INXS “Kick”

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#514 in the Series, and #32 in the Whale Wednesday Series) is INXS, Kick.

I always thought that INXS were just a little bit different from any other rock band that I knew of, they always had this little bit of “funk” in their music that was oddly identifiable to only them.  That I think is a real cool thing.  I love uniqueness. These guys had it in gobs.

INXS followed that familiar path to stardom.  Great early releases, build a base, get a little bit more mainstream without losing you identification, let the base get a little bigger, have a big album, then have a huge follow-up. It’s that easy boys and girls.

I may have actually done them a bit of a disservice there.  They really didn’t change to the mainstream all that much from their earlier days. I think they kept their integrity quite well through their career.  I was probably more or less a process of keep building on what you’ve done before. (OK, maybe having a reality show to find a new league singer hurt their credibility a wee bit.)

Kick peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.  It was their highest peaking release. X peaked at #5 while Listen Like Thieves hit up to #13.  It has sold over 6 million units in the US alone to date.

“Need You Tonight” was the first single and all it did was hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Following that single’s success in order of release and listed with peak position were “Devil Inside” (#2), “Never Tear Us Apart (#7) and “New Sensation (#3).  How strong does an album have to be that “New Sensation” is the 4^th single pulled?!

I wish Michael Hutchence, were still with us. I’d love to hear what they would be doing now. They began somewhat of a dry spell a little after this. X was OK I guess. I have a feeling that they would have eventually hit another little peak period and made another run at it, but we’ll never know.

— Larry Carta

Track listing

All songs written by Andrew Farriss & Michael Hutchence, except where noted.

1. “Guns in the Sky” (Michael Hutchence) – 2:21
2. “New Sensation” – 3:39
3. “Devil Inside” – 5:14
4. “Need You Tonight” – 3:01
5. “Mediate” (Andrew Farriss) – 2:36
6. “The Loved One” (Ian Clyne, Gerry Humphreys and Rob Lovett) – 3:37
7. “Wild Life” – 3:10
8. “Never Tear Us Apart” – 3:05
9. “Mystify” – 3:17
10. “Kick” – 3:14
11. “Calling All Nations” – 3:02
12. “Tiny Daggers” – 3:29

Personnel

• 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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