INXS - Need You Tonight

If I follow correctly:

1) on the original LP version, the end of the final word "kind" overlaps with the beginning of "Mediate".

2) on the original 45 version, the final word "kind" continues for as long as it does on the LP version (the last letter of the word, and the reverb that follows it, are clearly audible), but it doesn't overlap with the beginning of "Mediate" (relative to the LP version, the beginning of "Mediate" has been mixed out).

3) any version in which the final word "kind" does not overlap with "Mediate" because it is cut off before the point where "Mediate" starts on the original LP version (chopping off the last letter of the word - so it sounds more like "kine" than "kind" - and the reverb that follows it) is an unsuccessful attempt to create the 45 version from the LP version

Is the difference in whether the beginning of "Mediate" is mixed in under the end of the final word "kind" the only difference between the 45 and LP versions?

Just revisiting this song, 13 years later.

45 version (ends in a full word "kind", with the "d" clearly pronounced)

Of the twenty-four (!) versions of "Need You Tonight" that I have on CD, only five have the full "kind" at the very end:

• The promo CD single (Atlantic PR 2132-2, 1987) - no designation (LP, 45, etc.), 108.7 BPM (just for reference)
• Atlantic's promo compilation Atlantic's Year In Review 1987 (1988) - 108.7 BPM, differently-EQ'd digital clone of promo CD single
• swaitek's promo 50-CD The A List Disc 42 (1994) - 108.7 BPM, same dynamic range as above two, but has noise reduction (doh!), mastering likely based on a TM Century disc
• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now The Millennium Series 1988 (1999) - 108.7 BPM, mastered too loud and clips a lot but no noise reduction
• Atlantic/Rhino's The Best Of INXS (2002) - no designation, 108.9 BPM, mastered too loud and clips a lot but no noise reduction

There were also 1987/1988 CD singles in Germany, UK, and Japan. I don't know what was on those.

Unfortunately, if you want to own the absolute true 45 version (with the full kind at the end), the only reasonably inexpensive option is The Best Of INXS (2002), which is loud.

LP version (cuts off the "d" in the word "kind", and tracks into the next song on Kick, "Mediate")

Atlantic's full-length INXS album Kick (1987) sounds really good, as you might expect. The following discs all use the same analog transfer as Kick:

• Atlantic's Hit Singles 1980-1988 (1988)
• PolyGram Europe's Hits On CD Vol. 9 (1988)
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Awesome '80s (1994)
• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll #1 Radio Hits 1985-1989 (1996)
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Make You Sweat (1998)

All of the above have the same dynamic range as Kick, reasonable EQ, no noise reduction, all run at 108.7 BPM, and all fade quickly to lose the "d" in the word "kind" before the drums from "Mediate" kick in. If you want the song on a compilation, any of the above will work well. (FYI, I retract my earlier statement in this thread about Awesome '80s; it sounds about the same as any other Warner Special Products compilation.)

The mastering style in 1987 used an enormous dynamic range, with plenty of headroom and very little compression/limiting. It sounded terrific, as you might imagine. Unfortunately, in later years, the mastering style was to bump up the volume, so that your CD was louder than other CDs. (It's called the loudness war; read up on it if you haven't heard of it before.) This meant that INXS greatest hits discs, released well after 1987, had to clip the peaks of "Need You Tonight" or apply extra compression/limiting in order to be loud enough to compete in the loudness war. It's not ideal.

Atlantic's Greatest Hits (1994) uses a new analog transfer, and clips quite a bit. It runs 108.8 BPM here. The same analog transfer is used on:

• WEA's WEA Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Vol. 3 (1996)
• Time-Life's Gold And Platinum Vol. 5 (1997) - digitally exactly 4 dB quieter
• Skifan Iceland's 2-CD Pottþétt Rokk (1997)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 21 1986-1989 (1997) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Cema's 2-CD Mystic Music Presents Red Hot (1998) - digitally identical
• EMI's Rock 'N Roll Relix 1986-1987 (1998) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 10 Late '80s (2000) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties Vol. 24 Everything '80s (2002) - differently-EQ'd digital clone

The song "Devil Inside" follows "Need You Tonight" on GH, and you can actually hear the opening beat of "Devil Inside" at the very end of some of the songs on the above list. Ugh.

Others:

• Atlantic's promo INXS best-of Compilation (1990) has "Need You Tonight" and "Mediate" as a single track, with a nice dynamic range and nice sound, but it's pricey
• Rhino's Hang The DJ 1988 (1996) has a nice dynamic range, includes a bit of "Mediate", and runs too slow at 107.9 BPM
• EMI Virgin Polygram UK's Now 14 (1989) and 2-CD Now 1989 (1993) have great dynamic range, but both cut off the entire last line of the song. Boo.

My recommendation

If you're looking for "Need You Tonight", I'll assume that the promo CD single and Atlantic's Year In Review 1987 are not realistic choices, unless you somehow already own them. Which means that you'll get the LP version, which is quickly faded to cut off the "d" in the word "kind".

Personally, I love the Kick album, and it has enough hits to stand on its own as a worthwhile collection of chart hits.

If you want the song on a compilation, try and find one that's based on the mastering for Kick. I do like Razor & Tie's 2-CD Awesome '80s (1994), but it's only about as good as other Warner Special Products collections from that time frame (13 years ago, I spent too much time on the Steve Hoffman forum). The JCI disc has a few slightly early fades to fit so many songs on the disc.

Edited by crapfromthepast