INXS’ ‘Listen Like Thieves’ Celebrates 40 Years With Expanded Set

INXS will release a 40th-anniversary expanded Deluxe Edition of their breakthrough album Listen Like Thieves in the spring.

The three-CD set – which includes a new mix of the album by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks, demos, outtakes, and a London concert from 1986 – will be released on May 9. You can see the track listing below.

Listen Like Thieves was INXS’ fifth album, released in October 1985. The record became the Australian band’s biggest U.S. LP at that time, peaking at No. 11, thanks to the singles “What You Need” (a Top 5 hit), “This Time” and the title track. It was a double-platinum seller in the States, paving the way for 1987’s Kick, one of the biggest albums of the ’80s and the group’s only No. 1.

READ MORE: When INXS Embraced a New Direction on ‘Welcome to Wherever You Are’

“We decided to write the album in a rehearsal situation; everybody had ideas in their heads, but not many of the songs were written before we rehearsed, and we wrote one song in the studio,” singer Michael Hutchence told Rolling Stone upon the album’s release.

“It wasn’t the kind of album where you put tracks down bit by bit. We’ve done the album like a live show, and what is there is there. We want to present this record as a band – the idea of six people playing together and using traditional sounds.”

What Is on the Deluxe Edition of INXS’ ‘Listen Like Thieves’?

The “40th-Anniversary Deluxe Edition” of INXS’ Listen Like Thieves features a 2025 mix of the album by Martin and Hicks, who’ve worked on overhauling the Beatles‘ catalog over the past several years, on the first disc. “It’s been such an honor to work on this pivotal album from INXS’ career,” Martin noted in a press release announcing the upcoming set. “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.”

The second CD includes demos for album songs “Kiss the Dirt,” “This Time,” “Shine Like It Does” and others, alternate takes of album tracks such as “Good and Bad Times” and “Red Red Sun,” and studio dialogue and jams from the recording sessions.

The third disc unearths a concert recorded by the BBC at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 24, 1986, which includes songs from Listen Like Thieves and earlier material.

INXS, ‘Listen Like Thieves (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)’ Track Listing
CD1: ‘Listen Like Thieves’ (2025 Mix by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks)
1. What You Need
2. Listen Like Thieves
3. Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
4. Shine Like It Does
5. Good + Bad Times
6. Biting Bullets
7. This Time
8. Three Sisters
9. Same Direction
10. One x One
11. Red Red Sun

CD2: Demos & Outtakes
1. “We’re rolling, it’s 1985” – Studio Dialogue
2. Funk Song #11 – Take 2 / Working Title of What You Need (Alternate Take)
3. “Press the blue and red button” – Studio Dialogue
4. Kiss The Dirt (Studio Demo)
5. Meaning of the song “Listen Like Thieves” – Interview Excerpt
6. Listen Like Thieves (Studio Demo)
7. INXS SA FM Radio Spot
8. One X One (Studio Demo)
9. This Time (Studio Demo)
10. Shine Like It Does (Studio Demo)
11. Good and Bad Times (Alternate Take)
12. Red Red Sun (Studio Jam)
13. Red Red Sun (Alternate Take)
14. Recording of Same Direction
15. Funk Song #9 (Working title of Same Direction)
16. What You Need (Studio Demo)
17. Shine Like It Does (Home Demo)
18. Listen Like Thieves (Home Demo)
19. Kiss the Dirt (Home Demo)

CD3: Live From Royal Albert Hall
Live in London, UK – June 24, 1986
1. Intro by Pete Drummond
2. Same Direction
3. Soul Mistake
4. Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
5. Biting Bullets
6. Burn For You
7. Do Wot You Do
8. Original Sin
9. Different World
10. Shine Like It Does
11. Listen Like Thieves
12. One x One
13. What You Need
14. Red Red Sun