Ultimate Kylie isn't so ultimate (Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue)

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
Date:	12/10/07 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great selection of pop songs

Disadvantages: Some brilliant tracks missing

Kylie Minogue first became known the British public in November 1987 as tom boy Charlene in soap opera Neighbours. Its a soap that has changed its face many times with the entire cast being overturned several times. But it still doesn't compare with Kylie's many changes of face. Her first single I Should Be So Lucky topped the charts in 13 countries in February 1988, not only kick starting a 20 year music career, but an ever growing fondness for Kylie from the British public. Many thought her second single wouldn't even make the Top 10, but by the end of 1988, Kylie had already achieved a multi-million selling album (2.1 million copies in the UK alone), and 5 Top 3 hits. So, on the eve of Kylie's 20th anniversary, and the release of her 40th UK single, and 10th studio album, it seems fitting to have a look back at the best of her material with the help of 2004's introspective album "Ultimate Kylie" - a celebration of her entire musical achievements. Well sort of...

My main problem with this title is that its not really Ultimate. Ultimate suggests its complete or final or something like that. Kylie's career keeps rolling on with hit after hit, despite a lengthy break due to a life changing illness. Aside from that though, there are various of Kylie's best tracks missing from this album. Finer Feelings is one of the finest tracks she recorded during her time at Pete Waterman's label, thanks to an excellent overhaul by Brothers in Rhythm, and its omission is rather grating. If You Were With Me Now was a Top 5 hit for Kylie, but that is also missing, as well as Deconstruction hits Some Kind Of Bliss and Where Is The Feeling. Strange then that this is presented as a complete body of Kylie's single releases. But enough about that. Lets move on to the 2 disc set.

Disc 1 is a (semi-)complete celebration of Kylie's early material - a time that she describes as her music apprenticeship. Starting with the aforementioned Lucky, it takes us through 15 of Kylie's early releases - all put out on the PWL label from January 1988 to November 1992. During that period, all 19 of Kylie's releases made the Top 20, 4 of them reaching number 1. Its hard to describe songs that are so ingrained in the public ear, but hi-nrg floor fillers come no better than the energetic Better The Devil You Know, or What Do I Have To Do - complete with hard beats and that familiar synth sound that the PWL factory became so famous for. Kylie makes the songs her own - and lets face it the earlier stuff such as Got To Be Certain or Hand On Your Heart could have been recorded by Mandy Smith or Sinitta and sounded exactly the same. Its with tracks like the 70s pastiche Step Back In Time and the raptastic Shocked that Kylie comes into her own. There is even a shift in the vocal delivery as her voice is less processed and she actually sounds like she's singing the songs. There are 4 cover versions on this CD, all of which remain faithful to the original's. Tears On My Pillow is a turgid affair, whilst Celebration and Give Me Just A Little More Time are mildly more enjoyable for what they are.

Disc 2 comes with a bit of a story. In 1994, after Kylie had had enough of her music being completely controlled to the point where she didn't even see record sleeves until she was shopping in John Menzies, she signed to dance label Deconstruction. Allowing Kylie complete control probably seemed like a good idea at the time. And musically, its her finest hour. Here, 2 tracks are lifted from the soulful debut release on that label. Confide In Me, even in its edited 7" form, is a gorgeous track with eastern charm and an airy vocal from Kylie. Comparisons to Madonna's sexless Justify My Love are unwarranted. Put Yourself In My Place is one of the finest ballads Kylie has recorded. A soaring chorus (lets not talk about that spaceship video) is the perfect build up. Unfortunately, Ultimate Kylie doesn't really reflect that period of Kylie's career very well. Kylie became a bit of a hip chick, turning up at festivals, recording with the likes of Nick Cave (the terrific duet Wild Roses is thankfully included here - it would have been criminal to not include it) and Manic Street Preachers, and basically washing Charlene and bubble perms out of her hair. The only other 2 inclusions, despite a wealth of vault material and nearly 3 albums worth on general release, are the laid back Breathe and the attitude fiestiness of Did It Again.

Its business as we've come to know it though as the other 13 tracks included on CD2 are all of the UK singles since 2000. Comeback dancefloor filler Spinning Around still sounds glorious, and who can get those hot pants out of their heads (oops! ;)), paying tribute to the glory days of the 70s disco classics. On A Night Like This is balearic pop at its fluffiest, and its a fantastic song. Kids, the duet with Mr Williams, is here without the offensive rap, as well as number 1 single Slow. Kylie's finest hour came with the huge hit Cant Get You Out Of My Head though, making it her biggest selling single ever, and being primarily responsible for Kylie winning 2 Brits, 2 Top Of The Pops awards, and a Grammy (although the Grammy was for sister hit Come Into My World). The other notable inclusion here was new recording I Believe In You, co-produced by Scissor Sisters. This is an uplifting hit with a soaring chorus that Kylie's voice handles gamely. Its become another classic in her back catalogue.

You'd be forgiven though for forgetting that 29 of Kylie's 39 releases so far have been Top 10 hits, or that she has had 4 number 1 albums (and 7 number 1 singles). You'd also be forgiven for forgetting that she's probably one of the top selling female artists in the history of the UK charts (with worldwide sales of 70 million). The media concentrate mostly on her look, what she's wearing today, and who she is dating. More recent troubles have saw a shift on focus from the media. But with herr imminent return just around the corner, will the music now get more focus? I doubt it, despite the fact that Kylie constantly pushes the envelope on her sound. Who expected Confide In Me after her PWL days? Or Cant Get You Out Of My Head? Or even the minimal Atari sound of Slow after the success of Fever? She may not have the voice of Alison Moyet, or even the writing skills of James Dean Bradfield, but the fact that she now co-writes a good portion of her material, and is in complete control of her releases and look is testimony to how far she has come from her days in over-alls and bubble perm. And she may not have written many of the songs included her on the Ultimate collection, and her voice certainly leaves a lot to be desired on many of her recordings (if ever an artist flourished in a live setting - its Kylie), but could you imagine Victoria Beckham or Britney Spears donning that sexy white catsuit and still managing to appeal to mums and dads and grans and kids with the sugarsweet Cant Get You Out Of My Head. And could Madonna don gold hotpants and look like a woman you could date, whilst introducing her to mum, and still go on a girls night out with. Kylie is the ultimate everywoman, both in terms of her look and the mass of material that she has recorded. And this collection only does her a small justice. But its a fun packed collection nonetheless with most of the duds coming from her early days. In fact, the only dud on the second disc comes in the form of her last single Giving You Up - a song best left to Rachel Stevens.

The complete tracklisting is: I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY; GOT TO BE CERTAIN; LOCOMOTION; JE NE SAIS PAS POURQUIO; ESPECIALLY FOR YOU; HAND ON YOUR HEART; WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING; NEVER TOO LATE; TEARS ON MY PILLOW; BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW; STEP BACK IN TIME; WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO; SHOCKED; GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME; CELEBRATION

CONFIDE IN ME; PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE; WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW; DID IT AGAIN; BREATHE; SPINNING AROUND; ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS; KIDS; PLEASE STAY; CANT GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD; IN YOUR EYES; LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT; COME INTO MY WORLD; SLOW; RED BLOODED WOMAN; CHOCOLATE; I BELIEVE IN YOU; GIVING YOU UP

Summary: Kylie gives us an ultimate introspect of her carer thusfar