NEW LP
New sealed copy. 2025 440th anniversary reissue.
Listen Like Thieves, released in October 1985, marks a pivotal moment in the career of Australian rock band INXS. Their fifth studio album and their first major international breakthrough, it elevated the group from local chart-toppers to global contenders, powered by the sleek production of Chris Thomas and a sharpened songwriting focus from the team of Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss.
The album’s defining moment came under pressure. Nearing the end of sessions at Sydney’s Rhinoceros Studios, Thomas told the band they still lacked a hit. With just a day left, Hutchence and Farriss turned to a leftover demo—cheekily titled “Funk Song No. 13”—and shaped it into “What You Need”, a tight, danceable rock track that became their first U.S. top 5 hit. The gamble paid off: Listen Like Thieves reached No. 1 in Australia, cracked the U.S. top 20, and expanded INXS’s reach across Canada and Europe.
While What You Need, Listen Like Thieves, and Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) carried the album’s commercial charge, the rest of the record blends post-punk guitars with polished, radio-friendly grooves—part dancefloor, part stadium. Hutchence’s growing charisma is matched by Farriss’s knack for punchy, rhythmic hooks, creating a taut sound that blends new wave urgency with classic rock swagger.
Nearly 40 years later, Listen Like Thieves stands as a key transitional album—not just for INXS, but for '80s rock itself—bridging the raw ambition of earlier records with the pop precision that would define their global run into the next decade.
TRACKLIST:
A1 What You Need
A2 Listen Like Thieves
A3 Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
A4 Shine Like It Does
A5 Good + Bad Times
B1 Biting Bullets
B2 This Time
B3 Three Sisters
B4 Same Direction
B5 One X One
B6 Red Red Sun
