If there’s an album that's a musical portal to the college and singles years from the 80s and early 90s, INXS’ Kick album might be it. The band, INXS, was formed in Sydney, Australia in 1977, and after they broke out internationally in the mid-80s, their intoxicating blend of Australian rock, new wave, funk, and dance-rock energized campus dorms, college radio stations, nightclub dance floors, and late-night drives everywhere for an era transitioning into adulthood. And together with producer Chris Thomas, they delivered this, their masterpiece album, with startling success.
Released by Atlantic Records in October 1987, Kick sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and was certified six times Platinum in the U.S. and Diamond in Canada. Its hits included the following U.S. Top 10 singles: “Need You Tonight” (number one), “Devil Inside” (number two), “New Sensation” (number three), and “Never Tear Us Apart” (number 7).
Years have passed, and technology, along with many of our sound systems and media, have improved. Released on May 1, 2026, Rhino High Fidelity’s reissue of Kick was cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Optimal in Germany. It features glossy gatefold packaging with new liner notes by music scribe David Fricke. The album is limited to 5,000 numbered copies and available exclusively at Rhino.com.
Now in my 60s, I fondly recalled catching them on VH-1, in bars, on a boombox while helping a friend install fascia on his house, and on the CD player during drives to the Indiana Dunes in the 90s. Hence, when I heard about this new reissue, I was keen to hear it on my vastly improved sound system anchored by my Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker turntable (you can read more about it by clicking on my byline).
The Listening
There's a soft, slight pop as the stylus kisses the vinyl—followed by a black silence. This album truly has a low noise floor.
However, the first song, "Guns to the Sky," put me off for weeks—maybe even a month or two: It's brash, punchy, and sibilant as hell. It's as if someone plugged their iPod into a DJ's console and dialed the treble up to 12:00 o'clock. You hear it in Michael Hutchence's vocals, Tim Farriss' electric guitar, Jon Farris' belting drums, and Garry Gary Beers' bass. An anti-war song, apparently, the abrasive entrance was on purpose. As for his guitar work on this song, Tim Farriss "later recalled playing it on a miniature Flying V he had bought for his son, whose bendable strings allowed an extravagance he found difficult to reproduce on a normal guitar," wrote one contributor on a popular Facebook music page with over 1.4 million followers. "An opening that sounds enormous owes part of its ferocity to a child’s instrument." (Anonymous. "KICK—INXS' Best Ablum?" Decade 77-87 - A Grown Up Disco, New Wave, Punk, Post-Punk, Goth & Indie" page, Facebook.
Thankfully, the ear carnage stops there, and the benefits of sublime vinyl remastering, courtesy of Kevin Gray, et al., unpacks their upbeat sensuous and muscular strut appeal with a warm and rich transparency. Right off, Tim Farriss' glassy, twangy-toned Fender Stratocaster riff, paired with brother Jon Farriss's punchy and thunderous snare and kick drum grab you, and then Michael Hutchence's beguiling baritone voice reels you with their mega-hit, "New Sensation." The attack of Farriss's drums and Beers' bass line pack weight and slam, while the timbre of Hutchence's vocals are well fleshed-out. This pressing provides a lustrous, vivid look into the mix, with excellent instrumental separation—especially during the cacophonous band crescendos when the hook, "A new sensation, a new sensation" is repeated.
A Roland TR-707 drum machine lays down the uptempo rhythm track, accompanied by Jon Farriss' drums and percussion, Tim Farriss' frenetic guitar arpeggios, and Hutchence's seductive, soft and low-sung vocals in "Devil Inside." Delivered in a strutting, taunting, and hypnotic beat, it's a classic ‘80s party song that coos, growls, and entices us to set aside our reservations and give into temptation and say yes to debauchery.
Hot on the heels of “Devil Inside,” their signature hit, "Need You Tonight," kicks into overdrive. Driven by a Roland 707 drum machine in tandem with a Tim Farriss' electric guitar vamp, it hooks you right off the bat, and never lets go. Ironically, that signature “Need You Tonight” guitar lick came to Farriss as he hopped into a cab. "INXS’s principal music writer—guitarist/keyboardist Andrew Farriss—was waiting for a cab to take him to the airport so he could fly to Hong Kong for some writing sessions with lyricist Hutchence (who was living in Hong Kong at the time), when he had a flash of inspiration and immediately started laying down tracks on his Fostex 8-track," wrote Blair Jackson. (mixonline.com)
“I used a Roland 707 drum machine to program the groove for what became ‘Need You Tonight,’” he says. “What’s on the record is pretty much exactly what I put into the drum machine. What I also tracked from memory was the guitar riff, the bass part—which I played on a keyboard bass...There was something about it that sounded right in my head, so that’s why I made the cassette recording of it: ‘I don’t know what this thing is, but there’s something in it.’” (Ibid)
There certainly was. Like my wife's swaying hips, legs moving nimbly in a black skirt and heels up ahead on a hot date during our courtship days, it draws you in. A very catchy and infectious tune, it gets the blood pumping, tantalizes and hooks you.
That same Roland 707 drum machine as a foundation for the hypnotic and soothing "Mediate.” Relatively spartan in presentation, it works; running at the same beats per minute (98), Andrew Farriss' E-mu Emulator II digital sampling synthesizer washes over us in soothing and ambient pads, while Hutchence drones on in a rhythmic chant, and Kirk Pengilly drops in a slow and sumptuous sax solo near the song's end. The effect is like buzzing on a couch at a hip afterparty after midnight.
Ushered in behind a brash and bold guitar and drums intro, Hutchence is raw, bellowing with grit and swagger as he sings about infatuation, obsession, and undying love with the object of his desire in "The Loved One." For me, it's a throwaway, conjuring the big hair, overblown electric guitars, attitude, and glamorized bawdiness of the ‘80s. But that's just me.
"Wild Life" has an enticing quality to it, with its bright and catchy guitar hooks, punchy drums, and sparkly keys. Driven by Hutchence's commanding vocals, it whisks you back to the glitz and glamor of single life on a Saturday night, in a city packed with people dressed, painted, cologned, and perfumed to stand out in countless clubs, bars, and restaurants.
What comes across as violins and a bowed bass in the vamp and throughout is actually the work of the E-mu Emulator II keyboard using its "Marcato Strings" patch (often referred to as arco/orchestral string samples) in the ballad, "Never Tear Us Apart." (Google AI search, Tomasmulhy.com). Apparently, songwriter and keyboardist Andrew Farriss and producer Chris Thomas chose this synthetic, atmospheric string arrangement over a traditional acoustic string section. Regardless, Hutchence's big vocals, reinforced by effects, is haunting and powerful. The band pulls out all the stops here. Enhanced by Tim Farriss' guitar, Jon Farriss' big, punchy drums, Garry Gary Beers' bass, harmonized vocals, and, later, Kirk Pengilly's bluesy sax solo, they draw the listener in with their spirited assurance that their love will never, never be torn apart.
Up next, "Mystify" gets the head bopping, toes tapping, and hips swaying with its swagger, larger-than-life drums, roaring and whining electric guitar, synthesizer and bass—and that raw, sultry, and soulful voice! For roughly 10 years, he was arguably modern Aussie rock's answer to Frank Sinatra. (Too bad at age 37, he died in November 1997 in what was officially ruled a suicide.)
Echoing that melody, the title track, "Kick," comes in with an uptempo vamp of drum machine, drums, synthesizer, and electric guitar. It's catchy, sensuous, raw, and rhythmic energy—equally adept at driving you on the dance floor or powering you through long halls down a highway."Calling All Nations" keeps the energy going, driven in part by a high-pitched, fast-strumming guitar arpeggio. Hutchences's verbal chanting, rock rap complements, thudding drums, wailing guitar riffs, and wailing sax as he bellows that famous INXS phrase, "New sensation" that gets the blood pumping and dance floor jumping.
Lastly, in "Tiny Daggers," a driving synthesizer and guitar vamp jump starts the tune. Undergirded by Beers' driving bass line, it's a massive sonic Pipeline wave that Hutchence masterfully surfs as he belts out his lines, spiritually and melodically conjuring Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark"—even as he ushers lines referencing their title song, "But all you want to do is kick it in / All you got to do is walk right in.
Feeling nostalgic for ‘80s-‘90s pop rock? Need a shot of energy, but don't want an espresso or energy drink? Platter this album, lower the needle, and you'll get your jolt—and in audiophile quality no less!
Kick (Rhino High Fidelity) LP
Retail: $39.98 U.S.
Rhino Entertainment
