Ultimate Kylie

by

Kylie Minogue

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The first CD contains Kylie's hits from her time with Stock, Aitken and Waterman while the second CD shows how Kylie has progressed since then, up to and including her last UK hit of 2004 (I believe in you), which made number two (behind Band Aid 20's re-recording of Do they know it's Christmas) in the UK chart.

On the first CD, you can hear Kylie's UK chart-topping duet with Jason Donovan, Especially for you, as well as her many solo hits from the period such as I should be so lucky (the kind of song you either love or hate - I love it), Je ne sais pas porqoui (an English language song despite it's chorus line), Got to be certain, Hand on your heart, Better the devil you know and Wouldn't change a thing. There are a few covers and it was two of these - Locomotion (the Little Eva sixties classic) and Tears on my pillow (the Little Anthony fifties classic) - that originally aroused my interest in Kylie's music. They are both brilliant - indeed, Locomotion provided Kylie with her only huge American hit during this period. As to Tears on my pillow, I've heard several versions. Kylie should be proud of her cover, which gave her another huge hit. Give me just a little more time and Celebration (Kool and the gang) provide further evidence of Kylie's ability to revive oldies and take them high up the charts.

The oldest major UK hit on the second CD is Confide in me, a brilliant song that Kylie took to number two in the UK charts. However, subsequent releases were somewhat less successful until the release of the album Light years (but see later for my comments about Where the wild roses grow). By now her style of music had evolved somewhat. Kylie returned to the big time with four hits beginning with Spinning around, which topped the UK charts, and continuing with On a night like this, Kids and Please stay.

With her next album, Fever, Kylie made an effort to promote her music in America so her first hit from the album, Can't get you out of my head, became a big hit in America as well as in the UK and her other traditional markets. Like its predecessor, Fever yielded four major UK hits, the others being In your eyes, Come into my world and Love at first sight. The next album, Body language, also yielded four UK hits - Slow, Red blooded woman, Chocolate and Can't start giving you up. It was the last original album prior to this compilation and the single, I believe in you, which completes the compilation.

While many will continue to dismiss Kylie (especially her early hits), she is much better than many of the singers she is sometimes compared to, and has proved it by lasting longer than any of her critics thought possible.

The most surprising track here is Where the wild roses grow, a duet with Nick Cave in which Kylie sings in an almost whispery style. The song (about a death pact) is typical of Nick's music but very different from Kylie's normal style. It proves that Kylie is capable of singing a wide range of material when given the opportunity.

This compilation is truly the ultimate Kylie compilation at the time of its release, though I expect more hits to come for Kylie.

Just a warning - if you got into Kylie's music because of her more recent material, you will find that her early music is very different. It is possible to enjoy both her recent music and her early music (as I do) but not everybody does.

Kylie Minogue shows, although she is not as big as Madonna, she has been in the music bussines for many years and that her music has changed over the years. After quiting Newbours she started her music career with singles such as 'The locomotion(1989)' and 'I should be so lucky(1988)'. These songs sound pretty out of date and fans will love songs like these, but many people who bought the album hoping to hear more like 'Can't get you out of my head(2002)', 'Chocolate(2004)' or 'I believe in you(2005)' will be dissointed by this release. The album really shows the way she changed over the years though and if you are looking for a nice overview of her music career, you will happy with this release cause you might have just found what were looking for.