INXS: Listen Like Thieves 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Petrol/UMe/Atlantic, vinyl + 3 CDs). “Listen Like Thieves,” the fifth studio album by the Australian band INXS, was released 40 years ago this coming October. The album was the band’s real breakthrough in America, yielding its first Top 5 American chart hit with “What You Need.” This deluxe edition has the original album, remixed by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks, on vinyl and CD, and adds a CD of unreleased demos and outtakes, plus a live 1986 concert at the Royal Albert Hall on a third CD.

The Sydney-based group was formed in 1977 by the three Fariss brothers: Andrew, who played guitar and keyboards; Jon, who handled percussion and drums; and Tim, also on guitar. They were joined by Garry Gary Beers on bass, lead vocalist Michael Hutchence and Kirk Pengilly on guitar, saxophone and vocals. Their previous album, “The Swing” (April 1984), had local chart success, topping the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and reached No. 6 in New Zealand.

INXS began a partnership with producer Chris Thomas, known for working with the Sex Pistols, Pretenders, Roxy Music and Elton John, among others. The album was produced at Sydney’s Rhinoceros Studios over a three-month period. Many of the songs were written by Hutchence and Andrew Farriss together.

A often-told story describes how Thomas told the band that the album lacked a hit single, so the band members left the studio having just hours to come up with another song. Hutchence and Farriss searched through the demos that Farriss had composed throughout the album's production. Thomas persuaded the duo to focus on the demo titled "Funk Song No. 13." INXS spent the next two days working on the track, which eventually turned out to be the hit single "What You Need."

The 1985 release, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Album Chart, actually had three other singles, all of which became INXS classics. They were the anthemic “This Time,” about continuing to fight; “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain),” which starts with a softer vocal but becomes a good rocker later; and the title track, which also has good rock elements.

Other good songs on the album are the midtempo “Shine Like It Does”; “Good + Bad Times,” which adds funk and a horn to its rock; and “Biting Bullets,” which has a good beat. The instrumental “Three Sisters” features nature sounds and a synth, while horns open “One X One” and the rocker “Red Red Sun” ends the fine album.

There are 15 music tracks, plus three bits of studio chatter and part of an interview, on the second disc. The last four are home demos and there is a jam on “Red Red Sun.” Additionally, there are six studio demos and three alternate takes, the best of which is “Good + Bad Times.” This disc is more for the hardcore fan; I probably will not be playing it much.

Excellent is the June 24, 1986 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was broadcast by the BBC. Backing vocalist Jenny Morris is a good addition to their sound here. INXS performs eight of the 11 numbers on “Listen Like Thieves,” plus earlier favorites “Original Sin,” “Different World,” “Burn for You” and “Do Wot You Do,’ which was heard in the film “Pretty in Pink.” Other highlights are “Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain),” “Listen Like Thieves” and “What You Need,” with the crowd singing along to the latter.

There also is a well-done 20-page booklet with liner notes by Paul Sexton and lots of great photos. Grade: Original album A-, Demos and Outtakes B, Live show A.

Translator: Beyond Today: Live at The Farm, San Francisco 1986 (Liberation Hall CD, 71 min.). Translator -- singer/songwriter/guitarist Steve Barton, bassist Larry Dekker and drummer Dave Scheff, with second singer/songwriter/guitarist Robert Darlington joining soon after -- got its start in Los Angeles in 1979, but quickly found themselves disillusioned with the L.A. music scene and moved to San Francisco. There, Translator built a fanbase and landed a record deal with local indie label 415 Records.

Within weeks of signing, Translator found themselves part of the big-time music business as 415 inked a distribution deal with Columbia. In 1982, their “Heartbeats and Triggers” album yielded the emotionally-charged single, "Everywhere That I'm Not," which became popular on the burgeoning college radio circuit.

Between 1983 and 1986, the band completed three more albums for Columbia Records. They received significant airplay for "Un-Alone,” from “No Time Like Now,” which was their second album produced by David Kahne (The Bangles, Romeo Void, Fishbone). For their third and fourth albums, the self-titled “Translator” and “Evening of the Harvest,” the group worked with producer Ed Stasium, whose resume at the time included engineering the Ramones’ “Leave Home” and “Rocket to Russia,” as well as “Talking Heads: 77”; mixing Talking Heads’ “More Songs About Buildings and Food”; and producing the Ramones’ “Road to Ruin” and “It’s Alive.”

The band expanded its sound with each successive album and toured widely, including landing an opening spot on a Kinks tour, but sales figures did not increase and there was not much industry support for the band, as the 1980s were heavy on bands using synths rather than guitar-led bands. So, near the end of the tour in support of their fourth album, the members came to a collective realization that Translator had reached the end. They decided to go out with a bang, scheduling this show to reward their ardent fan base at The Farm in San Francisco on July 12, 1986.

The band did reunite in the 2000s and has recorded two new songs that are bonus tracks on this CD. Those songs are “These Days to Come” and “With Your Dreams,” both good but a slight nod to “With Your Dreams.”

The show consists of 12 tracks, with a rather aggressive opening with “Beyond Today” and the high-energy “Necessary Spinning.” There is a long instrumental opening to “Everywhere,” while “Gravity” has more of a pop flavor. Scheff’s drum solo actually is accompanied by audience screams.

Nice are “O Lazurus,” “New Song,” which has a lengthy instrumental section as it extends to 9:19, and “These Old Days.” Both “Everywhere” and “Everywhere That I’m Not” are performed and the show ends with a cover of “Roll Over Beethoven.” Grade: CD B+

Martin Popoff: Hallowed By Their Name: The Unofficial Iron Maiden Bible (Schiffer Publishing, 666 pages). Talk about a heavy tome, this book carries weight in both its physical heft and in Popoff’s depth into his subject, London-based heavy metal giants Iron Maiden.

Popoff, a music journalist, provides an intimate and scholarly look into the life and times of the band, from their humble beginnings in the dingy clubs of East London to headlining arenas and festivals worldwide. I have seen the band once, in Portland, Maine on October 6, 1982, complete with the iconic figure of Eddie, their undead mascot, as part of The Beast on the Road Tour. That night they opened for Judas Priest, who were on their World Vengeance Tour.

In this book, one discovers the stories behind all their albums, including “Killers,” “The Number of the Beast” and “Powerslave,” as well as “Senjutsu,” their most recent, and all the solo releases. Much of the book is based on Popoff’s interviews with all the band members from 1995 to 2024. The book is framed as an analysis of each Iron Maiden album, one per chapter, with every song discussed musically and lyrically, along with the album covers and the finer points of the recording process.

The band was formed in Leyton, East London in 1975 by bassist/primary songwriter Steve Harris. The lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who left in 1993 but returned in 1999, drummer Nicko McBain and guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, who also returned in 1999, having left in 1990, and Janick Gers. They were pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal.

“Hallowed By Their Name” is the most voluminous and career-spanning, reference-level book ever written about Iron Maiden. It features a tremendous number of photos — more than 400 in both color and black-and-white. The volume is worth it just for the photos alone. In addition, a limited edition of 666 numbered, etched on a metal plate, copies of “The Beast” edition are available through SchifferBooks.com and select retailers.

The band will be touring Europe this month as part of its 50th Anniversary 2025-26 “Run for Your Lives” Iron Maiden World Tour. Grade: Book A