Feel the fever... (Fever - Kylie Minogue)

Member Name: Jark

Product:	Fever - Kylie Minogue
Date:	24/07/08 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Perfectly judged electro-pop including 4 of the best singles of Kylie's career

Disadvantages: If you don't like subtle electro-pop this isn't for you, but then neither is Kylie

What to do when you're an international superstar whose most creative album to date flops hard? Turn to disco, make yourself a household name again. What to do when your comeback album is a triumphant success? Sex yourself up! Perhaps that was the train of thought which passed through miss Minogue's mind when she set out recording her eight studio album Fever. It's clear from the very first view of the video for Can't Get You Out Of My Head that this new, improved pint-sized pop princess was here to stay and intending to get the nation hooked, be it bopping teenagers, an army of gays or drooling dads. Can the music live up to the image?

It's a promising start. More More More opens the album and a more effortlessly sensual track you will struggle to find. Kylie breathes 'give it up; I just can't get enough' over a calmingly soft electro backing track, before putting her all into the chorus. It combines mature electro-pop with lyrics basic enough to be digested by all and it still sounds modern today, seven years on. Love At First Sight follows. A Kylie co-write and production by long-time collaberator Stannard, the track epitomises the pop scene at the turn of the decade; joyous, energetic, euphoric. It's a thin line between the latter and plain cheesy but the track stays on the right side of that line and has become a classic. Despite not being the second single taken from the album (In Your Eyes was that, to some fans' annoyance) it was the second-most successful single, peaking at #1 in Oz, #2 in UK and Top 25 in America, and itching it's way into the public's conscience, never to leave. Often it is played as the closer to Kylie's sell-out, large-scale world tours, and with good reason; it's as big an anthem as they come, with it's reflective, end-of-a-golden-era vibe.

Third is Can't Get You Out Of My Head. There's really nothing to be said for this sheer classic besides the fact that it single-handedly catapulted Kylie to megastar status in a way in which nothing else could or would have. It's strength lies in it's simplicity, from the legendary 'la la la' verse to the pumping electro of the chorus. The album's title track follows and changes the tone somewhat; Fever is all frequent bleeps and happy synths, the sort of light-pop Kylie has done so well in the past. It borders on cheesy, especially when the lyrics are taken into account (Kylie sings to her love doctor of sorts; 'I'm love-sick when you're not around, check me over...'), but it works purely because the overall sound is so joyous. Give It To Me continues in the exact same vain, bordering a tiny bit towards a slight R&B-pop sound as Kylie recites 'give it to me like I want it'. It's extremely noticeable that, at least during the opening half of this record, Kylie's lyrics rarely lift themselves above the mundane, the predictable or the downright cringey, but her sweet vocals pull it off like few others could so that said lyrics are not actually a negative thing, but an endearment.

Fragile is the album's first and only ballad, but it's not a thousand miles from Fever's running theme of subtle electronic bleeps, especially in the chorus when a quiet but chirpy beat compliments the beautiful subject matter about finding love. It's also the first time on the album which sees lyrical content of any kind of depth, and it's a welcome respite from the I-like-you-boy, come-and-dance-with-me esque content of the preceeding tracks. It also leads nicely into Come Into My World, a song so strong and yet to subtle that it cleverly consumes the listener and works it's way into your mind, determined never to leave. It probably stands as my favourite track on the album which is no mean feat given the stupendously high standard throughout. The Cathy Dennis-penned lyrics stand out too; 'lift me up, up, high up on your love' breathes Kylie as the song escalates. It's all so dramatic and swooshing that you feel as if you're a part of the song; does music get much better?

Third single In Your Eyes is next. It's a truly dark moment with a seductive vocal and a catching hook and in some way's it's more reminiscent of a song Kylie's vastly underrated sister Dannii might sing; dance-influenced, beat-heavy, deep vocals; it could almost be Put The Needle On It's sister song, and there's no way that could ever be a bad thing. Dancefloor, the third and final Dennis-penned number, is a hard song to pin down. It straddles the line between light and dark and as a result you're left wondering whether you've just listened to a happy song or a somewhat more reflective, sad one, but either way, the enigma of it only adds to the experience, as does the strong-willed chorus; 'watch me getting over you' Kylie lays down to her one-time lover.

Love Affair is the definitive Kylie dance track; more club-orientated than probably any other of her songs, certainly up until 2001, the track feels like it was produced for listening to strictly at night, with it's nightclub theme and searching lyrics. 'Don't hold back, it's time for a love affair' Kylie near-pleads of her lover; in other hands it could sound desperate but as ever Kylie works her somewhat unique voice to add an element of beauty and the song is perhaps even haunting. It's nothing less than a crying shame that she's never performed it in front of a live audience, for it's a floorfiller if ever anything was.

Your Love is very much a continuation of Dancefloor, if a little more upbeat and optimistic. It's basic pop for the clubs but Kylie and her team of songwriters and producers have the knack for enhancing what could in other hands be boring and uninspired, and indeed Your Love is nothing less (or more) than a decent album cut. Burning Up, not a Madonna cover, brings the album to a close on a high. The sultry, sexy verses slow the pace whilst Kylie oooh's over a simple guitar beat, before exploding into a chorus of high-pitched, loud, layered vocals which compliment each other well and sound completely believable. When Kylie cooes 'can you feel me burning up?', we really can, because she's putting her all into it.

As a sidenote, Tightrope, a bonus track on the original Australian release of Fever and on the global re-release, is well worth getting hold of. Very much a continuation of Fragile, it's a balled-like soft pop number with endless subtlty. The same can be said of Rendezvous At Sunset, the gorgeous b-side to Head, which feels like it was designed to be the themetune to late nights and sunsets spent on an exotic beach.

As an album, little else compares to Fever. In fact, it's Kylie's biggest career achievement to date and the second-best Minogue album, behind little sister Dannii's timeless Neon Nights.

Summary: There are nine other Kylie albums; none compare.