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 on May 9, it is available as a Deluxe Edition 3CD/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 2CD contains the new mix, whilst the CD-2 has a selection of B-sides, remixes and live recordings; the 1LP 40th Anniversary Edition vinyl contains the new 2025 mix.
Giles Martin (INXS’s executive music producer) and Paul 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 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 they 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 were 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 UK’s INXS love affair.
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 Paul Sexton so succinctly put it, catapulted the band to global fame, breaking into the top five and surpassing the chart success of their previous three releases. The album peaked at No. 1 in Australia and No. 11 on the United States 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.
