FEATURE:
Second Spin
Kylie Minogue - Fever
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IT seems hard to believe…
PHOTO CREDIT: Vincent Peters
that an album with classics like Can't Get You Out of My Head, In Your Eyes, Love at First Sight and Come into My World was given mixed reaction by many critics! That is not to say that the rest of Kylie Minogue’s eighth studio album, Fever, is up to that standard! Released on 1st October, 2001, it was a few weeks after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. Perhaps there was a sombreness and fear in the air that meant an album that is largely upbeat and celebratory sounded out of step or misplaced. Many who have written retrospective reviews argue that it was what was needed at such a scary and awful time for us all. You can read about Fever here. I am going to bring in some features and reviews. With the four singles evenly scattered through the album, there is this nice consistency and balance! Even many of the deeper cuts are up there with her best work of the early-2000s. Fever, Love Affair and Burning Up are all tremendous tracks that could have been singles in their own right! Thirty-three when Fever was released, this was a more mature Kylie Minogue. Still filled with appropriate youthful energy and confidence, there is something incredible sultry and sexual running through many of the songs. One of the great Pop icons who reinvented herself for Fever, I think it is one of her best albums. On 22nd September, 2000, Minogue released Light Years.
Perhaps better reviewed than Fever, it was this big and triumphant return after the misunderstood Impossible Princess of 1997. That album was seen as more experimental and out of Minogue’s comfort zone. Light Years provided more accessible and commercial Pop/Dance, but there is something more sophisticated working away. Relentlessly fun and captivating, singles like On a Night Like This and Spinning Around confirmed that Minogue had lost none of her charm, brilliance, and pull. A slick and quality-rich album that reached number one in many countries (the U.K. included), Fever still sounds fresh and eminently listenable twenty-one years after its release! The album had a distinct meaning and context in 2001 so soon after a huge international tragedy and seismic event. In years since, I think there has been more fondness and retrospection. It is a shame there were some poor and mixed reviews in 2001. I want to bring in a few features about the amazing Fever. PopMatters revisited one of Kylie Minogue’s greatest releases last year to mark its twentieth anniversary:
“Kylie Minogue is an interesting study in contradiction. Despite having sold over 70 million albums worldwide, she’s remained a niche artist in the United States, never achieving the kind of coronation that Madonna or Janet Jackson enjoy. Outside of America, though, Minogue is a massive pop star. She—like Olivia Newton-John—is a national treasure in her native Australia. Likewise, she blazed a trail of hit singles in the UK that earned a ubiquity rivaling that of even Madonna herself.
She was christened “a legend” in 2017 when she performed in the coveted Legends Slot at the Glastonbury Festival. Up until 2001, however, she managed only three Top 40 hits in the States (her HI-NRG cover of Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” from 1987’s self-titled debut went to number three). That changed in the autumn of 2001 when she released “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, the lead single from her eighth studio album, Fever. It landed in the Top 10—peaking at number seven—thereby re-introducing Minogue to American audiences outside of her devoted gay followers (who’d been supporting her since the mid-1980s).
Though Minogue was a triumphant pop diva in the UK when “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” reached number one on the UK charts, the single and album came after her 2000’s Light Years (a sparkily retro disco album that proved to be a comeback for the singer). Previously, she’d found herself in a commercial limbo for several years, starting with her move away from the cookie-cutter bubblegum pop of the ’80s and into the deeper house and club culture in the early ’90s. This shift in her sound meant that Minogue was making some of her best music, but popular radio wasn’t as enthusiastic (and neither were buyers). Light Years married Minogue’s musical maturation with her sparkly pop past; with Fever, she consolidated her renewed success while finally finding a broader audience in America, too.
What Fever did was show mainstream American listeners something that the rest of the world already knew: Kylie Minogue is a fantastic pop diva. She is the epitome of camp. A ridiculously over-the-top and extravagant singer, Minogue approached her music with a heavy wink and tongue-in-cheek. Unlike Madonna or Janet Jackson, she didn’t take herself too seriously (well, aside from a brief spell in the ’90s that resulted in middling success), and she leaned hard into her queer aesthetic.
The other thing is that Fever and its singles offered listeners a much-needed salve during one of the most challenging moments in contemporary history. In particular, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” was released on 8 September 2001, three days before 9/11. Pop culture responded to the tragedy in three significant ways: diving deeper into patriotism, going back to nostalgia, and offering mindless escapist fun. “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” definitely exemplifies the third option. It’s a pop trifle that’s lighter-than-air and packs an extremely hooky earworm (the “La la la la” chant that wriggled its way into the brains of everyone who listened to pop radio at that time)”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Vincent Peters
Twenty years after its release, people were approaching Fever from different directions and angles. Still struck by its hooks, incredible choruses, memorable songs and committed and stunning performances from Minogue, the album definitely requires a second spin! Far stronger than most gave it credit for, it was a defining moment in the career of one of the music world’s most celebrated and admired artists. This is what Albumism said when they looked back at Fever twenty years after it came into the world:
“Unveiled in the fall of 1997, Minogue’s sixth studio album Impossible Princess (initially self-titled in the UK & Europe) found the singer venturing away from her signature dance-pop sound, and instead experimenting with new sonic directions, as inspired by the mid-90s ascendance of British rock and electronic music. With Minogue co-writing all of the LP’s songs for the first time in her career, the album incorporated live instrumentation and even featured collaborations with Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield on two songs. Unfortunately, her openness to experimentation and commendable refusal to stick to her status quo sound proved divisive among critics and fans alike. Outside of her native Australia, the album suffered from poor reviews and lackluster sales.
Perhaps inevitably, 2000’s Light Years found Minogue reclaiming her—or more appropriately, her fans’—comfort zone of more whimsical dance-pop, but with a notably more sophisticated sexuality attached to the sonic sheen. A return to critical acclaim ensued and a collective sigh of relief could be heard among her supporters across the globe, now that she had revived her proven musical pedigree. The not-so-guilty pleasures of singles “Spinning Around,” “On a Night Like This,” and “Your Disco Needs You” augured the electro-pop perfection that was to come by way of Minogue’s next album the following year.
Mind you, while Minogue continued to experience success worldwide throughout the ‘90s, her career trajectory took a completely different turn stateside during this period. In 1990, Geffen Records released Minogue’s sophomore album Enjoy Yourself in the US, but the album’s poor commercial performance subsequently led to the label parting ways with her. Rather astonishingly, for the next eleven years, none of Minogue’s five albums would see the light of day in the US, as the few singles she released here—including 1990’s “Better the Devil You Know” and 1994’s “Confide in Me”—failed to produce meaningful sales and labels remained wary of supporting full album releases.
So although Minogue’s popularity had not just remained intact, but had actually proliferated across Australia, Europe and beyond, she had faded to relative obscurity in the states, arguably relegated—at least among her more fair-weather followers—to the undesirable one-hit wonder association thanks to the “The Loco-Motion.” Thankfully, the glaring dichotomy between her stature overseas and her marginalization here in the US would come to an end in September 2001, with the arrival of the dazzling dance-pop brilliance of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”
Co-written and produced by Rob Davis and Cathy Dennis, who you’ll recall from her early ‘90s hit singles “Touch Me (All Night Long),” C’mon and Get My Love, and “Just Another Dream,” Minogue’s midtempo ode to obsession, replete with the unforgettable “La La La / La La La La La” chorus that lodged itself firmly in millions of minds upon first listen, proved instantly memorable. And the song ultimately became her most successful single of her career, placing her squarely back on US fans’ collective radar after her extended 11-year “hiatus.” “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” topped the charts in more than 40 countries, peaking at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. “It kick-started a whole different phase in my career,” Minogue explained to The Quietus in 2012.
While its ubiquitous lead single is what most people still remember from Fever, her eighth studio album and third released in the US, the rest of the album showcases more than its fair share of standout songs. Most of the songs stick to the same house music meets euro-pop sonic template complemented by Minogue’s yearning, seductive vocals. And the songs seldom stray too far from the thematic script of the pursuit and realization of love, accentuated by a more overtly sexual energy than can be heard on Minogue’s previous albums. So while variety is in short supply here, anyone expecting anything else from Minogue obviously isn’t familiar with her musical modus operandi, which she and her production team execute to flawless effect across Fever’s twelve tracks.
Finest among these, according to my ears, is the hypnotic “Come Into My World,” the other of the two Davis & Dennis penned/produced compositions and the final single released from the album. Sounding like the sonic and vocal extension of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” albeit with a faster tempo, the song finds Minogue extending a straightforward invitation to her lover, encouraging him in the second verse to “Take these lips that were made for kissing / And this heart that will see you through / And these hands that were made to touch and / Feel you.” “Come Into My World” rightfully won the 2004 GRAMMY Award for Best Dance Recording, triumphing over competition that included Madonna’s “Die Another Day” and further solidifying Minogue’s career resurrection in North America.
The other two officially released singles are sublime slices of dancefloor-designed effervescence as well. Featuring a nod to her aforementioned 2000 single (“Ohh, is the world still spinning around?”), the infectious “In Your Eyes” highlights Minogue at her most seductive. On the jubilant, melodic ballad “Love at First Sight,” Minogue floats on cloud nine after falling in love upon first blush, conjuring “Love to Love You Baby” era Donna Summer in the song’s outro with the repeated refrain of “it was love / it was love / it was love.”
Among the non-singles, a handful of highlights emerge, including the house-imbued groove of album opener “More More More,” the irresistibly catchy exploration of vulnerability “Fragile” (which could very well have been the fifth single), and “Dancefloor,” an ode to the escapism one invariably finds blanketed by the comforting shimmer of disco lights. While not filler fare by any stretch of the imagination, the trio of songs that close out the album—“Love Affair,” “Your Love,” and “Burning Up”—may not quite measure up to the bona fide stunners that precede them, but they nevertheless reinforce that Fever is an exquisitely executed dance-pop affair from beginning to end.
A surprise to no one, Fever took the global charts by storm, including a peak position of number 3 in the Billboard 200. And while the album was critically applauded, the media’s preoccupation with her undeniable status as an international sex symbol, as well as her personal life, often diverted focus away from her music. In fact, in my research for this tribute, I was hard-pressed to find many interviews that contained more than a passing remark or two about her music, with most interviewers more than content to discuss her public persona and a whole host of topics unrelated to her songs”.
I will finish with a couple of reviews. Many gave Fever three stars and sort of hinted at the strengths of the album (mainly the singles), but they suggested that there was not enough depth and nuance. Maybe too samey and surface, rather than there being songs that dug deep and kept you coming back. AllMusic noted the following in their review of one of the biggest albums of 2001:
“Fame can be a fleeting mistress, and nowhere more so than in the land of dance-pop divas. Many are lucky enough to have a hit album, much less two or three. What usually takes a one-hit wonder from the singles charts to career diva lies less in catchy hooks than in a combination of talent and the choice of collaborators. Obviously, the master of this technique is Madonna, whose talent and eye for talent in others has made her not only a worldwide pop sensation, but a worldwide icon. Arguably, running a close second is Kylie Minogue. Starting off as not much more than a female voice for the massively successful Stock, Aitken & Waterman hit factory, she moved on to work with some of the most prominent dance producers of the early '90s, making her one of the most visible pop stars outside of the United States. 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”.
I want to finish with Stereogum’s twentieth anniversary feature about Fever. They discuss some highlights and strengths on an album that I feel is still so impactful and thrilling. Ranging from insanely catchy to something more emotive and deeper, Fever is defined with a distinct sense of fun and frivolity designed to fill club floors:
“Though repetitive at times in production and lyrical content, Fever was an ultra-sleek turn into the wonders of millennial pop futurism. The aesthetic was best reflected by Fever’s rhapsodic lead single “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” the song that sent the dance-pop world into Minogue mania. Co-produced and co-written by former Mud glam-rock guitarist Rob Davis and British pop singer-songwriter Cathy Dennis, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” began in Davis’ garage-turned-makeshift studio in South East England. They initially offered it to former British pop group S Club 7 and indie pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, both of whom passed on the demo. It thus serendipitously landed on Minogue, who wanted the song within 20 seconds of hearing it.
Balancing in-your-face ubiquity with a more elusive seduction as it built to an infectious “la la la” refrain, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” launched Minogue into icon status. The song became her biggest hit in the US since “The Loco-Motion,” peaking at #7, and her bestselling single overall, with worldwide sales of over five million copies. The visual for “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” looked just as glossy as the song sounded — Minogue’s razor-sharp jawline stole the show alongside robotic choreography by an army of clones with cutout tops that would give Mean Girls‘ Regina George a run for her money.
There was more where that came from. Veering towards discotheque futurism, Fever arguably made Minogue the global queen of nightclubbing. Opening track “More More More” throbbed with a rapturous, tech-y hotline tone and a deep house bassline courtesy of British producer Tommy D. Second track (and third single) “Love At First Sight” pulsated with an adrenaline rush of optimism as Minogue cooed about passionate reverie. The title track was an alluring, flirtatious escapade that brought the steamy album cover full circle.
Breathy vocals ran rampant throughout Fever, notably on the lush, nearly-inebriated sounding “In Your Eyes” and “Come Into My World,” which won Best Dance Recording at the Grammys three years later. (It was released as a single in November 2002, placing it within the eligibility window for the February 2004 ceremony.) “Come Into My World” was a follow-up collaboration between Davis and Dennis, who spun it out into a hallucinogenic disco utopia, paving the way for releases decades in the future like Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia.
Later tracks like “Love Affair,” “Your Love,” and “Burning Up” opted for more analog instrumentation, but the legacy of Fever lies within its synth-powered Europop menagerie. Those electronic dance hits were the songs that pushed Fever to a #3 debut on the Billboard 200 and helped it sell 6 million copies worldwide. It remains Minogue’s highest-selling album and a testament to her eternal nu-disco appeal. All these years later, I still can’t get it out of my head”.
Twenty-one years after Kylie Minogue followed up the brilliant Light Years of 2000, Fever kept the brilliance and hot streak going. In 2020, she released her most recent album, DISCO. In some ways, it nodded back to some of the sounds and colours on Light Years and Fever. It is baffling that there were quite a few mixed reviews for an album that packs such a punch and has a load of excellent songs! That is why I wanted to ensure that people give a second spin to…
THE sensational Fever.