Just been reading on Wikipedia about Impossible Princess' initial release and it says the album sold 20,000 copies in its first two weeks, "ten percent of the expected sales figure."

 

How can there have been expectation of 200,000 sales in a fortnight for this album when it's predecessor had sold 100,000 in total?

(I realise it's Wiki, so might not be entirely accurate).

 

It also says Kylie considered retiring after the album due to bad public and media reaction. I wonder how much she truly contemplated packing it all in... and look at what we (and she) would have missed out on if she had!!

 

I haven't listened to this album for years so going to give it a spin and see what I think with fresh ears.

I suspect dropping the album title was a contributing factor to the poor sales. That must’ve hindered the campaign given it ended up with the same title as the previous album. An album track could’ve been chosen as a title track (Limbo, for example). There are some decent options.

 

The fates seemed to conspire against her with this album. So glad our Kylie is no quitter.

Amazon sale worked well, just 3 left, £10 deal ended.

 

Says 100 plus bought.

 

Love to see IP pick up a few extra sales - such an incredible album and deserves any boost it can get.

Totally agree, I'm not sure the album will ever reach gold but its the least it deserves.

Don’t think it ever will make gold but at least we took it to top 5 with the vinyl anniversary editions.

Edited December 5, 2024Dec 5 by aeroco

As it's now charting under a different title to its 1998 release, do these sales count seperately? :unsure:

 

Also I recently saw a clip where Kylie says in an interview something like "I kind of felt at the time like I'm not done yet, I still have so much more to do" so I don't think she really seriously considered packing it in.

To my knowledge all the sales are combined from the album under the 2 names.

As it's now charting under a different title to its 1998 release, do these sales count seperately? :unsure:

 

Also I recently saw a clip where Kylie says in an interview something like "I kind of felt at the time like I'm not done yet, I still have so much more to do" so I don't think she really seriously considered packing it in.

Music Week have combined sales but the BPI have separate, hence why it hasn’t been certified Silver.

Music Week have combined sales but the BPI have separate, hence why it hasn’t been certified Silver.

 

not true, it was silver but during transition bpi page it was lost, because of the same tittle as previous album... so just need notify this...

MINOGUE KYLIE , KYLIE MINOGUE , Silver , Sat Oct 1 1994

MINOGUE KYLIE , KYLIE MINOGUE , Silver , Wed Apr 1 1998

I’m not mad if sales are split as it added another Top 10 album to her tally releasing under its intended title :lol:

not true, it was silver but during transition bpi page it was lost, because of the same tittle as previous album... so just need notify this...

MINOGUE KYLIE , KYLIE MINOGUE , Silver , Sat Oct 1 1994

MINOGUE KYLIE , KYLIE MINOGUE , Silver , Wed Apr 1 1998

Annoying that this happened, because without that source it's as if it's been stripped of its silver status :drama:

 

If only Deconstruction could have given it... literally any other title instead of another self-titled <_<

 

 

Looking back, I find it odd really that there was such a level of sensitivity regarding Princess Diana's death that they presumably thought the album title could cause great offence/backlash :mellow:

I'm old enough to remember it's original release and understand the change of title, its a shame about the timing as I think impossible princess is her best album title.

I kind of wish both Deconstruction albums had been called something else, especially when she already had "Kylie" as the debut.

 

I do find the Princess Diana thing a bit funny, but annoying at the same time that it kind of derailed an already shaky campaign.

I’m not surprised they changed the title at the time - it was a super sensitive time with radio stations etc not playing certain songs.

 

I guess added to the fact that campaign had not started the best with underperforming singles that Deconstruction didn’t want to risk it not being stocked in Woolies, HMV etc due to the title.

 

Agree they could have literally called it anything but Kylie - looking back the whole campaign was such a chaotic mess :nocheer:

Limbo considering how it all worked out could have been an ideal title in place of impossible princess or dreams could also have worked, both titles fitting in their own way although nothing would top impossible princess.

Listening to IP today, if the album had gone the opposite way and hugely successful I was left wondering what Kylie would have done on the next album and was I was like, Mel c northern star album type sound would have been an ideal follow up.

Had IP properly taken off we would definitely had a very different new millennium kylie.

It’s my favourite album and even though I wanted it to be massive (and it deserved to be) I’m kind of glad on reflection that it wasn’t - it would’ve changed her musical journey and I’m not convinced we would have seen the longevity of career she has had if she had gone down the IP route.

I do feel the same, at best it most likely would have been 2 successful albums then crash and the journey that started in 2000 would have been so different and not as huge as it was.

I wonder when the moment came that Kylie decided to switch lanes and go back to pop? When did she ultimately decide that the music from her Deconstruction era wasn't working out for her, and wasn't how she should continue on with her career? Would it have been in 1999, or could her thoughts about this have taken root some time in 1998?

 

I wonder how she ultimately felt about the decision to change her music direction, before she began recording material for Light Years - could she possibly have felt a bit defeated or even reluctant to go back to pop - or was she perhaps feeling immediately positive and motivated by this choice? After all, she could have equally decided to stick to her guns, musically. I feel like there was an element of risk for her going back to pop, just in case that didn't work out either? :thinking:

 

I'm not sure if she's ever spoken at length about this!

 

I also sometimes wonder how her 90s music would have sounded if she decided to continue with a poppier sound. My guess is there would have been an electronic influence there, and maybe her mid to late 90s sound could have been a bit... Gina G-esque? :thinking:

I would imagine she felt very defeated by this point in her career, especially if she really did think about jacking it all in at the time. Defiantly continuing with the "indie" path would have only resulted in further diminishing returns, so there was only one way back...

 

I'm sure I watched an interview with her where she said when she sat down with Parlophone they decided they needed to give the public what they wanted and expected from her - which was pop - and that's what they did.

 

I think she needed to go there to come back with the indie stuff. Continuing in the 90s with pop would again have likely led to her fading away. Maybe an R&B sound might have worked (think Madonna Bedtime Stories) but even then it would have been just trend-chasing for a hit.

 

I recently listened to Impossible Princess and for being the first Kylie album that I didn't buy, I missed out. It's a good album (better that its predecessor) but it's a good album in hindsight rather than a good album at the time.

I kind of felt during Intimate & Live she was starting to embrace her poppy side again for bits of it, like that was her way of symbolically drawing a line under the experimental stuff and also preparing herself for a return to all-out pop.