8 September 1997 saw Kylie release 'Some Kind of Bliss' as the lead single from her sixth studio album 'Impossible Princess'. Written with Manic Street Preachers members James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore, the song is influenced by the Britpop scene and features a variety of instruments from electric guitar to flute. Reviews were mixed, with some praising the change of sound and others feeling it was a misstep; this response was reflected in its chart performance, charting at #27 in Australia (her then-worst performance for a lead single) and #22 in the UK (her first to miss the Top 20, breaking a string of 23 Top 20 hits).

 

25 years on, what are your thoughts and memories of 'Some Kind of Bliss'?

 

 

 

I've always enjoyed some kind of bliss and still do, would love kylie to perform it again in full, was so gutted when the made it's debut at number 22 I was so shocked. As much I love tge song I hate the artwork for the single.

I've always enjoyed some kind of bliss and still do, would love kylie to perform it again in full, was so gutted when the made it's debut at number 22 I was so shocked. As much I love tge song I hate the artwork for the single.

 

Interesting you say that as that artwork was intended for 'Limbo' which was Kylie's choice to be the lead single, but it was rejected by the label & ended up being used as the b-side to 'Some Kind of Bliss'

 

I do think limbo might have been a better choice as lead but I still would say wrong artwork, I like the video for some kind of bliss.

This has always been one of my favourites by Kylie, really didn't deserve to flop at all, I love the Manics-style sound it has due to their involvement in it. In fact, it was my third favourite song for the whole of 1997, behind Eternal's I Wanna Be The Only One and Republica's Ready To Go.

I liked it at the time and still do now. Maybe it alienated some of her traditional fanbase within being enough to ensnare the indie crowd but I remember being really surprised when it did so poorly

 

 

Seeing as we're discussing it, I also really liked the artwork

Definitely one of my all time favourites and in my Top 5 KM singles.

 

I was mortified at the time that it ‘flopped’ and missed the Top 20, there was such negativity around the track at the time and it all completely got overshadowed that MSP were involved in the songwriting.

Very overshadowed by the Manic Street Preachers involvement but it remains a great song.

This track goes on a bit! First single choice 😬

It's a good song! I think the album perhaps has more interesting moments on it, but it sounds like one of the more "radio friendly" options so I can see why they went for it.

 

I think she was in that phase where this would be a flop era for her no matter what they did differently to be honest, and it's what makes up a key part of her story.

Some kind of bliss kinda had to be lead single or not a single ar all, while I always couple it with I don't need anyone the rest if the album has a very different sound. You are right though this phase of her career is a huge part of her story.

The lack of success for SKOB can’t all be attributed to Princes Diana’s death but a lot of TV/Radio promo didn’t happen due to the blanket media coverage following on from her death, also radio play was severely hampered.

 

Kylie had been away for a while (It was just under 2 years since WTWRG reached #11 when SKOB was released), also she wasn’t following up a ‘massive’ selling album by Kylie’s standards at the time - her previous 3 singles had missed the Top 10.

 

The fact DIA and Breathe went Top 15 shows that with media returning to normal Kylie was able to get her usual promo slots but by that point the era was dead in the water.

 

I’m not convinced SKOB ever would have been a huge hit but in different circumstances it definitely would have been bigger than #22 and 1 week in the Top 40.

Lovely to see some really positive comments for this song! I don't love it anywhere near as much to call it one of my very favourites, but I do very much enjoy it. It sounds very radio-friendly to me and is brezzy and feel-good, more or less what Kylie had been doing with PWL just with an alternative rock makeover, so it's surprising to me it got such a mixed critical reaction.

 

The lack of success for SKOB can’t all be attributed to Princes Diana’s death but a lot of TV/Radio promo didn’t happen due to the blanket media coverage following on from her death, also radio play was severely hampered.

 

Kylie had been away for a while (It was just under 2 years since WTWRG reached #11 when SKOB was released), also she wasn’t following up a ‘massive’ selling album by Kylie’s standards at the time - her previous 3 singles had missed the Top 10.

 

The fact DIA and Breathe went Top 15 shows that with media returning to normal Kylie was able to get her usual promo slots but by that point the era was dead in the water.

 

I’m not convinced SKOB ever would have been a huge hit but in different circumstances it definitely would have been bigger than #22 and 1 week in the Top 40.

It did fairly well on radio airplay, at least a lot better than the follow-up singles ('SKOB' was #13 on radio the week the single debuted, compared to #48 for 'DIA' and #85 for 'Breathe') but I guess a combination of lack of promo opportunities, the mixed reviews and also the fact there was only 1 CD available probably contributed to its lack of success.

 

These are very rough estimates but, going off Gezza's estimates for the Top 10 each week, I would say 'Some Kind of Bliss' had first week sales of 15k+ whilst 'Did It Again' debuted with 35k+ and 'Breathe' debuted with 25k+. The latter two singles both had 2 CDs and were both performed on National Lottery Live which was attracting 7/8m viewers in the late 90s, plus were both much better received by critics.

^^ The lack of a CD2 certainly harmed or, it was released on 7” vinyl and limited to 4,000 - vinyl releases were not ‘cool’ back then though, although they now sell for £100+, I remember trawling the shops for low numbers - I ended up with #39 and #122.

Edited October 6, 20222 yr by ___∆___

The cd 2 could have helped more at that time, also great info Liam.K on the sales for the singles, did it again and breathe had far higher opening sales than i thought, just a shame they all fell so quickly.

DIA is possibly my second fav Kylie song

I like did it again but never lived it, much prefer many of the other tracks on IP and its by far my least liked single from the album but I love the video.

For me 'Did It Again' is by far and away the best, and firmly in my top 10 Kylie songs. I love the attitude, it's an anthem.

Breathe is my fave single by far and ranks very high on my overall Kylie songs and i think the song has huge potential to be remixed and released with kylie as a feature by some current dance artist.