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Listen Like Thieves

INXS - Listen Like Thieves Audio CD

A fair review of the INXS "Listen Like Thieves" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all INXS reviews here, or go back to the INXS tabs.

Band: INXS
Title: Listen Like Thieves
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: What You Need 2: Listen Like Thieves 3: Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) 4: Shine Like It Does 5: Good & Bad Times 6: Biting Bullets 7: This Time 8: Three Sisters 9: Same Direction 10: One X One 11: Red Red Sun

Five great songs, the rest OK...
Guitars are now pushed out front of the synths, and little of their New Wave tendancies remain. 'Listen Like Thieves' marks the beginning of Phase Two of INXS' career, as they settle on a more straightforward rock sound. Since INXS had a strong rock influence on even their artiest tracks, this seems entirely natural, and they'd been moving in this direction for several albums anyway.

The first four songs are INXS classics: the funky 'What You Need', the similar-sounding title track, 'Kiss the Dirt', and the under-rated 'Shine Like It Does'. The first three became international hits, the latter is perhaps lesser known outside of Australia, but is one of their best songs and a fan favourite. On all four, the combination of rock, funk, pop and even soul works superbly. The problem is that after such a great opening, the rest of the album is a bit of a let down. Only 'This Time' (another under-rated gem) can stand alongside the opening four tracks. Elsewhere, the songs and arrangements aren't quite as strong, as if the band themselves were still trying to work out their new sound. In some ways, the album is a bit of a dry-run for their hugely successful 'Kick'.

Whatever its flaws, every INXS fan must have this album. No, it's not as consistent as 'The Swing' or 'Kick', but having five of their all time classic songs means you can forgive the album for wandering off track a bit. .

XS of INXS.

This one closes the first third of INXS career, leaving behind five years of non-relevant productions when it comes to commercial success, setting the band's sound mature enough and ready for their huge international success to come. Probably the best and most consistent of all INXS albums creatively, released a couple years before their mainstream success and grammy awards arrived along with their follow-on album, "Kick".

Smooth guitar swings, evocating armonies, hooking lyrics and a Michael Hutchence's voice at its peak, make this one a worth-every-penny purchase. Timeless. Highly recommended if you also like the 80's non-keyboard based new wave sound and post-punk rock mood.

For those noisy and stressed looking for kindo "Devil Inside" guitars: refrain from purchasing this one as you'll might find it boring.

Listening to this hurt
Except for one or two songs, I just couldn't get into the music. I got this as a package deal with INXS"s Kick album. I expected a little more zing to the music, and didn't feel it.

One of the most under-rated rock albums of all time
Most of the songs could have been singles; "What You Need", "Listen Like Thieves", and "This Time" apparently were released as such. Virtually forgotten since the band's two hit albums, Kick and X topped the charts, Listen Like Thieves nevertheless represented the gelling of INXS's sound into the danceable hard rock that would eventually make their career. A very listenable album and unfortunately, all but forgotten.
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My pick as the best INXS album

When I rate bands as being amongst the best of all time, I usually include three Australian bands as being in the top half dozen. . AC/DC, Midnight Oil and INXS. AC/DC are the premier riff band of all time, in my estimation. INXS would probably be second to them.

INXS has been charting in Australia since their very early days. I think that "One thing", from their album "Shabooh Shoobah" was their first chart success in America, and that had a terrific guitar riff to it. "The swing" was probably the album that cemented their status as a major band in Australia, though I don't think it really did much in the US.

This cd, "Listen like thieves" marked their return to the US charts, I think, with "What you need". Even though "Kick" was probably their most successful album, especially in the US, I don't think it is as good as "Listen like thieves". Sure, I gave "Kick" 5 stars in my review of it here, but that was mostly for having an album chok full of songs that did really well in the US.

When it comes to an album with songs that I really like on it [ignoring how well or otherwise they did in the US], this album comes out tops against the three other albums I used to own [used to have them on cassette-now have Kick, and this album on cd-plan on getting one of their hits compilations too].

Like "Kick" this cd has two songs which I count amongst INXS' best, i. e. "What you need" and "Kiss the dirt". "What you need" has a cool, discordant intro and a great, dirty guitar riff. It's guitar rock at its best-fused with a funky sound.

"Listen like thieves", the title track, is by no means a classic INXS song, but hey, I REALLY like it. I prefer it to the kind of songs that did really big business in the US off their "Kick" album, but which I can't really get into. It has a terrific ringing guitar lick in it.

Like "Kick", this album has a very strong opening line up of songs. One of my favourite INXS songs is "Kiss the dirt". It has a cool, swinging guitar riff, and later, a fantastic guitar bit where the guitarist just goes berko on the axe-a hot, funky, guitar riff to complement the previously cool guitar riff at the beginning of the song.

After the above three songs, comes the very nice "Shine like it does"-a slower tempo song with a cool bass line.

The other song from this album which may get some airplay in Australia is "This time". This song has a good, sing along kind of chorus.

I did make a note of the track "Three sisters" mainly because this is the bands first instrumental, as far as I can tell. It's not as good an instrumental as, say, Midnight Oil's "Weddingcake Island", or AC/DC's "DT", but it features an interesting rainforest noises like sound.

Both this album and "Kick" have two songs on each of them which I consider to be amongst this band's best [i. e. "What you need" and "Kiss the dirt", and "Guns in the sky" and "Never tear us apart"]. I give "Kick" 5 stars with my head, but I give "Listen like thieves" 5 stars with my heart, because it has a few other songs that I am more into than the other tracks on "Kick".

INXS are a band with a very strong focus on guitar riffs and cool beats and cool bass, along with cool sax solos, which is something different, but cool.

This is my pick as the INXS album you MUST own.

P. S. other Australian acts I have reviewed at this site include:

INXS-more albums reviewed here by me

Midnight Oil-multiple albums reviewed

The Vines

The Saints

Rogue Traders

Skyhooks

Alex Lloyd

Johnny O'Keefe

John Farnham.

You can see a complete list of all INXS discography, or go back to the INXS tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.