FEATURE:
Step Back in Time
IMAGE CREDIT: Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue’s Five Finest Albums
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AS the legendary Kylie Minogue…
PHOTO CREDIT: Kylie Minogue
readies herself for a slot on the appropriately-named ‘legends’ stage at Glastonbury this year, it has got me thinking about her impressive back catalogue and the fact that, with each album, there is evolution. Minogue releases her definitive collection, Step Back in Time, on 28th June and it will give fans existing and new the chance to revel in the multiple sides of the Melbourne-born icon. This year is a big one for her because, not only does Minogue have that Glastonbury slot and is releasing her greatest hits; there will be many wondering what comes next; how she will follow 2018’s Country-tinged album, Golden. I think, as she is in her sixth decade of life, we will actually see more of a return to her Pop roots rather than a repeat of what she gave us last year. In any case, there are a lot of people excited by what is coming. Even though her definitive collection spans her entire career, if you want to narrow down to the finest Kylie Minogue albums, I have been investigating further. Here, in my view, are the five Kylie Minogue album every fan needs…
PHOTO CREDIT: Audoin Desforges
IN their collections…
ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images/Kylie Minogue
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Rhythm of Love
Release Date: 12th November, 1990
Labels: Mushroom/PWL
Producers: Stock, Aitken, Waterman/Keith Cohen/Stephen Bray/Michael Jay/Rick James
Standout Cuts: Better the Devil You Know/What Do I Have to Do/Shocked
Key Cut: Step Back in Time
Review:
“Yes, it's still simple Stock-Aitken-Waterman dance-pop, but Rhythm of Love is leaps and bounds more mature than Kylie's first two releases. The songwriting is stronger, the production dynamic, and Kylie seems more confident vocally. And while Kylie and Enjoy Yourself were collections of songs to back up singles, this is a more complete album, with many of the tracks -- "Things Can Only Get Better" a prime example -- single worthy. Definitely her best work from the Stock-Aitken-Waterman era” - AllMusic
Kylie Minogue
Release Date: 19th September, 1994
Labels: Mushroom/Destruction
Producers: Steve Anderson/Dave Seaman/M People/Pete Heller/Terry Farley/Jimmy Harry
Standout Cuts: Surrender/Pure Yourself in My Place/Falling
Key Cut: Confide in Me
Review:
“Meant as a statement of her new direction, Kylie Minogue's fifth album no longer featured the Stock-Aitken-Waterman production gloss and found the diminutive singer working with hip dance producers like David Seaman. From the first notes of the opener "Confide in Me," you know this is not the teen pop queen of old. Kylie Minogue (also note the use of her last name on the cover) wanted to sound grown up, and she pulls it off with ease. While it is still dance-pop, there's atmosphere and style in the songs that wasn't there on Let's Get to It. Definitely the start of the second phase of her career” – AllMusic
Impossible Princess
Release Date: 22nd October, 1997
Labels: Mushroom/Destruction/BMG
Producers: Kylie Minogue (uncredited)/Dave BallJames/Dean Bradfield/Brothers in Rhythm/Jay Burnett/Rob Dougan/Dave Eringa/Ingo Vauk
Standout Cuts: Cowboy Style/Some Kind of Bliss/Did It Again
Key Cut: Breathe
Review:
“Impossible Princess runs the gamut of styles, but manages to remain cohesive and fresh, even six years later. The sleek trip-hop of “Jump” and the deliriously spacey “Say Hey” fit like puzzle pieces next to the Chemical Brothers-style techno/rock hybrid “Limbo” and the frenetic “I Don’t Need Anyone.” Minogue fiercely declares her independence, but admits to her innate vulnerability: “I don’t need anyone/Except for someone I’ve not found.” Co-produced by former Soft Cell synth-master Dave Ball, “Through the Years” evokes Björk’s “Venus As a Boy,” but creates its own smoky atmosphere with muted horns, experimental vocal tracks and elegiac lyrics: “Too many a twisted word was said/My body was porous/I savored every drop of you” – SLANT
Light Years
Release Date: 25th September, 2000
Label: Parlophone
Producers: Steve Anderson/Guy Chambers/Johnny Douglas/Julian Gallagher/Mark Picchiotti/Steve Power/Mike Spencer/Graham Stack/Richard Stannard/Mark Taylor
Standout Cuts: On a Night Like This/Your Disco Needs You/Kids (with Robbie Williams)
Key Cut: Spinning Around
Review:
“On a Night Like This and So Now Goodbye keep up the tempo and disco antics - you can feel the heat from the swirling multi-coloured lights as you listen to them - adding empowering notions of grabbing the best looking man in the club, then ditching him when you feel like it. But Minogue knows better than to think she can do it all alone. It was the less than subtle tweakings of Stock-Aitken- Waterman that gave her success and now she has turned to some more male musical heavyweights to get her back on track. Spice Girls collaborator Richard Stannard adds some polish to the flamenco flavoured Please Stay, while the songs co-written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers give Minogue the best lines.
There's the fantastic Kids, a duet with Williams also featured on his new album, and Loveboat, a homage to the 1970s TV show of the same name. The latter is a female response to Williams's Millennium - it sounds very similar but has a less cynical approach to love. The familiar references to martinis, bikinis and 007 are all there - Williams really should try joining a new video club - but so too are the verbal come-ons that'll either make you squirm or laugh out loud. "Rub on some lotion," Minogue pleads breathily, "the places I can't reach." More amusing still is Your Disco Needs You, a call to arms that the Village People would be proud of. Minogue has her tongue firmly in her cheek for this camp slice of epic disco that will doubtless become the obligatory soundtrack to every Christmas office party.
It's only when Minogue deviates from the fun that the album falters. Bittersweet Goodbye is an overblown ode to love that seems like an excuse for a video featuring satin sheets, while the title track is suitably spacey, though it still left me singing Brotherhood of Man's Angelo at the end. Ultimately, Minogue shines brightest in the blinding lights of a club and Light Years is an album that should be played as you force your boob-tube into place and drain the remnants of that can of hairspray before you go out. This time round Kylie's got it right” – The Guardian
Fever
Release Date: 1st October, 2001
Label: Parlophone
Producers: Steve Anderson/Rob Davis/Cathy Dennis/Greg Fitzgerald/Pascal Gabriel/Julian Gallagher/Tom Nichols/Mark Picchiotti/Richard Stannard/Paul Statham/TommyD
Standout Cuts: Love at First Sight/Come Into My World/In Your Eyes
Key Cut: Can’t Get You Out of My Head
Review:
“By 1997, she moved on to working with writers outside the genre. While this may have translated into poor record sales, her motives were in the right place. With 2001's Fever, Minogue combines the disco-diva comeback of the previous year's Light Years with the trend of simple dance rhythms which was prevalent in the teen dance-pop craze of the years surrounding the album's release. While on the surface that might seem like an old dog trying to learn new tricks, Minogue pulls it off with surprising ease. The first single, "Cant Get You Out of My Head," is a sparse, mid-tempo dance number that pulses and grooves like no other she's recorded, and nothing on Light Years was as funky as the pure disco closer of "Burning Up."
And while it's hard not to notice her tipping her hat to the teen pop sound (in fact, on this record she works with Cathy Dennis, former dance-pop star and writer/producer for Brit-teen pop group S Club 7) on songs like "Give It to Me" and "Love at First Sight," her maturity helps transcend this limiting tag, making this a very stylish Euro-flavored dance-pop record that will appeal to all ages. Not one weak track, not one misplaced syrupy ballad to ruin the groove. The winning streak continues. (The U.S. version, released in early March of 2002, included the hidden tracks "Boy" and "Butterfly" -- a B-side and Light Years album track, respectively)” – AllMusic