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Kylie Minogue's continued success is remarkable because it's been about 22 years since her first album topped the UK charts; it's also frightening because it seems to have taken precious little to repeat that feat in 2010. "Aphrodite" and its success is either a testament to the Aussie's seemingly universal appeal, or the simple nature of a brand-saturated public.
We're betting on the latter, because Kylie was never a great singer or a fantastic dancer, but she always had recognition for her particular brand of sex appeal – you could say her first impression was a lasting one. Or maybe, in Kylie's case, her second impression – and that dress – is what we're remembering.
Not that "Aphrodite" is intolerably awful. It just isn't 22-plus-years-in-the-business good. All up-tempo and club-targeted with breathy, girly vocal lines about nothing really interesting bobbing around near the top, it's an album that's custom-made for a flashy stage show – you can almost hear them thinking in the studio: "This will look great on stage!"
The album's production reeks of Madonna's last Stuart Price-produced efforts ("Confessions on a Dancefloor" in particular), echoing that producer's muscular beats and basslines to great effect in places. For a number of reasons – lack of invention among them - Kylie's melodies don’t work as well, which really should be the case in pop that is as apolitical and candy floss as this.
"Get Outta My Way" is potentially a standout radio track - you can put this on repeat a dozen times if you like 5FM-toned migraines. But "Everything is Beautiful" does show what could have been. It has the space that allows the song to breathe (breathing, apart from Kylie's bedroom-y hissing, is rare on "Aphrodite"). This is where the album should have gone more consistently, if they were making a record to actually listen to.
But this is club music, ready-made for the remix treatment and the flashy world tour, which will no doubt sell out at least in Asia again, where Kylie is God(dess).
So there's probably something to be said for knowing your market and giving them more of what made you a star. Still, that doesn't mean you have to record an album that Madonna already made a couple of years ago.
We're betting on the latter, because Kylie was never a great singer or a fantastic dancer, but she always had recognition for her particular brand of sex appeal – you could say her first impression was a lasting one. Or maybe, in Kylie's case, her second impression – and that dress – is what we're remembering.
Not that "Aphrodite" is intolerably awful. It just isn't 22-plus-years-in-the-business good. All up-tempo and club-targeted with breathy, girly vocal lines about nothing really interesting bobbing around near the top, it's an album that's custom-made for a flashy stage show – you can almost hear them thinking in the studio: "This will look great on stage!"
The album's production reeks of Madonna's last Stuart Price-produced efforts ("Confessions on a Dancefloor" in particular), echoing that producer's muscular beats and basslines to great effect in places. For a number of reasons – lack of invention among them - Kylie's melodies don’t work as well, which really should be the case in pop that is as apolitical and candy floss as this.
"Get Outta My Way" is potentially a standout radio track - you can put this on repeat a dozen times if you like 5FM-toned migraines. But "Everything is Beautiful" does show what could have been. It has the space that allows the song to breathe (breathing, apart from Kylie's bedroom-y hissing, is rare on "Aphrodite"). This is where the album should have gone more consistently, if they were making a record to actually listen to.
But this is club music, ready-made for the remix treatment and the flashy world tour, which will no doubt sell out at least in Asia again, where Kylie is God(dess).
So there's probably something to be said for knowing your market and giving them more of what made you a star. Still, that doesn't mean you have to record an album that Madonna already made a couple of years ago.
