Best peak period INXS album

Listen Like Thieves for me - narrowly over The Swing. There was something unique about the early sound that was lost on Kick. Listen Like Thieves still had it.
I get the U2 comparision but for me there is also a bit of Prince in Kick - less of a band album and more a vehicle for Hutchence IMHO.

 

Yeah, I got Models and Friends a couple of weeks ago. When I went for a second look they'd binned the lot.

 

INXS - INXSIVE

This, followed by Listen like thieves.

The swing was so popular I can hardly listen to it now, after that meh

 

Listened to THE Swing today. I had forgotten how great of an album this is. Wonderful music.

 

For me their best album start to finish is The Swing. The sound on Listen Like Thieves is killer and even the US release is a timtom cut. Despite being a digital recording the Kick LP sounds stellar.

 

Why not on cd?!?!?!?!?

 

I have no idea. It is a glaring omission in my opinion

 

The dynamic between U2 and INXS was interesting in that era.. by the late 80s they were both trying to nail that fusion of dance music & rock.. I seem to recall reading a story about Michael blabbing to Bono about how INXS were gonna go down that path even more with the followup to Kick, which supposedly gave Bono an idea or 2 for what became Achtung Baby.

Kinda a parallel to the Beach Boys vs Beatles production race. The Beach Boys jumping ahead with Pet Sounds (as INXS did with Kick), the Beatles putting out a damn fine album in Revolver that same year (likewise U2 with the Joshua Tree), then pulling ahead with Sgt Pepper (as U2 did with Achtung Baby).

 

Are you referring to "Original Sin"?

Like some others here, INXS for me are a band where I like a few singles but not enough to consider buying an album. By the time they got to Listen Like Thieves they were an accomplished band but were starting to sound... generic, for want of a better word. They embraced the American funk sound, which of course they were entitled to do, but in the process seemed to lose a bit of what had made them distinctive.

I wish they had done more songs like "Johnson's Airplane".

 

I don't see this as a bad thing, although I wonder if perhaps it was perceived that way at the time. I also put Depeche Mode's Songs Of Faith And Devotion in that group...not necessarily trying to be Achtung, but following the template of an incredibly successful 80's band trying to reinvent itself in the early 90's. I think all three records might be each band's best, honestly.

 

Shabooh Shoobah HANDS DOWN but only because it has held up. I can still get off on it and The Swing much more than the others. I chewed the flavor out of Kick etc. pretty quickly when they came out.

 

original sin was pretty good ... i thought johnson's aeroplane was probably the best song off the swing.
no i was talking about don't change and black and white off shabooh shoobah
Don't Change


Live in the US, their first big exposure there I believe
INXS - Don't Change (Live)

Black and white
inxs - Black and White - Shabooh Shoobah

Live at the same show that i wish would come out on DVD
INXS - Black And White (Live)

 

Kick. Best combination of rock-pop-dance. Such unique song structure. No band's ever come near attaining that combination as splendidly as INXS.

Early recordings were more new-wave. While A. Farris/M. Hutchence (RIP) were the songwriters, I know I've read about Nile Rogers (Chic) being involved somewhere! & would stand to reason their sound changed & was met with overwhelming success! Tried googling, but any search involving Nile Rogers is exhaustive!

 

Nile was the producer on Original Sin but I think that's it for his involvement with INXS. Nick Launay produced and mixed the rest of The Swing and did a splendid job in my book. Still my favorite album by them but Shabooh Shoobah was a close runner up.

 

When will this get reissued?
Seems perfect for RSD.

 

The swing is the best complete album, The rest are good but for me have way to much filler on them

 

Agreed but I'm just the opposite. I picked Shabooh Shoobah over The Swing but GEEZ are they close. Both of them held up over the years. I can listen to either album anytime and enjoy every minute. NONE of the other albums did that to me especially Kick. Kick had a shelf life of about a year. I'll probably never listen to it again but it's the most popular. Their breakout radio super smash!

 

I'd love to see a proper release of their non-album stuff and there's a ton of it.

I only managed to get a cassette of the Australian Dekadance. The promo only vinyl is crazy priced! I thought of it at a record convention this morning though because someone was playing the original version of Jackson while I was there.

 

Listen Like Thieves. Although their earlier stuff was what drew me in.

 

Voted 'kick'.

 

You’re right about the unique sound those early albums had. Listen Like Thieves, which is my fave, is the last time they sound like a uniquely Australian band.

 

Shabooh easily. The Swing has the sublime Johnson’s Aeroplane and sadly little else of merit. The Swing is better than anything from the competition that year but a bit of a letdown to us hardcore fans who were hoping for Shabooh part 2.

 

I need to pull some early 80s “new wave” era off the shelf again!

 

I voted for Shabooh, but it really is an impressive run of albums. The only one of the lot I don’t have is, quite surprisingly, The Swing, and it sounds like I need to remedy that. I heard it many years ago, but don’t recall it making much of an impression.

The talk of INXS vs. U2 reminds me of a heated discussion we had in 9th grade student body class (in the wake of Kick and The Joshua Tree). After much debate, it was determined that the class liked U2’s music better, but the girls thought Michael Hutchence was hotter than Bono.