I’m identifying the best three albums by my fifty favorite rock bands of all time. This blog is for #9 – INXS.
Criteria for selecting the best three albums
First, Greatest Hits albums are not permitted. Second – no live albums. Third, I’m including an honorable mention for the top 25 bands. You will see more than one on this list. This band has a handful of really good albums.
INXS albums ranked by ChatGPT
Let’s take a look at what artificial intelligence has to say about this list. According to ChatGPT below are the top five INXS albums based on sales and critical acclaim.
- Kick (1987): Without a doubt, this is INXS’s most successful album, both critically and commercially. It produced a slew of hits like “Need You Tonight”, “New Sensation”, “Devil Inside”, and “Never Tear Us Apart”. The album went multi-platinum in many countries.
- Listen Like Thieves (1985): This album solidified INXS’s international presence, with hits like “What You Need”. It was a commercial success and fared well with critics.
- X (1990): Following the enormous success of “Kick”, “X” was well-received and included hits like “Suicide Blonde” and “Disappear”. It achieved significant sales, though not quite reaching the heights of “Kick”.
- The Swing (1984): Predating their international breakout, this album was huge in Australia and included hits like “Original Sin”. It garnered positive reviews.
- Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992): This album took a more experimental turn and, while not as commercially successful as its predecessors, was still met with positive reviews. Songs like “Baby Don’t Cry” and “Heaven Sent” received notable airplay.
Those algorithms nailed it. Those are the top five albums and the top three are in the right order.
Popular releases for this band
Let’s take a look at some Spotify data. According to this streaming platform below are the top five most popular releases by INXS. The single shown is just a modern remix of an old song so we can ignore it. The album that shows up here and is 5not on the ChatGPT list is Shaboo Shabaa. The main reason is that it has two killer songs. It opens with “The One Thing” and closes with “Don’t Change” which I consider to be INXS’ best song.
The third-best album by this band is X
The third-best album by INXS is called X. It is the record that follows Kick. Whenever a Band hits a home run with an album like INXS did with Kick you gotta wonder what comes after. In this case another great album. X has several good songs. It starts with “Suicidal Blonde”, “Disappear”, and “By My Side”.
The second-best album by INXS
The second-best album by INXS is called Listen Like Thieves. It is such a good record that I almost ranked it number one. It kicks off with “What You Need”. The title track comes next followed by “Kiss The Dirt” and keeps going and going. INXS does something interesting on their records. They usually end each album with a really good song. In this case “Red Red Sun”. Many people have never heard of it.
Honorable mention albums for this band
Here are the two honorable mention albums for INXS. I picked two – one from the early years and the other from later in their career. First is The Swing, an excellent New Wave album. The best song on this album is “Burn For You”. Once again it comes later on the record. The second honorable mention album is Welcome to Wherever You Are. This record is a little bit more mellow than earlier ones and includes the song “Beautiful Girl” which is one of their best.
The best album by INXS
The best album by INXS is, without a doubt, Kick. it is a killer record. I own it on original vinyl. My copy probably has some scratches because I played it so much back in the day. Side one includes “Guns in the Sky”, “New Sensation”, “Devil Inside”, “Need You Tonight” and “Mediate”. This album gave them worldwide fame. I wish more people knew about INXS. They were such a great band. Unfortunately, their lead singer died tragically and the band kind of came to a screeching halt at that point.
There you have it – the three best INXS albums. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.