CD Odyssey Disc 292: INXS

This next album is one that both Sheila and I owned when we moved in together. It is always fun to see which albums you and your partner both had before you met.

I remember mine was on tape at the time - I'm not sure if Sheila's was on CD or tape, but we have it on CD now - hence its place on the CD Odyssey.

Disc 292 is...Listen Like Thieves

Artist: INXS

Year of Release: 1985

What’s Up With The Cover?: I don't know how long I've owned this album, but in preparing to write this part of the review, I realized there is a guy faintly visible inside the giant block letters spelling the band's name. Dude has a very bad haircut, but I believe it was the style at the time, so I'll give it a pass.

How I Came To Know It: I can't remember. I've known INXS since high school, but as for "Listen Like Thieves", I think it might've been my old room mate Greg who had this record (again, on tape). At least that makes sense.

How It Stacks Up: We have three INXS albums, none of which is "Kick", surprisingly. Of the three, I'd say this one is as good as 1990s "X" and better than 1984's "The Swing", so I'll say it is tied for first.

Rating: 3 stars.

INXS is one of those bands that I find easy to like, but hard to love. The Powers of the Internet inform me that they have twelve studio albums, yet I only have three, and no desire to get a fourth (not even their mega-popular and aforementioned 1987 release, "Kick").

I think that they are a band of their time - the eighties. The drum machine sounds, and saxophone solos and all that stuff from the mid-eighties that usually annoy me, fit like a glove on "Listen Like Thieves".

The vocal stylings of Michael Hutchence are similarly a perfect fit for their time, he has a powerful voice that sounds like he's always singing in the back of his throat. It also has a detached quality that fits in with the synthetic sounds that were big in pop music at that time.

Hutchence died in 1997, due to strangulation with a belt - either for purposes of suicide or autoerotic asphyxiation (it is still a matter of debate). The brains behind the operation were and are the Farriss brothers, who have a real penchant for writing catchy pop licks. I rarely feel emotionally pulled into their writing, but I admit they are good at what they do.

"Listen Like Thieves" is the tale of two records, unfortunately. Side One is excellent, and has their breakthrough hit "What You Need" and a battery of other radio friendly, catchy pop songs, my favourites of which are the title track, "Listen Like Thieves" and "Shine Like It Does". "Shine Like It Does" manages to cross out of the emotional detachment of the time, and gives me a genuine sense of elation when I hear it.

It isn't the lyrics, either, which are largely forgettable. It is just the way the song is constructed to make you feel like things have always been OK, they're OK right now, and they're going to be OK in the future. Sometimes, that's all I need from my pop music, I suppose.

Side Two is a major drop off, with the best song being "This Time", and the remainder being largely forgettable. The obligatory 'we are respectable artists!' eighties instrumental "Three Sisters" is nearly unlistenable. Having one side not as good as the other is a bad combination when I owned this on tape - there was a lot of FF, then PLAY, then FF again, then RW, as I clumsily tried to guess where the next good song started.

In later years, INXS tarnished their legacy with the abominable, "Rock Star: INXS" - a reality TV show where the middle aged survivors of the band hold auditions to replace Hutchence as lead singer. They make long, impassioned speeches to the contestants about how they want a new front man - not just a replacement for Hutchence who 'could never be replaced.'

One by one, they eliminate the interesting contestants, until they settle on J.D. Fortune, a complete nob chosen principally because he sings and looks like Michael Hutchence.

Yes, I watched the show, and I admit I'm still bitter at having wasted the time, but it doesn't affect the joy I still get from "Listen Like Thieves" - an album of INXS' from a better time and a more honest place. It may not bowl me over, but it is still a good listen - especially on CD where it is way easier to skip the lesser tracks.

Best tracks: What You Need, Listen Like Thieves, Shine Like It Does, This Time