June 6, 201015 yr It's 1998. 'I Should Be So Lucky' was a decade and five albums ago. Kylie Minogue's now writing all her own lyrics, collaborating with the Manic Street Preachers and still managing to look cute-as-a-kitten-in-mittens on her album cover. What's more, as your Kylie: Revisited team have been discovering this week, that album might just be the most intriguing of her entire career. Release date: March 23, 1998 Songwriting/production cast: Brothers In Rhythm (six tracks), Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk (three tracks), Dave Eringa & James Dean Bradfield (two tracks), Nick Dougan (one track) Chart performance: 'Some Kind Of Bliss' became Minogue's least successful lead single ever, stalling outside the UK top 20, but follow-ups 'Did It Again' and 'Breathe' performed rather better, both peaking at number 14. When Impossible Princess finally came out – six months later than originally planned – it reached a creditable number ten on the UK albums chart, but went on the become Minogue's worst-selling album in the UK. However, it did earn a platinum award in her native Oz and make No.1 in... wait for it... Israel. The sound: All over the dance-pop shop! Impossible Princess features everything from elegant electronica ('Breathe', 'Say Hey') to Motowny indie ('Some Kind Of Bliss, 'I Don't Need Anyone') to sitary guitar-pop ('Did It Again') to navel-gazing trip-hop ('Jump') to the toughest club cuts of Kylie's career ('Too Far', 'Drunk', 'Limbo'). Oh, and in 'Cowboy Style', it has a track that manages to sound a little bit Celtic and a little bit Middle Eastern. Petey W must have wept! Standout track: Truth be told, this album lacks an absolute classic to match 'Confide In Me', but 'Breathe' – subtle but sneakily catchy with it – could be one of Min's most underrated singles. Hidden gem: Tucked right at the end, 'Dreams' is a gorgeous, string-swathed ballad with thought-provoking lyrics about an "impossible princess" who's striving to have it all. (For the record, she wasn't singing about Fergie.) Lyrical nugget: Kylie wrote every single word on Impossible Princess, and she didn't squander the opportunity to bare a bit of soul, so we're entirely spoilt for choice this week. 'Too Far', 'Jump', 'Did It Again' and 'Dreams' all feature insight aplenty, but it's the all-consuming love affair of 'Drunk' that most sticks in our mind: "I'm not happy drunk til I'm drunken," Kylie sings on the chorus, "'Till you take all of me..." Fascinating fact: In the UK and Ireland, the album's title was switched to Kylie Minogue - yes, just like the last one – following the death of Princess Diana in August '97. "I don't want to be constantly explaining or upsetting people, so we've taken the name off for now," the prudent popstrel explained at the time. "But I'd like to keep the option for putting it back in the future. That's what the album is called - it just won't be on the cover." Our verdict: Hmm... at times Impossible Princess hangs together as well as a pair of mismatched curtains, and you couldn't accuse it of being stuffed with slap-you-round-the-chops pop stompers, but its myriad charms do begin to materialise after a few spins. Brave, revealing and rarely less than surprising, it's a key piece in the trickier-than-you-think jigsaw puzzle that is Kylie Minogue's recording career. Star rating:
June 7, 201015 yr Author That is a fantastic review and fairly spot on in what i would say myself, and of course im delighted they picked breathe as the best song and most under rated kylie single which is something i have always believed.
June 21, 201015 yr Can you believe Light Years was ten years ago? After the relative failure of 1998's Impossible Princess, Kylie Minogue parts ways with trendy dance label Deconstruction and signs to a big old major, assembles a cast of collaborators who've crafted hits for the likes of Robbie Williams, Cher and the Spice Girls, and transforms herself into the greatest disco diva this side of 1978. Translation: she's back. Back. BACK! Release date: September 25, 2000 Songwriting/production cast: Guy Chambers & Steve Powers (four tracks), Richard Stannard & Julian Gallagher (three tracks), Johnny Douglas (three tracks), Mark Taylor & Graham Stack (one track), Mike Spencer (one track), Steve Anderson (one track), Mark Picchiotti (one track). Chart performance: Backed by that bum in those hotpants in that video, album trailer 'Spinning Around' became Kylie's first UK No.1 in a decade. Follow-ups 'On A Night Like This' and 'Kids' - hiya Robbie! - both peaked at number two, and final single 'Please Stay' crept into the top ten too, ushering Light Years towards platinum status in the UK. The sound: If you'll allow us to coin a new word, camptastic! Light Years is a shiny, sparkly early noughties disco record complete with a Village People pastiche ('Your Disco Needs You'), a Donna Summer homage ('Light Years') and even a Barry White cover ('Under The Influence Of Love'). Along the way there's plenty of catchy dance-pop ('Spinning Around', 'On A Night Like This', 'Butterfly'), a couple of groovy '60s tunes ('Koocachoo', 'I'm So High') and just the one ballad, but it's a lovely one ('Bittersweet Goodbye'). Standout track: Hmm... how shall we put it? Baby baby baby, you know we like it like this... Hidden gem: The title track's a shimmering electro-disco delight, and if 'Your Disco Needs You' doesn't put a smile on your face you need a new shrink, but they're both pipped by 'Butterfly', the album's most bangin' track and the very definition of a Shoulda Been Single. Lyrical nugget: This sexy 'n' decadent little couplet from 'Loveboat' always makes us smirk: “Have an Havana / Pass me a peach / Rub on some lotion / The places I can't reach.” Needless to say, we'll take the booze, the fruit and the chance of a cheeky feel. Fascinating fact: Ever noticed the 'Abdul, P.' songwriting credit on 'Spinning Around'? That's because the song was originally intended for the former AmIdol judge's comeback-album-that-never-was... how different things could have been! Our verdict: It's not the album to pop on if you're feeling introspective, or indeed if you're hosting a climate change discussion group attended by Al Gore, the Environment Secretary and sundry Nobel Prize winners, but as far as fruity little party records go, Light Years is an absolute peach. Honestly, there's not a dud on it. Star rating:
June 22, 201015 yr Author Fantastic review of light years, but ya its hard to believe light years is 10 years old and you know what it sounds as good today as it did 10 years agao.
June 23, 201015 yr On A Night Like This :wub: song of the album for me.. actually one of my fav songs by kylie ever... infact one of my fav songs by ANY artists ever LOL
June 24, 201015 yr Author I love on a night like this but i dont adore it like many many fans do vbut i can see why they love it so much, it was the best single of the album by a mile but it isnt my faveourite track on the album or even in my top 3.
