INXS announces 'Listen Like Thieves (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)'

Comprehensive 40th anniversary deluxe edition of INXS’ global breakthrough album

√ Preorder here

Press Release

“Listen Like Thieves” was a hugely significant and pivotal album for INXS. Having already built a reputation for their unique sound, incredible live shows (built out from an unmatched global touring schedule), alongside growing but maybe pocketed success (in the grand scheme of things) with their previous four albums – “INXS” (1980), “Underneath the Colours” (1981), “Shabooh Shoobah” (1982) and “The Swing” (1984) – it was the release of “Listen Like Thieves” in 1985 that saw them become one of the biggest and captivating bands of a generation.

“Listen Like Thieves (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)” is a deep dive celebration into the album. Releasing May 9, it is available as a deluxe-edition three-CD/LP set containing a brand-new 2025 remix by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks on CD and vinyl; extensive previously unreleased outtakes and demos; a rare BBC recording, “Live From The Royal Albert Hall, London, 1986”; and a brand-new interview with the band by acclaimed writer Paul Sexton. The extended edition two-CD contains the new mix, whilst the CD-2 has a selection of B-sides, remixes and live recordings; the LP 40th anniversary edition vinyl contains the new 2025 mix. Preorder here.

Sexton said, “This lavish remounting of ‘Listen Like Thieves’ is a testament to a band whose resolute focus on achieving international renown was rewarded that year with serious sales, a heavyweight hit single, and their consecration as flagbearers of the MTV generation. Forty years on, this staging post album – their first in a fruitful relationship with hallowed producer Chris Thomas – is there to be savored by original fans and new admirers alike.”

Martin (INXS's executive music producer) and Hicks’ brand-new stereo mix was done in partnership with the band. Built from the ground up using the original masters, they have been able to find new layers of sonic depth and a fresh dimension, giving fans a new listening experience with the record.

Martin said, “It’s been such an honor to work on this pivotal album from INXS’s career. It’s a collection of recordings masterly produced by Chris Thomas, which helped the band define their own style and reach a massive global audience. It’s an iconic rock album of its age.”

INXS’ Andrew Farriss said, “Chris Thomas was one of the most talented and exciting producers we ever had the privilege to work with. From the moment we met, there was no doubt he would bring a new dynamic to our music; his drive and determination helped Michael and I deliver a smash hit in ‘What You Need’. Forty years on, Giles and Paul captured the original raw energy we felt when we first recorded the album, and created a sonic depth to give the record an entirely new dimension that we couldn’t be prouder of.”

Martin has also curated the trove of session tracks, outtakes and demos that give a compelling chronicle of the music in development. “Live At The Royal Albert Hall, London, 1986” is a gem the BBC forgot it had. Recorded in June 1986, this BBC radio broadcast recording originally aired later that year and was the first time the band played at this iconic venue.

It was an incredibly special evening for the band and the crowd; amongst them, rock alumni Mick Jagger, The Cult, Psychedelic Furs and more, were buzzing with anticipation, demanding a double encore, and the band was more than happy to oblige. It was a poignant night for INXS, who, in hindsight, were just getting started on their path of global dominance. Five years later, they headlined Wembley Stadium – and knowing what we know now, this was the show that started the U.K.’s INXS love affair.

Kirk Pengilly’s diary entry dated June 24, 1986, stated, “Royal Albert Hall – Sold Out! Fantastic gig, 2 genuine encores and all concerned, happy! Mick Jagger came with Matt Voss……. his favourite song was ‘Biting Bullets.’”

Initially released in October 1985, “Listen Like Thieves” garnered four singles, including the album's opening track “What You Need,” "an irresistible amalgam of the rock and funk instincts that made INXS unique," as Sexton so succinctly put it, catapulted the band to global fame, breaking into the top five and surpassing the chart success of the previous three releases. The album peaked at No. 1 in Australia and No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard 200, spending over a year on the chart. By 1988, the album had achieved Platinum status, and as a measure of its enduring appeal, it was double-Platinum by 1997.

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