The 80’s. A very distant and completely different from the reality we live in now. Where bright colors, rock music and perms were everywhere. A band, INXS was very well known at the time and one of their biggest album, Kick, was all over peoples radios. I wanted to do a partial album review off of some of the biggest songs off their album.

Guns In The Sky

I think this is such an amazing song. It is more of an anthem and chanting piece. There’s just such a groovy guitar riff throughout the whole piece keeping the song at the same tempo throughout the whole 2 minutes and 21 seconds. Guns In The Sky has a very rock and roll sound. I found it very interesting that this song is also a political statement. The song refers to “Guns in the sky” which is seeming to relate to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) a project that was made up of space systems made to protect the United States and that proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1983. The song is a criticism of this project that seemly died and was discontinued as an idea for the united states in 1993.

New Sensation 

Very 80’s pop sound with a high energy electric guitar rhythm to follow along with the voice of Michael Hutchence. The saxophone sound really stuck out to me. In an era where many songs contain synthetic sounds and demos for singers to sing with, hearing actual authentic instruments is really refreshing. Using something like a saxophone is risky but I can vouch for the fact that it was an insanely smart idea and truly paid off. The song entails of someone slowly but surely falling in love with someone and this love being a “new sensation”. 

Devil Inside 

This is an incredibly strong piece. With a very quick paced and intense flare to it. The song includes very low and high vocals both soft and powerful flipping between the two sounds for a very impactful piece of music. The song speaks of a man and a woman both describing them differently. The woman using words as weapons and Hutchence wondering “how the other half die”. While the man is fed on nothing but pride and Hutchence wondering “how the other half live.” It seems like the two are in a heated argument and this goes to show that everyone can have a bit of the devil inside them. How people can lash out at each other and start to become hateful.

Need You Tonight 

This is INXS most lustful songs on their album. It’s one of their more recognizable songs. It was originally going to be a throwaway song but soon became one of their biggest and greatest hits. The guitar riff very easily known 

by many and the storyline displaying a man’s desire for a certain woman. The song ends with a very low whisper stating “you’re one of my kind” and immediately after it’s the end and moves into the next track.

Mediate

Mediate is very closely tied with Need You Tonight both sharing a very similar drumming pattern. Another thing tying Mediate and Need You Tonight are the music videos, the ending frame in NYT being the opening frame for Mediate. Every word in the song ends up rhyming with the word -ate. Giving a very unique spin on a rock song. While the song seems like nonsense just thrown together rhyming words it seems like it is a song of acceptance and appreciation. 

The Loved One

This song’s sound is very reminiscent of the 60’s blues, especially in the beginning of the song but towards the chorus the song tends to gravitate back towards that rock sound INXS is known for. This is a slower moving song in the grand scheme of this album. The song talks of how a woman seemingly shows how much he cares for this man. The man isn’t very impressed or interested for that matter but when the woman leaves him he realizes how much he actually loved her too. 

Kick, being the 6th album INXS, was the highest charting album they had on the Billboard 200 being ranked number 3 for 81 weeks. INXS found the sole proof way of mixing pop and rock to create a true masterpiece.