INXS - Kick

Throughout the early 1980s, INXS kept threatening to go big league, and with 1987's Kick they broke wide open, sENDing a sharp quartet of singles--"New Sensation," "Devil Inside," "Need You Tonight," and the shimmering ballad "Never Tear Us Apart"--right to the charts. The rest of Kick, especially the strutting "Guns in the Sky" and the groovy "Wild Life," is of similar quality; all of it is marked by the band's Stones-y guitars and angular, funk-tinged rhythms. Vocalist Michael Hutchence's MTV good looks and Aretha-meets-Aerosmith swagger completed the musical equation for both the girls and the boys. One of the decade's great live bands, too. --Michael Ruby Amazon.com

Catchy and Mystifying

Aussie rock legend INXS's 1987 effort has four of my top favorite songs: NEW SENSATION, DEVIL INSIDE, I NEED YOU TONIGHT(PLUS MEDIATE), and NEVER TEAR US APART.

Compared with their previous album LISTEN LIKE THIEVES, Earthen Aussie rock appeal has faded a bit but compensated well enough by upbeat, catchy and well-hooked songs. Part of the reason I NEED YOU TONIGHT became a huge sensation might be the addition of the fifth track MEDIATE, which is aptly used in their promotional video clip. WILD LIFE seems bland at first but with repeated listens it gradually become irresistible. Similar things can be said about MYSTIFY and CALLING ALL NATIONS. First track GUNS IN THE SKY really kicks an Axx. TINY DAGGERS is in contrast a fun pop song that closes the album happily.

Verdict: An entertaining album that represents the band's career.
Rating: 91 out of 100
Recommended for: Aussie rock fans, 80s pop rock fans in general. February 18, 2008

look at them go, look at them kick

kick was inxs' biggest selling album. with 4 top 10 hits,it sold 4 million copies in the u.s. alone. the videos for the hits were always on mtv. the hits were need you tonight (#1),devil inside (#2),new sensation (#3),and never tear us apart (#7). other songs were mistify,kick,guns in the sky,mediate,(goes together with need you tonight.)wild life,calling all nations, and tiny daggers. i still enjoy listening to kick, it is my favorite album by inxs. ed wilson July 22, 2007

never one to be kicked

inxs lead by the leather and hips god michael hutchence
andrew farris as co songwriter..inxs could do no wrong in my opipion and this album only succeeds my opipion of their great ablity to write catchy as hell melodies and easy to the ear lyrics that some might call childish but there simple and affective..
inxs were a great pop rock punk band whom early albums got the world ready for this corker of an album
from the opening track "guns in the sky" and single also they made a great video were they were walking through a corrider and hutchence swagger and sexual appeal oozed like oxygen
the other singles the devil inside "never tear us apart"
"need you tonight" and "meditate" were they took a page out of bob dylan's book for the video

i've loved every single album inxs has put out..
this being in the top three with "listen like thieves"
and "elagantly wasted"

after this album inxs went on to make under-rated classic albums one being the follow up "x" and "full moon dirty heart"
inxs were great for the dance beats and rock riffs..with a swaggering golden god as the vocalist
January 30, 2006

INXS sets the template for the 90's

Call Kick what you will, a landmark album, a definitive album, it certainly is all that. This along with 'Appetite For Destruction' provided a glimpse of the DIY musical revolution that was about to take place in the early 90's. Before Kick, INXS casually rode the crest of synth-tinged rock, successful but nothing exceptional. Kick captured the essence of a soon-to-be musical shift, music with attitude, sexuality, and non-conformist brashness...with the seductive Micheal Hutchence fronting a band of suave renegades. Alot of music in the 80's was about escapism and over-the-top hoopla, Kick signaled that the party was about to end. The album itself is a blend of shimmering guitars, funk-driven rhythms, glossed-over by keyboards, while fronted by a slinky Jim Morrison type in Hutchence. Yet it's the guitar-percussion pairing that gives Kick it's amazing bite, swagger, and groove (Need You Tonight, New Sensation, Wild Life, Mediate, Guns In The Sky) I remember when this album first came out. I also remember the sense of lure and nastiness hearing these songs, how I was captivated seeing Micheal Hutchence beckon 'Slide over here' in Need You Tonight. If anything can come out of the death of Micheal Hutchence, Kick was the musical zeitgeist, one of the the turning-points, which paved the way for a generation to slide-over to the next decade. May 2, 2005

Remastered version Kicks this sonically, but.....

...the re-issue suffers from real drag bonus cuts. The song "Jesus Was A Man" is an out take and SOUNDS it. The demo of "Mystify" is somewhat interesting, but the remaining tracks were unreleased for a reason. Better to just remaster the disc in its perfection than smear it with these leftover chunks of sonic vegetable matter. Michael Hutchence deserves better.

INXS took a major shift in their approach to the sound of their best album. Instead of the often smothering layers of sound that were the calling card of most of their prior albums, the band stripped the sound down to its bare bones. "Guns In The Sky" detonates with lead singer Michael Hutchence grunting over the crash of Jon Farris' drumbeat. A power riff worthy of fellow Aussies AC/DC begins cutting in and the band then tears into a plaint on the Star Wars global arm race.

Things just got better from there. "Kick" was INXS's crowning achievement in the studio, showing off a funkier, more confident band. The American breakout hit, "Need You Tonight," was beat driven enough to find a home on the dance floors (along with it's Dylanesque coda, "Mediate"), while the Stonesy howl of "Devil Inside" put some heavy duty spark on 1987/88 rock radio. This was a radio watershed album, with "I Need You Tonight," "New Sensation" "Devil Inside" and the soul-blues of "Never Tear Us Apart" becoming inescapable party songs and great videos before MTV abandoned music. There isn't a wasted song on "Kick." The remastered sound makes it even more punch than the original CD. March 17, 2005

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