Kick (1987)
By Kick, INXS weren’t just aiming for greatness—they hit the triple bullseye. This is the record that took them global, loaded with hits, swagger, and a genre-blending confidence that still sounds sharp and iconic today. It’s their first official No Skip Album—and it earns it. Every track matters. Every track hits.
Guns in the Sky kicks things off with a bang—punk attitude, funk-driven bassline, and an energy spike that sets the tone. From there, the hits don’t let up. New Sensation is pure joy. Upbeat, danceable, and carried by that signature riff. Then comes Need You Tonight—arguably the band’s most iconic track. Rock guitar, slick electronics, and Hutchence at his most seductive. You can practically draw a straight line from this song to Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now—same pulse, same strut, same interpolation!
Right after, Mediate acts as a strange, hypnotic palate cleanser—a spoken word segue that adds texture rather than momentum. Then you get The Loved One, and shortly after, one of the band’s most emotional gut-punches: Never Tear Us Apart. It’s ballad-adjacent, but built with sax, piano, and real weight. Hutchence sounds like he’s bleeding every word.
Mystify is a personal favorite—maybe my favorite INXS track, period. The piano bounce, the vocal phrasing, the melody—it’s tight, effortless, and endlessly replayable. Hutchence’s voice is at its richest here, and the band plays with such clarity and chemistry, it’s hard not to loop it over and over again before moving on.
Even the title track, Kick, kicks the door down. Horns, riffs, energy, attitude—it’s INXS in full form. The solo’s a ripper. The rhythm section’s locked in. It’s not just about the hooks—it’s about how damn good they sound playing them and that’s apparent to the most casual of music listeners.
What makes Kick special isn’t just the hits—it’s the cohesion. Funk, pop, rock, dance—they blend it all without missing a beat. Every band member pulls weight. The production is clean, punchy, and still holds up almost 40 years later. And while many bands from this era dated themselves trying to chase trends, INXS made something that sounds timeless.
Kick isn’t just their best album—it’s one of the most important pop-rock records of the ‘80s. And yeah, this shit kicks.
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Highlight Songs:
Mystify
Need You Tonight
Never Tear Us Apart
New Sensation
Kick
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Own it, Stream it, Forget about it?
Don’t you dare for one second think that you should not own this record. It is essential for everyone to have a hard copy of Kick in your music collection.
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Overall Rating:
5 Stars
