Album: Kick
Year: 1987
Because they pretty good singles band during an era I wasn’t really paying all that attention to singles band, I was never really all that much into INXS. I remember liking “The One Thing” well enough, but most of their songs were too slick by half and even when I could hear the hooks, they never worked on me.
At least until they released the Stonesy fucksong, “Devil Inside,” which I loved instantly for its understated menace and willingness to take its sweet time to get to where it wanted to go.
Which was, of course, in your pants.
With the first half of the verses driven primarily by kick drum and percussion and the second half driven by the over-processed guitar riff as the snare finally kicks in, “Devil Inside” was pure and utter tension-filled foreplay, right down to Michael Hutchence’s laiiiiiiiid back vocals.
Devil inside
The devil inside
Every single one of us
The devil inside
While I enjoyed “Devil Inside” enough when it was cresting the charts — #2 here in the U.S. — it was only in retrospect that I came to love it, especially since its combination of dance-rock rhythms, processed guitars and lyrics about sex clearly influenced U2’s “Achtung Baby.”
I remember incredibly clearly the first time I watched the video for “The Fly,” and initially disliking it for exactly that reason. Of course, Achtung Baby! eventually won me over, and, in retrospect, increased my love for this song.
Official video for “The Devil Inside”
Every Certain Song Ever
A filterable, searchable & sortable database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written.
Certain Songs Spotify playlist
(It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.)
Support “Certain Songs” with a donation on Patreon
Go to my Patreon page