweight art-rock, but the sound and production on this album benefits from a much-needed shot of adrenaline.
It’s easy to spot the future direction of travel for INXS: it’s on the very first track, “What You Need”. It’s one of those I-don’t-hear-a-single-go-and-record-something-in-the-three-hours-studio-time-you-have-left affairs. The slinky groove and catchy two-chord riff not only produced a fabulous lead single for the album, but it laid the groundwork for the world-conquering Kick that was to follow.
The guitars slash and chime, firing the title track along nicely and whilst “Kiss the Dirt” is generally more laid-back, it features a beautifully executed break; a quick acoustic strum leading into incendiary guitar solo. This is a sublime change of gears that has your hairs standing on end and works even better in the video with the striking visuals including the campfires burning in the desert at night.
Whilst the first three tracks and “This Time” are undoubtedly the best on offer, there’s a good selection of support tracks to choose from. “Shine Like It Does” is a simple but anthemic song. Listeners looking for more of an edge may find it in “Biting Bullets” or “Red Red Sun”. There are a couple more pacier numbers in “Good and Bad Times” and “Same Direction” and “One X One” exhibits the kind of cabaret style that David Lee Roth pulls off so well.
Final Thoughts
Michael Hutchence was the best singer I saw live (an easy task, some might say, given that I usually see singers like Mellencamp and Springsteen!) But INXS was so much more than just him. A band featuring three Farriss brothers, with Andrew being the quiet songwriter and the band’s secret weapon. After their star began to fall, they finished their Hutchence-era career with three albums that were as entertaining as they were experimental, and the day Michael Hutchence died was a sad one in our house, I can tell you.
I decided to go with Listen Like Thieves rather than the more well-known Kick because I think it’s one of those albums that represent a time of change for a band that was about to become huge. Thinking back, although I was four years late to the album, it also mirrors a time of change in my life, and I thought that that would make a fitting connection for our album club.
I’ll leave you with a brilliant line from Rolling Stone's Parke Puterbaugh in which he said that the album:-
“….. rocks with passion and seals the deal with a backbeat that'll blackmail your feet”.
I nearly wrote smooth loving criminals.
Then realised it was fun. That 30 second hesitation saw me do an Arsenal.
mancity2012_eamo
Well-Known Member
Off work early.
Sitting back with a coffee and first listen.
Was not expecting much. INXS were pseudo rock/pop of the MTV age, the way I remember them. Nothing offensive about them. Pleasant without getting my real interest. Style not quite over substance with them, but it was 50/50 for me.
Well what do I know?
Pleasantly surprised with this so far tbh.
Sitting back with a coffee and first listen.
Was not expecting much. INXS were pseudo rock/pop of the MTV age, the way I remember them. Nothing offensive about them. Pleasant without getting my real interest. Style not quite over substance with them, but it was 50/50 for me.
Well what do I know?
Pleasantly surprised with this so far tbh.
It was before your time. But I still maintain given to the wild was The most misunderstood album on this thread. There, I said it ;)
FogBlueInSanFran
Well-Known Member
A good selection! Always liked them, though never loved them. I am pretty sure I owned "Kick"; I've certainly heard it many, many times. I always liked "Need You Tonight/Mediate" best -- especially the video. Less sure on LLT but obviously a number of the songs are familiar. Should be a fun listen. I always felt too that their sound and energy was probably better live than in studio.
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
Ah yes, "Dig", I love that track! It was on my top 10 a few weeks ago until Rob said "just one is needed."
One of the first singles released a month or so ago, and I had the same comparison feeling hearing it.
One thing I'll say is the album is varied.
To follow on the Rob's selection today, this was probably the first of INXS's albums that I heard completely beyond the radio hits. I heard it when it initially came out in 1985 in my first year at university. I think it is better than Kick too, so well done on picking this one instead. That Kick album got FM butchered, and by then, I had had my fill of INXS to the tune of let me find another station playing something else.
Funny that Rob also mentions Rush and Springsteen, because that along with a small Irish band from Dublin is who was occupying my focus in the mid-80s in that time. All live shows I had seen instead in that time period.
I also first heard Howard Jones and Tears for Fears full albums that same year, and both I'd rank higher on my tastes than INXS, but I still think I'll like this album. Especially given I'm not a fan of sleeping on the couch these days. ;-)