The Swing
by INXS

The Swing by INXS
Year: 1984
Release date: 1984-03-00
Overall rank: 3,242nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 121 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1984 (53rd)
Award Top albums of of the 1980s (482nd)
Award Best albums of all time (3,242nd)

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INXS bestography

The Swing is ranked 2nd best out of 17 albums by INXS on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by INXS is Kick which is ranked number 628 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,705.

INXS album bestography « Higher ranked (628th)
Kick
This album (3,242nd)
The Swing
Lower ranked (3,596th) »
Listen Like Thieves

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Swing rankings

The Swing rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,242nd | 1980s rank: 482nd | 1984 rank: 53rd  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).

The Swing collection

The Swing ratings

Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 121 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 121 ratings for this album.

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100/100
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06/09/2026 05:57 TerryTezza  Ratings distribution  76778/100
 
75/100
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05/29/2026 17:13 MetalMan67  Ratings distribution  6,18071/100
 
95/100
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04/06/2026 01:13 stangetzaway  Ratings distribution  2,31184/100
 
0/100
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02/27/2026 04:16 smithc4jc  Ratings distribution  6373/100
 
60/100
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11/12/2025 23:31 NYAndreas  Ratings distribution  1,43344/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 69.6/100, a mean average of 68.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 69.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.5.


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The Swing favourites

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The Swing comments

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Rating:  
100/100
A great album by INXS that was on high rotation when I was young. Original Sin, Send A Message and Dancing On The Jetty are great rock songs. The drums at the end of All The Voices is amazing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/22/2019 22:04 | #238097
not so well known outside Aus, but their best album IMO.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
This is a great album and very underated, once you hear it you say "oh that song" and so on, it's kinda strange how it doesn't get the same kind of ratings or fame as kick, the album is good in the regard that it has some very well known tracks, you could say it's a hidden gem of Inxs albums.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
Quality songs throughout in the main but not quite as good as Shabooh Shoobah in my mind. Probably aged better than Kick though. Love I Send A Message, Burn For You and Love Is (What I Say) - not so keen on Face The Change, the probable low point. Behind Listen Like Thieves and Shobooh Shoobah, but not by much.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 10/05/2016 12:05 | #176370
An imaginative and well produced set of songs. Excellent use of synthesizers throughout and whilst some turn up their nose at INXS I'd listen to The Swing over Violator or Disintergration any day of the week
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/04/2015 23:15 | #145149
Definitely among the best pop/rock albums by an Autralian band. Deserves a much wider audience
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/03/2014 01:10 | #128556
Underrated among the charts in 1984, a very good album by INXS. A lot of catchy songs that's fun to listen to
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 09/08/2014 03:36 | #121478
Best Track: Original Sin
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
The most talked about album in Australia during the 80's. If u didn't own it you weren't cool . It's a classic for so many reasons but more so in OZ than the rest of the world
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
The Swing is the last album of its kind from INXS as the band would later shed their Australian trademarks for a more straightforward rock sound. Like its predecessors, The Swing is awash in synthesizers in combination with rock and R&B/Funk grooves (best example is "Send A Message" and "Burn For You"). While "Original Sin" was the group's first #1 in Australia (and deservedly so), the highlights of the album are the album tracks "Johnson's Aeroplane," an ode to life in the Outback, and "Love Is (What I Say)," a Roxy Music-like piece with flourishes of tribal beats. Arguably INXS's best album. The key is repeated listens.
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