The slashing guitar in Good + Bad Times lends the song the edge it needs. This one could easily pass under the radar but it’s surprisingly good and packs a lot into under three minutes.
Just went to revisit Listen Like Thieves on Spotify and it's missing, along with a few others. What gives?
Over the years, I've had to correct many music fans, who obviously weren't INXS fans, that thought because they heard a few singles from Kick or X, that they were strictly a pop band. Well, Good + Bad Times is one of many examples of how well INXS could rock and rock hard, while still maintaining a melodic foundation. Their live sound is on full display here. After one of the best segue intros of their catalogue emerges, you're stimulated into discovering the verses & taken into a melodic environment with a snippet of heavy guitar fills. And when the chorus hits, the chunky bass lines & heavy guitar riff in particular, anchor the track. There is such great momentum here. And then out of nowhere, the instrumental interlude walks right in, and Kirk's solo lifts you up, until you're brought back into the verses. G+BT is an excellent album track and one the best rock songs of the '80s!
I've got a nice glass of whiskey, dog on my lap, wife out of the house, and in a few minutes I'm going to kick off the next album we'll be covering (as soon as the album that's playing now finishes). I've got to get my song-by-song notes ready!
Biting Bullets I actually like this track. It races along nicely with the guitar rolling some nice riffs over the keys, and a nice uptempo rhythm sections. Interestingly the chorus guitar has a sort of Big Country guitar sound to it. Don't you wonder Is anyone that strong It takes me under Believing what I'm seeing I get so tired of watching friends go down The hungry tiger for all who never began Biting bullets Biting the clouds Biting bullets Biting the clouds I saw the show Shaking all the babies Should I believe the parade of clever lies Shadow of light in the shadow of death There is no difference to all who never began There was a time There was a way to live And it's no secret That it won't come back again I lose myself like anybody else But I'm not so strong to make it in the end I need some answers when the day comes crashing down 'Cause it's all over when there's no one to be found Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Kirk Pengilly Biting Bullets lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group There isn't anything fancy about this track. It comes in immediately and punches out its message, and does it well. It isn't the strongest track on the album sure, but it does its job efficiently and for me it is a solid album track.
"This Time" Single by INXS from the album Listen Like Thieves Released November 1985 Recorded 1985 Label Atlantic Songwriter(s) Andrew Farriss Producer(s) Chris Thomas "This Time" is a song recorded by the Australian band INXS. It is from their 1985 album Listen Like Thieves. "This Time" was the second after "What You Need" in Australia and New Zealand, but album's lead single elsewhere. It reached the top 20 in Australia. It was the only song from the album solely written by Andrew Farriss. The video was directed by Peter Sinclair, who directed Culture Club's music videos, amongst others. (INXS: This Time (Video 1985) - Cast & Crew - IMDb ) Australian 7" 7-258836 "This Time" – 3:11 "Sweet as Sin" – 2:20 UK 7" INXS 5 "This Time" – 3:11 "Original Sin (Extended Version)" – 2:20 US 7" single 7-89497 "This Time" – 3:11 "I'm Over You" – 4:08 Chart (1986) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart 19 UK Singles Chart 79 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[6] 40 US Billboard Hot 100 81 US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The cover for the UK double 7" A This Time B Original Sin (Extended Version) C Burn For You (Extended Remix) D Dancing On The Jetty A 12" cover from Germany This Time is a very cool little song. This track got a ton of radio play in Australia, possibly more than all the other singles on this album, and it seemed to last on the radio longer than any of the other tracks to... this is from my memories of the time at least, and they could be flawed. I will believe you If you say it's true Girl you know I need you More than any word spoken I've seen you before Turn and walk away You say you won't come back It's a game anyway We are hoping, yes and we're praying This time will be the last time That we will fight like this This time will be the last time That we will fight like this...hey! We are always wanting Things we cannot find You know that we are always wasting time We are hoping, yes and we're praying This time will be the last time That we will fight like this This time will be the last time That we will fight like this You know I can forget We have fought before I've seen inside your heart And I know it's breaking We are hoping, yeah and we're praying Maybe this time will be the last time That we will fight like this This time will be the last time That we will fight like this This time will be the last time Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Andrew Farriss This Time lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group This track somewhat works as an uptempo ballad, and it manages to retain a little bit of punch. So many ballad type songs from the eighties seemed to lean towards being weepy, and melancholic... and there's certainly nothing wrong with that, but at various points in the eighties it seemed a little like overkill, particularly when we got towards the 87-90 period of time. This song opens up with a really nice guitar, and the vocal comes in and then the keyboard adds a really nice melodic texture to the verse. The chorus punches in with a sort of exuberant feel, and to some degree, I think that is what carried this song along so well. I guess again to some degree, it surprises me that this didn't do a little better as a single. Again the arrangement is very strong. To some degree we get quite a few songs on this album that are more simplistic than the tracks on the Swing. That certainly doesn't make them worse at all, I think it just fits in with the back to basics live in the studio kind of sound they were going for here. Although released on 12" singles around the world, there was no extended mix that I am aware of, and it seems the band wisely used the 12" singles to promote songs from previous albums.
Sweet As Sin was one of the b-side tracks released with this single, but we also had it as a b-side on some of the What You Need singles, and we looked at it already. I'm Over You was the other b-side, and it also appeared as a b-side with various editions of What You Need, and again, we have already looked at it.
Reference guide The band's origins May 1980 Simple Simon / We Are The Vegetables Aug 1980 Live Paris Theatre, Sydney Oct 1980 Inxs (debut album) On A Bus Doctor Just Keep Walking - On TV Learn To Smile Jumping In Vain - live - interview Roller Skating - live Body Language Newsreel Babies Wishy Washy - live Just Keep Walking b-side Scratch Mar 1981 The Loved One/The Unloved One Sept 1981 Stay Young/Lacavocal Oct 1981 Underneath The Colours Stay Young Horizons Big Go Go Underneath The Colours Fair Weather Ahead Night Of Rebellion Follow Barbarian What Would You Do? Just To Learn Again Prehistoria - bside 1982 INXSive Live 8/12/1982 -Sydney Four Corners - Flavour Of The Month After Dark Interview Oct 1982 Shabooh Shoobah - Ad The One Thing - 12" - live - countdown To Look At You - 12" - live 84 Spy Of Love - live Soul Mistake - live Here Comes - live Black And White - live Golden Playpen - live Jan's Song - live Old World New World - live Don't Change - Countdown b-sides Space Shuttle Phantim Of The Opera Sax Thing You Never Used To Cry Here Comes II Go West Long In Tooth 1982 Freedom Soundtrack - with Don Walker Speed Kills Forest Theme Stop The Drop - live Feb 83 Inxs at LA Zoo Mar 1983 Live At Perkins Palace May 1983 US Festival Sept 1983 Dekadance US Black And White 12" To Look At You 12" The One Thing 12" Here Come II new version Apr 1984 The Swing Original Sin - single - video Melting In The Sun - video I Send A Message - single - live - live - live Dancing On The Jetty - video The Swing - live Johnson's Aeroplane Love Is (What I Say) - video - videos Face The Change - live Burn For You - single mix - live All The Voices - video B-sides Jans Song/To Look At You (live) Mechanical The Harbour Johnson's Aeroplane alt. April 1984 Dekadance Original Sin - Dance Mix I Send A Message - ext Burn for You - ext Dancing On The Jetty - remix Melting In The Sun - remix Love Is ( What I Say) - remix Jackson 1985 The Swing And Other Stories (video) The video Merry Christmas (fan club) Oct 1985 Listen Like Thieves What You Need - 12" Listen Like thieves - 12" - video Kiss The Dirt - video - 12" Shine Like It Does - live Good + Bad Times Biting Bullets This Time b-sides Sweet As Sin I'm Over You Different World Begotten Six Knots
Recently listened to a 1986 show where Michael introduced "Biting Bullets" as an anti-heroin song. Never caught that on my own, but makes sense now.
Biting Bullets -- 3/5. Good song which throbs quiet nicely. Do I say to myself, let me hum this song as I walk? Well, no. Good nonetheless. Has more energy than the prior song and a good way to start side 2 of the vinyl or cassette days. It's also very, very short, which is cool as it hints back to their early days. This Time - 4/5. All the pieces are there for this to be a great song, but it just misses the mark. Perhaps, it was too perfectly constructed. To these ears, there is a piece missing in here that doesn't allow me to give it a 5 out of 5. I also dislike songs about love and fighting. How many more do we really need?
Biting Bullets is a little different - the rhythm is almost a shuffle, and it’s a fun track. Next up is another killer tune. This Time has another memorable melody, tight rhythm, and perfect vocal delivery of a hopeful lyric. Again there’s a lot to discover musically; I love the acoustic guitar flourishes. Another A+ song.
Biting Bullets Although short, it is repetitive and I think it is one of the weaker tracks on the album. As an opener of Side Two of the LP it was just “ok”. On a CD, this track back-to-back with Good + Bad Times doesn’t work for me and I think this is one of the tracks that could have been replaced with Do Wot You Do or Different World. This Time Great single from the band. It almost feels out of place on this album, but it’s so good it had to go on there somewhere - hence the awkward placement on Side Two. The acoustic guitar flourishes are great, and I love the guitar solo. The solo sort of takes its own time against the breakneck pace of the rest of the song, and has a spaghetti-western Ennio Morricone feel to it.
Oddly, Biting Bullets includes no intro and contains an extremely up-tempo rhythm-centric base with a hard rock feel. When the chorus hits, it's partly driven by pentatonic scale based guitar lines. After the bridge slows the track down considerably, it speeds back into its up-tempo glory before ending quickly. It's definitely not a single but a good album track nonetheless. This Time opens with a suitable mood-enhancing guitar arpeggio sequence, before Jon launches the song into the verses. The bridge is very effective and does a fantastic job setting up the vocal prominence and guitar accompaniment in the climaxing chorus. And Kirk's short but sweet guitar solo in the interlude fits well. This is a great pop rock love song. And I'm also very surprised it was only a moderate hit.
Three Sisters This seems like an unusual track to put on the album in a lot of ways. It is reminiscent of some of the earlier b-sides in its somewhat playful, experimental type nature. We have a fairly moderate instrumental, with some nice parts through it, and some .... sort of Jungle noises in the background. There is some nice sax and a pretty good groove, but it doesn't really go anywhere for me. I don't dislike it particularly, but it doesn't bring much to the party.
Three Sisters -- 3/5. Interesting curio. The song's placement always struck me as being odd. It screams to have been the last track on side one, or the track before the last one. I do like the noises, though they seem to be a test drive for anyone wanting to buy a sampler/synth of the the model Andrew used. Nonetheless, I never skip it. It's fun.
Same Direction I think this is a fairly strong song. I like the way the introduction builds and then bursts into the chordal melody that becomes the main hook. The guitar has that very eighties overdriven/distorted sound with some grinding of the vibrato (whammy) bar. And we all just need the same things I tell you what I know We're heading in the same direction So never let it go There are few of us Who will never know We're counting on every day I'm not sure about You're not sure about Why things are going this way Believe it You can see it I will turn around Try to understand All of the feelings unsaid If you're serious love is dangerous It changes my world every day Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Michael Hutchence / Andrew Farriss Same Direction lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group I suppose that this track is lyrically sparse, but I think that it works effectively. We open with what sounds like a pulsing synth bass, but it could well be a bass with an effect on it. As I say we get a nice build that leads into the vocals. We get a nice instrumental breakdown, that has a couple of guitar bits that add nice texture. At the end of the day the guitar and vocal in the "believe it" section are what make this song for me.
I'm sure it was unintentional but I hear "Three Sisters" as almost a goodbye to the old, quirky INXS. They were entering a different stratosphere.
The not-quite-instrumental (as there are audible vocals, just not words) Three Sisters tries to be a moody piece but doesn’t quite work for me. With its relentless and almost unchanging rhythm, Same Direction seems like an attempt at a straight dance track. It’s not bad, the chorus is nice, and there are a lot of percussion details, but it’s not particularly appealing to me and it’s too long.
