Kick

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: New sensation, Devil inside, Mediate, Need you tonight, The loved one, Mystify, Calling all nations

One of my favorite albums ever. Period. Brilliant. Every song is perfect. How is the not in the book? I am flabbergasted! 5/5

A late 80s New Wave release. I really like the lush atmospheric production, cool mood, funky groove, pop accessibility, high energy and danceability, and diverse styles. "Need You Tonight" is by far my favorite, and although I'm not in love with the other tracks as much, they are amazing pop songs. Most cuts aren't that strong, but they contribute their worth with personality and creativity to make this 39 minute record worth it.

Great 80s guitar pop. Arguably a more enjoyable, catchier, easier listen than U2’s 80s albums. One of my favourites and glaring omission from the book. Pleased someone else agrees! I also agree with the person who felt the guitar sound was weak - it does have a lot of treble and a lack of bass and body, which would have given it a more muscular sound.

Flabbergasted that this wasn't on the original list.

I'm Australian and grew up in the late 80s/early 90s. I've heard this album more times than I've heard my own name. I owned a copy as a kid, and the singles are still played daily - quite literally every day - on most rock radio stations. If you say "pulling a Michael Hutchence" in Australia, everyone will know EXACTLY what you mean. INXS is so popular here that they had a fuckin TV competition to find a new singer... in 2005. They hadn't put out a single for 10 years by that point. Also, a mate of mine is friends with one of the Farriss brothers (forget which one) and by all accounts he's a total loony. Kick is a GREAT album. 5/5.

When I was in college, probably around the time this album came out, I worked as supplemental security at an outdoor concert venue on our campus. They only hired students as extra security for the "big" acts that came through, so I got called to work the INXS concert. Basically we had to walk around in the woods along the fence line and try to stop people from sneaking in. Once it got dark, it was useless trying to keep people out, so we just took bribes from people wanting to get in. I couldn't hear much of the concert, but the INXS roadies brought us some beer to drink while we were hanging out in the woods, so that was cool. Anyway, onto the music. It's alright, but nothing I find that special or interesting. I like Michael Hutchence's voice, but musically it's sort of boring and simplistic. Some of the guitar riffs (if you can call them that) almost make me laugh - just like two chords repeated duh-duh.. duh-duh. Must have been excruciating to play over and over again from one night to the next. 3 stars.

7/10. Pretty good, nothing drive me crazy though.

Very important 80s record. Should have been on the list. Top tier and era-defining.

First of the user-selected albums I was really surprised was not on the official list (though I think the band did feature there, presumably in an album more favored by the critics than the hoi polloi). This isn't all killer but it's all good, and what is killer are some pretty damn iconic rock hits.

This is also a band that a lot of people walk away with. Though I like the voice I think the music makes it too pop for me. Now that I listened to the entire album, I still think it is not for me.

Awesome! Start to finish a great album. It might appear to be 'just a pop record' but there's a lot more going on here (at least I think so ☺️)

Chock full of hits that were ubiquitous during the era. Don't understand how this is not on the actual list. Could easily take the place of the Triffids album from 1987 if we want to swap Australian bands.

A name I've heard of, but never listened to and I can sort of see why. Oh I've definitely heard "Need You Tonight". Completely not my thing. I'm sure it's a fun show and they are all having fun, but I find it completely vapid. All the things I don't like about 80s pop/rock. However from how many people love this album and the accolades it has I can see an argument on why it should have been on the list.

Nothing wrong here just never pulled me in

This is all fine but I really, really struggle to conceptualize the person whose #1 album OF ALL TIME this is. It's like an album of theme songs to early1990s TV shows on MTV or something. I don't want to be mean. It's enjoyable for what it is! But this is a user submitted album which means someone was like "here's my shot to submit my #1 album of all time! Let me submit Kick by INXS", and I want to meet that person and ask them 15-20 questions.

Another classic album for which it is a shame it's not included in the books. With 4 successfull hitsongs it would deserve its place. They sure love the reverb in the vocals. And the guitar riffs are very funky.

Underrated masterpiece alert! 'Kick' is another flawless record left behind from the original '1001' list; I could listen to on repeat. All killer, no filler – this is timeless rock at its best and a career-defining moment for one of Australia's greatest bands

How is this album not in the book

How or why Kick is distinct is unclear. It's a run-on sentence of tropes, starting with grunted ad-libs. Hutchence's voice lacks the Australian grit, which is one thing parting the band from country. I got a lot of whiplash, listening to something so totally un-serious, and that persona worked. For Kick really is a persona, loud and too concerned with parties as the one thing, but a fun hang.

This is the soundtrack to my mother-in-law's house. I don't care for it much as a full album but by God does it have some bangers.

A romp. But honestly, I don't know what niche it covers that isn't already covered, other than Australian.

Rock. Pop