INXS - Listen Like Thieves (40th Anniversary Deluxe) (1985/2025) (Hi-Res)
FLAC (tracks) 24bit-48kHz - 2 GB
2:39:19 | Pop Rock, Synth-pop, New Wave | Label: Petrol Records
FLAC (tracks) 24bit-48kHz - 2 GB
2:39:19 | Pop Rock, Synth-pop, New Wave | Label: Petrol Records
Listen Like Thieves may not have been INXS's biggest album—that honor would certainly belong to its world-conquering follow-up, 1987's Kick—but it is arguably the band's best album. Its predecessor, 1984's The Swing, found INXS working out how to fuse their innate "modern-rock" edge with their growing affinity for rhythmic intensity, while Kick was the sound of a band that had buffed all of their quirkier edges away in pursuit of becoming a highly optimized hit-single machine. Right in the middle was Listen Like Thieves, the very definition of a "pivotal" album, not just for what it meant for INXS, but also for a rapidly maturing "alternative" music scene. They always had aspirations of chart dominance, but were also always highly unique in their execution, merging guitar-forward rockisms, serpentine rhythms, vocal swagger, and unconventional arrangements in a way that made them instantly identifiable and a formidable live presence.