info.txt
Listen Like Thieves
Studio album by INXS
Released 14 October 1985
Recorded August 1985 @ Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney
Genre New Wave, Australian rock, alternative rock
Length 37:16
Label Atlantic, Mercury, WEA
Producer Chris Thomas
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 14 October 1985. It spent two weeks at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Considered an international breakthrough album for the band, it peaked at No. 11 on the United States Billboard 200, No. 24 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and top 50 in the United Kingdom. It featured their first top 5 single in the US, "What You Need". This album also marks the beginning of their off-and-on alliance with their producer, Chris Thomas.
Background
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth studio album by INXS. The Sydney-based group had formed in 1977 by three brothers Andrew on guitar and keyboards; Jon on percussion and drums; and Tim Farriss on guitar; together with Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar; Michael Hutchence on lead vocals; and Kirk Pengilly on guitar, saxophone, and vocals. Their previous album, The Swing (April 1984), had local chart success peaking at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 6 in New Zealand. Although appearing on international charts – No. 52 on United States Billboard 200, and No. 27 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums, INXS wanted to improve their world wide impact.
After recording their last album in New York and Oxfordshire, they returned to Sydney where they worked with Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols, Pretenders, Roxy Music) producing at Rhinoceros Studios.
Review scores
Allmusic 4/5 stars
Rolling Stone (1985) (favorable)
Rolling Stone (2004) 3.5/5 stars
Alpha 4/5 stars
Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that with Listen Like Thieves the band "completes its transition into an excellent rock & roll singles band". However "the new configuration only works for three songs", which were its first three singles, "What You Need", "Listen Like Thieves" and "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)". Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined that it had "a much harder sound than heard on previous INXS records, but somehow it lacked the pop smarts that had made The Swing so appealing".
Rolling Stone 's Parke Puterbaugh felt the group were "going for the jugular – or is that the groin?" and with Thomas they "forge an unlikely union between the sonic extremism of Led Zeppelin-style crunch rock and the step-lively beat of disco" such that the album "rocks with passion and seals the deal with a backbeat that'll blackmail your feet".
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence unless otherwise indicated.
1. "What You Need" - 3:35
2. "Listen Like Thieves" (Garry Gary Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly) - 3:47
3. "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)" - 3:56
4. "Shine Like It Does" - 3:05
5. "Good + Bad Times" (Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly) - 2:46
6. "Biting Bullets" (Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly) - 2:49
7. "This Time" (Andrew Farriss) - 3:11
8. "Three Sisters (Instrumental)" (Tim Farriss) - 2:27
9. "Same Direction" - 4:58
10. "One x One" - 3:05
11. "Red Red Sun" (Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss) - 3:32
Total length: 37:16
Personnel
INXS members
Garry Gary Beers – bass guitar
Andrew Farriss – guitar, keyboards
Jon Farriss – percussion, drums
Tim Farriss – guitar
Michael Hutchence – vocals
Kirk Pengilly – guitar, saxophone, vocals
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