SACD INXS – Kick

Six musicians aiming further

With Kick in 1987, INXS set out to make an album whose songs could each stand on their own. Following Listen Like Thieves, the Australian group worked again with producer Chris Thomas. Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss formed the principal writing partnership; Tim Farriss, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Gary Beers and Jon Farriss helped turn those ideas into the band’s shared musical language. Guitar rock, rhythm and pop melody all had a place in the design.

Recording began at Rhinoceros Studios in Sydney with engineer David Nicholas. Further vocals were recorded in Paris, and Bob Clearmountain mixed at AIR Studios in London. During production Thomas pushed for stronger songs. Hutchence and Andrew Farriss withdrew to Hong Kong to write, a period that produced crucial material including “Need You Tonight” and “Mediate”. The finished programme grew out of revision as well as the band’s initial plan.

How two tracks found each other

Andrew Farriss developed the groove of “Need You Tonight” with a Roland TR-707. The production combines programmed elements with the band’s playing; it is not a simple division between machinery and musicians. Nicholas describes much of the recording as live ensemble work with specific additions. The close presentation of Hutchence’s voice was also a deliberate studio construction.

“Mediate” follows “Need You Tonight” without a break. The two share a tempo, and their connection emerged when the demo fitted the other recording. Listen to that transition without watching a track display: at what point does the musical situation change while the pulse continues? Here the album moves beyond the notion of separate potential hits. The running order becomes part of the musical idea, linking two compositions into a longer passage.

A ballad changes its instrument

“Never Tear Us Apart” began as a piano idea from Andrew Farriss. Thomas suggested another arrangement, with synthesized strings taking over that role and Pengilly’s saxophone providing a further focal point. Its triple metre gives it a different motion from the more directly driven singles. The song offers a clear example of how an arrangement can transform the identity of a composition.

Around it are “New Sensation”, “Devil Inside” and “Mystify”. “The Loved One” returns to an Australian song from the sixties that INXS had recorded before. On another listen, take bass and drums as your guide: how do their roles change between the ballad, the guitar-led songs and “Need You Tonight”? Hutchence remains the immediately recognizable voice, but the album’s continuity comes from the whole ensemble and its production.

The Atlantic 75 SACD and its source

CAPA 032 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD containing the twelve original album tracks. The publisher credits Ryan K. Smith with a direct DSD transfer from an EQ’d tape copy. Sterling Sound is named in supporting retailer and database information. The disc provides both CD and SACD layers; the latter requires an SACD-compatible player. No multichannel programme is specified for this release.

An analogue copy used for the transfer does not make Kick an entirely analogue recording. Nicholas describes an Otari 32-track digital machine used alongside a synchronized analogue Studer backup during the sessions. Describing this edition simply as “from the original master” or “AAA” would obscure that history. It presents the complete album without bonus tracks, and the manufacturing details of the separate 45 RPM vinyl edition do not apply to the SACD.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series

Also in another edition: Kick

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Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.