Kylie Minogue - X Review

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 04.04.2008

The international pop queen makes another grab at US stardom with a set of club thumping dance pop…

My Story
While Kylie Minogue is practically a pop goddess overseas, in the US, she’s still somewhat of a novelty. And while she’s had her share of hits here and there, it may surprise Americans that Kylie has just released her tenth studio album. And it may also be surprising that her international fans eat these albums up like candy. You can consider her Australia’s answer to Madonna – except that Kylie hasn’t turned into a bony old whore.

Anyway, with this new album finally dropping in the US – and a hot lead single featuring rapper Mims, will Kylie once again catch fire in the American market?

Her Story
Kylie Minogue was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1968. Her father was an accountant and her mother was a former Welsh dancer. Kylie caught the acting bug early, and began appearing on Australian TV at the age of 12, along with her sister Danii, who was already on the pop singer path. Though more of an actress than a singer, Kylie made her debut as a vocalist at 15 on the Australian answer to “The Mickey Mouse Club” – “Young Talent Time”. Kylie’s big breakthrough was when she was cast in the Aussie soap “Neighbours” in 1986, where she played a lovable female mechanic. The show made her a huge star in both Australia and the UK.

Through the program, Minogue was tapped to sing at a benefit concert in 1987. Kylie brought the house down with a version of the classic “Loco-Motion”, which garnered her notice by Mushroom Records. The label released the performance to radio and the single soared to the top of the charts in Australia, where it remained for seven weeks. Mushroom saw dollar signs in the young TV star turned singer, so they prompted her to sign a contract and work on an album with hitmaking producers Stock, Aitken & Watermen.

Minogue’s debut album, Kylie, was a huge success. It was certified 4x platinum in Australia and gold in the US, where the re-recorded “Loco-Motion” single also went gold and reached #3 on the charts. Altogether, Kylie scored three Top 40 US hits, including “I Should Be So Lucky” (#27) and “It’s No Secret” (#37). In Australia, Kylie scored three #1’s with the album. A non-album single, “Especially For You”, reached #2 there and a fourth Kylie cut, “Je Ne Sais Pas Pouquoi”, just missed the Top 10. Kylie was experiencing similar success in other countries, like the UK, Ireland, Germany and Japan. It wasn’t long before she had left the acting world to focus on her new status as a pop superstar.

Amazingly, it would be over a decade before Kylie would return to the US Top 40. Between 1989 and 2001, Kylie released six more studio albums, five of which were Top 10 hits in the UK and Australia. She also scored six more #1 hits (18 went Top 10) in those countries. Kylie grew from the cute girl next door to an all-out sex symbol, changing up her style every few years to keep her fans guessing, a la Madonna. She appeared on countless magazine covers, worked with the best in the business (Pet Shop Boys, Nick Cave, Brothers In Rhythm), dated rock stars (she was a longtime girlfriend of INXS’s Michael Hutchence) and sold out show after show.

With all of that international success, only two of her songs made their way to the US. 1994’s “Confide In Me” and 2001’s “Butterfly” were both minor US Dance hits. This would all change in 2001, when Kylie released the lead single from her eighth album Fever. The song, “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, soared to the top of the charts in nearly a dozen different countries. It made the top of the US Dance chart, too, and reached #7 on the Hot 100, eventually going gold. Thanks to the song’s inescapable rhythm, and key appearances on shows like “Saturday Night Live” and all over MTV, Fever became Kylie’s first platinum album in the US. The album charted a second Top 40 hit with “Love At First Sight”, which was also a #1 Dance record.

Kylie followed in 2004 with Body Language, which was a big Dance hit in the US, though it fell just shy of the Top 40. The lead single “Slow” was another Dance #1. Kylie began a huge world tour in 2005 called “Showgirl – The Greatest Hits Tour”, on the back of her compilation Ultimate Kylie. The tour was derailed when Kylie was diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer. After nearly a year of treatment, Kylie returned to the road and began work on her tenth studio album. The album was released in November of 2007 to international audiences. The lead US single, “All I See”, hit radio in February.

The Album
On April 1, 2008, Capitol and Astralwerks Records released X, the tenth studio album by Kylie Minogue and the follow-up to 2004’s Body Language. The US version of the album features a bonus track, “All I See (feat. Mims)”.


The Band: 7.0
Kylie Minogue: vocals

Like most of Kylie Minogue’s albums, X has been created specifically for the dance floor. Kylie has brought in some of the best beatmakers that the world has to offer (Bloodshy & Avant, Calvin Harris, Freemasons) and, as usual, she trusts these guys to make this album thump. Meanwhile, Kylie stands at the sexy center of it all, sensually cooing and singing in her understated style. Her sexy, breathy commands are enough to turn any warm blooded man on and urge a fast packing of the dance floor.

X isn’t all club tracks, though. Kylie finds plenty of time to get tender, like on the R&B-tinged lead single “All I Need”. Still, those tracks are out-powered by the wall-to-wall noise of X, which is sure to find a place in any good dance mix for years to come.

The Songs: 7.0
1. 2 Hearts
2. Like A Drug
3. In My Arms
4. Speakerphone
5. Sensitized
6. Heart Beat Rock
7. The One
8. No More Rain
9. All I See
10. Stars
11. Wow
12. Nu-Di-Ty
13. Cosmic

X chooses the slow-burn approach, coming out of the gate with the midtempo international single “2 Hearts”. It’s a sexy number, though not quite the mover that Kylie’s fans are used to. It’s theme, however, captures the vibe of the entire album. Folks looking for insight into Minogue’s recent struggles with cancer will have to wait for an autobiography - X is all about rhythm and sex. You have the sultry “Like A Drug”, the dripping sexuality of “Nu-Di-Ty” and the sizzling electronic weirdness of “Speakerphone”, which plays like a cut from Janet Jackson’s trippy Discipline.

As a dance album, X works extremely well, but when Kylie slows things down and tries a little R&B, things begin to derail. The lead US single, “All I See”, falls flat without rapper Mims’ energy. The oversynthed closer “Cosmic” also misses the mark. When stretching past the dance club, Kylie does much better on tracks like the Gwen Stefani-esque “Stars”, which features a hypnotic backing track that could equal the power of “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”.

X has been the beneficiary of a huge promotional push in the US, as Kylie’s label hopes to continue to capitalize on her 2000’s era momentum. The album itself doesn’t seem to contain another GIANT single, but for Kylie’s fans, it’s sure to satiate their hunger.

The 411: On Kylie Minogue’s X, she lets her producers do the talking. When a wall of thumping bass and cosmis electronics is thrown in the mix, Kylie shines brightly. On the slower songs – like the lead single “All I See” – not so much. Luckily, Minogue sticks to her signature dance style throughout most of the album (though the straight ahead pop rock of “Stars” is a welcome detour), providing plenty of thumpers and fan favorites. The fact that Kylie’s bout with breast cancer hasn’t slowed her down is admirable, though it would be nice to have heard her trials addressed in her music. For its part, X isn’t about anything more than a good time. It’s sexy, it’s danceable, it’s Kylie Minogue.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]