INXS Live Baby Live Songs | Ranked from 22 to 1

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My favourite INXS album of all is Live Baby Live. And not only because I’m from the UK, where the inaugural gig took place in 1991. INXS was a band that played at their best live, rather than in the more sterile setting of a studio.

Which is why I listen to Live Baby Live about once a week, sometimes more. The album features 22 tracks in all, with the set list including songs from The Swing and Listen Like Thieves, as well as Kick and X. The Wembley concert took place following the mega success of Kick, and the release of the band’s subsequent X album.

This post really is just for fun. Heck, I would probably disagree with my own rankings on a different day. This is about the performance plus the song itself. Therefore the overall experience of listening to each live track.

In short, it’s about how it makes me feel. How you react to the same track will of course be personal to you, too. Let me know your thoughts on social media or in the comments, if you can. I’d love to hear your opinion.

Here are all 22 tracks on Live Baby Live by INXS, ranked. But first, the full track listing.

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INXS Live Baby Live Tracklist

Disc 1

Guns in the Sky
New Sensation
I Send a Message

The Stairs
Know the Difference
Disappear

By My Side
Hear That Sound
Original Sin

Lately
The Loved One
Wild Life

Disc 2

Mystify
Bitter Tears
Suicide Blonde

What You Need
Kick
Need You Tonight

Mediate
Never Tear Us Apart
Who Pays The Price

Devil Inside

22 INXS Live Baby Live Songs Ranked

22. Hear That Sound (X)

For no other reason than something has to be placed last, right? Just the least feel-good of the 22, for me personally.

21. Who Pays The Price (X)

It was a toss-up between Hear That Sound and Know The Difference for 22nd place, but Andrew Farriss’s harmonica means this one trumps the former.

20. Know The Difference (X)

As I’ve placed a trio of tracks from X in the last three places, you might think I didn’t like X. Not at all – it’s actually my favourite studio album. And I love “driving all over London, in your big car, windows down.”

19. Need You Tonight (Kick)

While this is a top track, and in fact the one that got me into INXS back in the day, for me this isn’t the strongest vocal performance of the night. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not weak, it’s just not the right song for flexing Hutch’s vocal chords to the max.

18. Wild Life (Kick)

A good, solid track and performance for the middle of the gig and the album. Love the growling on this one, way to go Hutch!

17. I Send a Message (The Swing)

This is a very different version of I Send a Message to the one on The Swing. It’s modernised here, and I do like what they’ve done with it.

16. Mediate (Kick)

It’s a bit of a Marmite (or Vegemite), this song, isn’t it? (Is it? I think so.) For my part, I love it, as I enjoy playing with words and think it’s very clever. Kirk’s soulful sax also helps to make the performance.

15. Bitter Tears (X)

The track always resonates because of the line “lips are trembling ’cause you’re gonna be free”. Michael’s brother Rhett also references this song in his book, Total XS, saying his sibling must’ve thought he was “doin’ no wrong” when he tragically took his own life.

14. Kick (Kick)

Though this song isn’t one of my all-time favourites (in relative terms, anyway), the live vocals on the title track to Kick elevate it. For me, this is one that really suits Hutch’s voice.

13. New Sensation (Kick)

This big hit from Kick is the second track INXS played at Wembley, after opening with Guns in the Sky. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, and a faultless performance.

12. Never Tear Us Apart (Kick)

The first of a three-song encore, after the band suddenly exited the stage after Mediate. Of course the show could never be complete without this iconic INXS ballad.

11. Suicide Blonde (X)

The way the opening harmonica gets the crowd jumping here is very infectious. Whether still backstage or out front, I always wonder how Kylie Minogue felt when he sang this song, which was inspired by her. As he’d recently broken her heart by transferring his affections to Helena Christensen, and both women were present backstage, this must have been a tough gig for Kylie.

10. What You Need (Listen Like Thieves)

Michael is as tongue-in-cheek as he gets here: this live track should come with a Parental Advisory warning. Very playful – and enjoyable – indeed. We all know what we need sometimes, right? 😉

9. Original Sin (The Swing)

I believe Tina Hutchence, Michael’s sister, adores this INXS track most of all. It’s a great song, and again the execution is flawless. Along with an early 90s version of I Send a Message, this is one of two tracks from The Swing featured in the Wembley show.

8. The Stairs (X)

It’s lovely to listen to live, and The Stairs is also one of those tracks that makes you think. To me, it’s a melancholy concept – that there’s all these people sharing space in the world, yet so much loneliness. Maybe we should speak to strangers more; after all, it’s how all friendships start in the first place. Incidentally it was during The Stairs that the drugs were dropped, apparently…

7. Mystify (Kick)

Mystify was always going to have be a strong top 10 contender. Hutch giving it his all while singing one of the band’s best songs ever – and their finest for me lyrically – ends Richard Lowenstein’s revealing Mystify documentary. And isn’t that how we should remember him?

6. Guns In The Sky (Kick)

What an opener. It showed INXS meant business, as they came straight in with a somewhat militant song. And of course an incredibly strong performance from the off.

5. Disappear (X)

The sheer joy and energy of this performance places it in my top five. I love that jump Hutch does in his striped stage trousers! Thank goodness the band saw sense and did include this on X – apparently it was touch and go. Jon Farriss teaming up with his brother Andrew’s songwriting partner put the latter’s nose out of joint, leading to a row about it appearing on the album at all.

4. The Loved One (Kick)

My God, but didn’t Hutch do Australian band The Loved Ones proud with this rendition? It shows off his vocal talents so beautifully. I would love to be the lady in red with long black hair… who wouldn’t?

3. Lately (X)

Lately is an underrated treasure, in my opinion. It’s hidden in the middle of the X Album, and wasn’t released as a single. What really sets it apart at Wembley, though, is Kirk’s haunting sax solo. For some reason, I always think of this as “the saxophone’s lament.” Sad but very beautiful.

2. Devil Inside (Kick)

What a track to close on. I guess it’s because he didn’t have to sing again once it was over, but Hutch really wrung every last drop out of his vocal chords here. What a rich, powerful voice – and Devil Inside was the perfect vehicle to show it off.

1. By My Side (X)

See, I told you I love X. The sheer emotion Hutch displays here only adds to the fact that this is my favourite of all INXS tracks anyway. Anyone who calls him a shallow rock star should really watch this performance, glistening cheeks and all.

How would you rank the 22 INXS Live at Wembley Songs?

There you go – that’s my take, anyway! Though, as I mentioned at the outset, the list would definitely differ if written on a different day. What do you make of Wembley 1991, the most iconic INXS gig of all?

Sadly, I wasn’t there. If you were, then you what you need to know is that I will always be insanely jealous!

Marcy x

Filed Under: INXS