Sometimes You Kick: INXS Kick at 30

I think what makes the Kick album so dynamic is that we weren’t so much interested in what everybody else was doing as we on what we wanted to do," says Farriss. "It’s really that simple. Michael and I were extremely focused as songwriters, and the band was very intent on making a series of recordings that we could be passionate about. ~ Andrew Farriss

INXS's sixth album

Released October 19, 1987

Mercury Records

Top Hits:

New Sensation

Need You Tonight / Mediate

Devil Inside

Never Tear Us Apart

Copies sold to date: Almost 20 million

Personal Trivia:

• Kick was one of my first two CDs (the other was The Joshua Tree). 
• I would play Devil Inside at Pizza Hut in Ebensburg and my mom would shoot me a look every time the line it's hard to believe we need a place called hell would come on, as I was not allowed to sing that part.
• I used to draw the Kick and INXS logo on all my paper bag covered school books. 

Kick was INXS's sixth studio album but, for many in the US, it was the first they had heard (and seen MTV generation) of the band. Their previous album and title song, Listen Like Thieves, was a gateway into what was coming next for the band, The sound is what will be coined as classic INXS:  Tim Farriss's infamous chords, Jon Farriss's tight drumming, Andrew Farriss's romantic keyboards, Garry Garry Beers amalgamizing bass,   Kirk Pengilly's sexy saxophone, and Michael Hutchence's soulful voice (among other things). This album fused the sound of their previous studio recordings. You can catch influences on each song, yet also see the steps forward towards creating a sound they would continue to hone on their seventh album, X.

As stated above, it was also the MTV generation. So when you think of Devil Inside, you don't necessarily think of the driving guitar, the speaker alternating percussion, or the bass that carries each moment of the song. No, you think of a caramelized Michael Hutchence in a gray suit and 80's white turtleneck. and perfectly tousled hair and a woman in a black dress walking on a bar.

Kick gave us many songs of our youth. New Sensation, Need You Tonight/Mediate, Mystify, Devil Inside, and of course, Never Tear Us Apart. The videos offered up a new way for us to enjoy this band from the land down under. Their sound successfully blended funk, soul, rock, and a new wave 80's sound that made them unique and not cliche. They didn't try to mimic U2, but did politicize on a few songs. Their dance-able tracks, sexy love songs, strong song writing, and colorful videos remain a hallmark of INXS. Thirty years after it's release, Kick remains one of the top albums of the 80's.

Guns in the Sky

New Senstation

Devil Inside

Need You Tonight

Mediate

The Loved One

Wildlife

Never Tear Us Apart

Mystify

Kick 

Calling All Nations

Tiny Daggers