INXS - The Album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Nov 19, 2020.

  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I forgot to post the lyrics yesterday, apologies

    What You Need - lyrics

    Hey, here is the story
    Forget about the troubles in life
    Don't you know, it's not easy
    When you gotta walk upon that line

    That's why
    You need
    That's why
    This is what you need, I'll give you what you need

    Don't you get sad and lonely
    You need a change from what you do all day
    Ain't no sense in all your crying
    Pick it up and throw it into shape

    That's why you need, oh that's why
    This is what you need, I'll give you what you need
    This is what you need, I'll give you what you need
    This is what you need, I'll give you what you need
    I'll give you what you need

    Hey you, won't you listen?
    This is not the end of it all
    Don't you see is a rhythm
    I'll take you where you really need to be
    I'll take you, I'll take you where you want to be
    That's right, I'll take you

    Source: LyricFind
    Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Farriss
    What You Need lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    "Listen Like Thieves"

    [​IMG]
    Australian 7-inch vinyl single
    Single by INXS
    from the album Listen Like Thieves
    B-side
    "Different World"
    Released June 1986
    Recorded 1985
    Genre Alternative rock, new wave, hard rock
    Length 3:47
    Label Atlantic
    Songwriter(s) Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly
    Producer(s) Chris Thomas

    "Listen Like Thieves" is the title song and fourth and final single from Australian rock band INXS's fifth album, Listen Like Thieves. The B-side to the single was "Different World", which appeared on the "Crocodile" Dundee soundtrack. It was released a single during 1986, having first appeared on the album which was released in October 1985.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    A1 Listen Like Thieves (Extended Remix)Remix – Francois Kevorkian*, Michael Hutchinson 5:44
    A2 Listen Like Thieves (Instrumental Remix)Remix – Francois Kevorkian*, Michael Hutchinson 4:07
    B1 Listen Like Thieves (Live Version) 4:14
    B2 Begotten (Instrumental)Bass [Upright] – Gary Beers*Engineer – Andrew Scott, David NicholasMixed By – David NicholasPercussion [Traps] – Jon FarrissPiano – Andrew FarrissProducer, Performer, Written-By – Kirk Pengilly 3:17

    [​IMG]

    A Listen Like ThievesEngineer – Steve ChurchyardProducer – Chris ThomasWritten-By – INXS 3:46
    B BegottenEngineer – Andrew ScottEngineer, Mixed By – David NicholasProducer, Written-By – Kirk Pengilly 3:07
    C One X One (Live)Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Mark OpitzWritten-By – A. Farriss*, M. Hutchence* 3:15
    D XS Verbiage (INXS Interview) 4:49

    -------------------------------------------------------
    Again there are many version of this single, and its subsequent 12"/extended mix release.

    Here are some interesting observations from Songfacts

    • In this song, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence asks us not to believe everything we read and hear. Discerning the truth takes vigilance, and it's all in our hands. By this time, Hutchence had a good feel for the media and understood their powers and limitations. As a rock star, he saw how he was processed for consumption, which was fine for entertainment, but not when it comes to news and politics. To get the real story, listen like thieves.
    • Hutchence wrote this song with band members Andrew Farriss and Garry William Beers. In a 2020 Songfacts interview with Farriss, he talked about the phrase "listen like thieves" and the meaning behind the lyrics. "Michael put that string of words together," he said. "Someone said to me recently that it sounds like a British poet from back in the 19th century. But that particular string of words is not a modern vernacular."

      Farriss added: "I think it's a very clever phrase to use for a song because through the generations there has been a constant struggle within most cultures to feel like you're controlling your own destiny within the government. I think that was part of what Michael's lyric was: The idea that the media haven't been great watchdogs, and that it is important that there are people who champion the truth. I think that's really what he was getting at."
    • This was the title track and last single from the fifth INXS album, which found them developing an international fanbase thanks to the lead single, "What You Need." "Listen Like Thieves" suffered because it didn't get a video - the band was very photogenic and did very well on MTV. Still, the song charted in both the US and UK at a time when they were not yet well known in those territories. That changed with the release of their next album, Kick, in 1987.
    On the talk back show
    On the radio
    At the local bar
    In the hot traffic by the red tail lights

    Everybody's down on their knees
    Listen like thieves
    But who needs that
    When it's all in your hands?

    And we take it down
    To the end of town
    Where they have control
    But they're losing touch when the lights go out

    Everybody's down on their knees
    Listen like thieves
    But who needs that
    When it's all in your hands?

    Everybody's down on their knees
    Listen like thieves for the answers
    But who needs that
    When you've got it all in your hands
    It's all in your hands
    It's all in your hands, eh

    You are all you need
    You are all you need
    And that is everything
    So don't hesitate
    There's no time to waste
    You just, just do it for yourself

    I said everybody's down on their knees
    Listen like thieves
    But who needs that
    When it's all in your hands
    You got it all
    You got it all
    It's all in your hands
    You got it all, got it all

    I said everybody's down on their knees
    Listen like thieves
    But who needs that
    When it's all in your hands

    Source: Musixmatch
    Songwriters: Andrew Charles Farriss / Garry William Beers / Michael Kellan Hutchence
    Listen Like Thieves lyrics © Chardonnay Investments Ltd., Inxs Publishing Pty. Ltd.

    Not sure how accurate those lyrics are, I always thought it was I'm A Talk Back Show, but anyhow, I'm sure most of you guys know them anyway.

    A really interesting lyric on this track, and rather than me waffling, here is a link to a site called Hutch Lyrics, where they look at these lyrics, and others. Quite interesting, to me at least.
    Listen Like Thieves

    This may well be my favourite track on this album ... I reserve the right to change that opinion as we go through though :)

    I love the opening, that tacet guitar doubled with a low mixed keyboard sounds great, and the band waste no time moving into the track.
    The music in the verse is great. Rather than the regular kind of chordal strum with accents, we get this layering of riffs accented by chords and it really gives the verse an excellent feel.
    When we roll into the chorus we move into series of held impact chords, and again it works really well in context with the song.
    Again we have Beers and Farris giving us a great rhythm section.
    Again we have a great piece of arrangement that brings the song to life in really bright way, for a fairly dark subject.

    On this album we get a couple of really nice emphasis changes with the throwing in of some aggressive distorted guitar and this song is one of those instances.
    After the guitar insert we move into a nice melancholic sax, over the dancing guitar riffs, and then we get this very cool choppy lead guitar break, and we roll back into the bristling guitar accented chorus, and the dead stop finish is excellent to me.

     
  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Listen Like Thieves - extended mix

    Instantly we get a different sounding track. From the opening tacet guitar, through the instrumental, and into the vocal. The song has a very different texture.
    When we hit the chorus it sounds like the albums version.
    The subsequent verse is more like the album version, but there are a couple of subtle little differences.
    The bridge has a nice adjustment in the sound and focus.
    A lot of the rest of the track has some subtle little differences, some delay on some vocals and few little bits and pieces, but stays fairly similar to the album version.
    Where the song normally stops we get and extension and some nice guitar parts that flesh it out a little and give it a nice atmospheric fade.

    I like this, it mixes it up, but retains the personality of the song.

     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Different World bside

    Interestingly this track also ends up connected to the Kick album.... not sure on the story there, but I am sure someone here can fill us in on the details.

    Whereas most of the Inxs b-sides so far have seemed like experiments and such, this actually seems more like a song they may have been considering for the album, and it is a very good track, that could well have taken the place of something on the album..... based on this first time hearing of it.
    I saw Crocodile Dundee, but I don't remember the song lol

    Yea I like this track, quite a bit actually.

     
  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Begotten b-side

    Bass [Upright] – Gary Beers
    *Engineer – Andrew Scott, David Nicholas
    Mixed By – David Nicholas
    Percussion [Traps] – Jon Farriss
    Piano – Andrew Farriss
    Producer, Performer, Written-By – Kirk Pengilly


    This is somewhat more like I am used to from the b-sides we have had from the guys. We have something a little different.
    Here it sounds like Pengilly had been listening to some Glenn Miller and decided to do something of a somewhat similar styling.
    I actually like this track, and the slightly jazz/swing styling is something I have always enjoyed

     
  6. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    It says Baarn on the label, so this should be Dutch. Something to look for when stores reopen.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  7. Sconcho

    Sconcho Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Listen Like Thieves is a good example of how layered in hooks INXS could be. Listening now, you realise how carefully the songs were put together.

    I might sound like an old man here but why don’t any bands take this level of care anymore? Is there anything resembling a band like INXS in 2021?
     
  8. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Listen Like Thieves
    Subject matter wouldn't look out of place in the current situation.
    Distinct intro sounds kick off the title track. The verses aren't spectacular but the chorus really stays with you with the guitar, bass and Michael's timing. Really different bridge and then the song kind of trips towards the next chorus.
    It builds in direction of the sax and guitar solo parts and eventually the chorus outro. Classic INXS.
     
  9. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    Listen Like Thieves (the song)

    First off: I love the cowbell! Second of all: the phrase “listen like thieves” is a nice invention. A hip cool play with words. Thought not as insanely distinctive as “What You Need”, this indeed a very catchy tune. I like the midsection tempo where MH is repeating the lyrics but in a more spoken-word fashion, and I also love the guitar work throughout.

    Different World (Bside & Crocodile Dundee soundtrack)

    Sounds like a transition tune, somewhere in between the sounds of both Listen Like Thieves and Kick. It’s a little more conventional and has a brighter keyboard sound that I associate with Kick more than LLT. Maybe the Farris production credit has more to do with that, as Chris Thomas doesn’t seem to have recorded this one with the band. I think perhaps it was meant to be a standalone single, as both 7” and 12” versions were prepared and then released, but as Bsides. I’m guessing that after “What You Need” blew up and became a big hit the record label didn’t want to oversaturate the market with INXS and preferred to promote singles from the new album instead? The song is on the Kick 30th anniversary set as both versions were used as Bsides for singles from that album in various markets.
     
  10. Al Gator

    Al Gator You can call me Al

    The Listen Like Thieves title track keeps the momentum going. It’s totally different from the opener, yet just as compelling. The contrast between the verses and the short-but-sweet chorus is awesome. What a fantastic one-two punch to open the album!
     
  11. blastfurniss

    blastfurniss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marion, OH, USA
    This is one of my favorite INXS songs because I've always been a sucker for the way Hutchence sang the chorus. Something about the way he hits the "e" sound on "thieves."
     
  12. statcat

    statcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I don't understand this because there is a music video.

     
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Yea that is weird... I hadn't read that to be honest.
    I remember the video.... it was a pretty big production if I remember.... I'll have reminder look.

    Edit: yep, we saw that a lot it oz
     
  14. FLF

    FLF The insurgency began and you missed it.

    Location:
    Southern Oklahoma.
    We saw it a lot here in the states as well. Not super heavy rotation, but it definitely got a decent amount of time on MTV.
     
  15. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    Another great thing about the song Listen Like Thieves is that it has a very good instrumental section that turns into a guitar solo in the 2nd half of the song. Lots of guitars on this album, but INXS didn’t tend to do a lot of guitar solos. This album has a fine one on this track and a real ear-grabber on the next track.
     
  16. Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD

    Moggio_4K_Ultra_HD Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    The title track is my favourite song from LLT. And it's in my top 10 favourite INXS songs of all time! And for a variety of reasons. I love how the short intro just invites you into the verses. And it's very clever how the track appears to be a hard rock song, despite not necessarily being so, because it still has a groove / funk rock feel to it, with bass slaps & dual jagged / angular guitar riffs, somewhat similar to those on The Swing. Rhythmically, it's totally in-the-pocket throughout. Kirk's sax lines enhance the mood and the instrumental interlude presents the ideal atmosphere that leads you to Tim's short, but amazingly cool, guitar solo. And partly because of that, it's fun as hell to play guitar along to it. In 1986, Musician Magazine aptly named INXS, "The World's Best Live Band." And considering this track is significantly better live, here is an amazingly good live version that definitely needs to be seen/heard, from the tv show, The Tube, on January 17, 1986...

    INXS - Listen Like Thieves + Michael Interview (The Tube) - YouTube


    The extended version of the title track, does almost exactly the same thing as the extended version of WYN does, in that it totally emphasizes the bass and drums more prominently, as well as brings the cowbell and some of the guitar riffs to the fore. What an excellent mix!

    Different World has all the elements of a classic pop rock song, which it is. And it probably should've wound up on Kick. But then again, stylistically, it's more descriptive of a bridge between LLT and Kick. Which is more than likely why they didn't include it on Kick.

    I'm indifferent towards Begotten, as it's only mildly likeable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2021
  17. DanP

    DanP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    For a while it seemed that Richard Lowenstein was becoming as much of a rock star as the bands for whom he made videos. He used to carry himself with a similarly Hutchencean swagger. He also made the videos that made Duran Duran's exotic and moneyed reputation (ironic considering they'd filmed in Sri Lanka etc because it was very cheap). The Listen like Thieves video to me echoes Duran's Wild Boys, and a few other MadMax style dystopias. I remember Molly (him again!) sledging this video, saying they'd lost the plot and it was too expensive and incoherent. he'd get stuck into them again in the fallout of the controversial Concert for Life in 1992, which hopefully the thread will cover even though it wasn't a record or video. An important part of the Australian INXS story.
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Please remind me when we get closer to that. I am not even sure I know what it is. Cheers mate
     
  19. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    Russell Mulcahy directed those Duran videos.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)"

    [​IMG]
    Cover art for Australian and US vinyl editions
    Single by INXS
    from the album Listen Like Thieves
    Released
    March 1986
    Recorded August 1985
    Studio Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney
    Genre Alternative rock, pop rock, post-punk
    Length 3:56
    Label Atlantic
    Songwriter(s) Andrew Farriss
    Michael Hutchence
    Producer(s) Chris Thomas

    "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)" is a song by the Australian rock band INXS. It was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence and included as the third track on the 1985 album Listen Like Thieves.

    It was released as the album's third single in March 1986 and reached #15 on the Australian singles chart,[1] becoming the band's tenth Top 20 hit in their country.[1] It was, however, the band's seventh single that failed to chart in the United States, but it did manage to reach #24 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[2]

    In 2002, "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)" was included on the soundtrack of the popular and critically acclaimed Rockstar video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on its in-game radio station "Flash FM".

    The music video shows the band performing on a salt lake and on the moon plains in Coober Pedy in South Australia. The band flew direct from the United States to the site and filmed the clip overnight then flew back to the United States. In the bridge, the band is shown performing while fire and gloom cover the area, before the skies clear up at the end.

    It was directed by Alex Proyas.

    [​IMG]

    Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)3:52
    Six Knots0:51
    The One Thing (Live)3:15

    [​IMG]
    A1 Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)Engineer [Engineered By] – Steve ChurchyardProducer [Produced By] – Chris ThomasWritten-By – A. Farriss*, M. Hutchence* 3:53
    A2 Six KnotsEngineer [Engineered By] – Simon LeadleyWritten-By, Performer [Performed By], Producer [Produced By] – Kirk Pengilly 0:54
    B1 The One Thing (Recorded Live In Melbourne, Australia)Mixed By – Mark OpitzWritten-By – A. Farriss*, M. Hutchence* 3:14
    B2 Spy Of LoveProducer [Produced By] – Mark OpitzWritten-By – A. Farriss*, M. Hutchence* 3:55
    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    Playing in the dirt
    We find the seeds of doubt
    Don't water them with your tears
    Don't think about all the years
    You'd rather be without

    Eden lets me in
    I find the seeds of love
    And climb upon the highwire
    I kiss and tell all my fears

    Falling down the mountain
    End up kissing dirt
    Look a little closer
    Sometimes it wouldn't hurt

    Playing in the dirt
    We find the seeds of fun
    And we scream like alleycats
    Tearing down what we attack
    To prove that we are one

    Cutting through the night
    We find the seeds of lust
    And lose our minds on one intent
    These passions never seem to end

    Falling down the mountain
    End up kissing dirt
    Look a little closer
    Sometimes it wouldn't hurt
    You know it wouldn't hurt

    Falling down the mountain
    End up kissing dirt
    Look a little closer
    Sometimes it wouldn't hurt
    Get up, get up, get up, get up to the top, yeah
    I'm falling down the mountain
    End up kissing dirt, yeah
    I'm falling, falling

    Cutting through the night
    We find the seeds of lust
    And lose our minds on one intent
    These passions never seem to end

    Falling down the mountain
    End up kissing dirt
    Look a little closer
    Sometimes it wouldn't hurt

    Source: Musixmatch
    Songwriters: Farriss Andrew Charles / Hutchence Michael Kelland
    Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) lyrics © Chardonnay Investments Ltd., Xl Publishing Pty. Ltd., Inxs Publishing Pty. Ltd., Chardonnay Investments Ltd, Wb Music Corp Obo Xl Pub Pty Ltd

    I really like the lyrics to this track, and always have.

    This track grabbed me instantly on its release. The opening just has a nice easy feel to it. The clean guitars and the nice bass line, the underlying keys. This just has a nice breezy opening.
    Again we get a really well thought out structure and arrangement that, from my perspective at least, just really makes this a sweet spot on the album.
    As the song moves along we get this ever growing feel. It almost has a ballad, with a bit of a kick feel to it, but it also seems to keep growing, and then about two thirds of the way through it just punches in to emphasise, and I find that to be very effective.

    The punch in works likes a bridge and then we move back to another verse and chorus.
    Perhaps not the bands greatest song or anything, but one I have always greatly enjoyed.

    So the album opens up three for three, in my world.

     
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I thought so. He was pretty big in the early eighties music video world
     
    Bluepicasso likes this.
  22. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Listen Like Thieves 4/5. Another good song. As others stated, it keeps the flow going. Always liked the mental imagery with the lyrics. Now that is good imagery!
    Different World 4/5. Fantastic song. This song is more Kick than Listen Like Thieves era. Pointed the direction.
    Begotten 3/5. Doesn't move me as it should.
     
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    The Video

    This also got a lot of play on Aussie music shows. I don't remember the specifics of where the video was recorded, but we have some red dirt, and we look to have a salt lake also. These are very Aussie things, and it is cool that they used these images.

     
  24. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Kiss the Dirt 5/5. In my top shelf of INXS songs. Every note drips of inspiration. As anyone who has played in a band, I'm sure they all sat around on a high as they constructed this song and listened to the end result. The video also made the song what it is. Remember being in bars at the time, and when this came on the big screens at the time, atmosphere changed to where people where freer and more fluid. The beauty of music.
     
  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Kiss The Dirt Extended?

    Looking through the discogs files it doesn't appear that there was a 12" extended mix.... please correct me if I'm wrong.

    There is this online though, and perhaps it is one of those homemade things.... Please give us the lowdown on these things.

     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine