1. Confide In Me
Written by Steve Anderson, Dave Seaman and Owain Barton
Produced by Brothers In Rhythm
2. Surrender
Written by Gerry DeVeaux and Charlie Mole
Produced by Gerry Devaux, John Waddle, and Tim Bran
3. If I Was Your Lover
Written by Jimmy Harry
Produced by Jimmy Harry
4. Where Is The Feeling?
Written by Wilf Smarties and Jayn Hanna
Produced by Brothers In Rhythm
5. Put Yourself In My Place
Written by Jimmy Harry
Produced by Jimmy Harry
6. Dangerous Game
Written by Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman
Produced by Brothers In Rhythm
7. Automatic Love
Written by Kylie Minogue, Inga Humpe, and The Rapino Brothers
Produced by Brothers In Rhythm
8. Where Has The Love Gone?
Written by Alex Palmer and Julie Stapleton
Produced by Pete Heller and Terry Farley
9. Falling
Written by Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe
Produced by Pete Heller and Terry Farley
10. Time Will Pass You By
Written by Dino Fekaris, Nick Zesses, and John Rhys
Produced by M People
From the opening track "Confide In Me", to the closing number "Time Will Pass You By", This album proves to you that Kylie Minogue has grown up and would like to talk about more mature subjects. With this record, Kylie was trying to establish herself as more accomplished and not the overly-provocative personality she developed during the early 90's. With Let's Get To It and Rhythm Of Love being almost 5 years old by that time, Kylie knew she wanted to do something different. Having broken off from her old producers, the SAW group, who had produced her early hits including "I Should Be So Lucky" and "Got To Be Certain" as well as countless others; and signed to a new record label, the not well-known dance label Deconstruction Records. Minogue stated that it was because her PWL record label was up for renewal and she wanted to experiment and do something else for a change.
The opening track, "Confide In Me" is a fast orchestral ballad with Minogue begging her lover to trust and confide in her. A string section over a fast drum beat and a Sitar make up the majority of the instrumental track for the song.
"Surrender" Is a very seductive number, with Minogue declaring that she will "Surrender" her love to somebody. The number starts with Kylie seductively singing over a slow R&B beat, but continues into a beautiful chorus and verses.
"If I Was Your Lover" continues on with the R&B feel, with Minogue fantasising on what she would do if she was another person's lover. She claims that she would hold her lover from "Dusk till dawn" and that everything would be alright if she was the unnamed character's lover.
"Where Is The Feeling" is a dance/house composition produced by Brothers In Rhythm. Minogue expresses her feelings of wanting to make her lover happy, but not feeling very secure and worried that she is making the wrong decision.
It's the sweeping guitars and slow beat of "Put Yourself In My Place" that let you know that it is the star ballad of the record. The song is very heartbreaking, it is about a lover that is leaving Minogue for a different person. This song was the 2nd single to be released from the album, and proved a moderate success, later being included on Kylie's retrospective greatest hits album, Ultimate Kylie, along with "Confide In Me".
"Dangerous Game" is another key ballad in the Kylie Minogue album, continuing in theme and style from the previous track. "Dangerous Game" begins with a natural drum beat, and leads into the main song with bass synths in a minor key. An unusual structure is applied to this song, with an ending refrain that is repeated thrice, before the song ends unexpectedly. Accompanied by strings and bass, this is another key track on the album.
"Automatic Love" on the Kylie Minogue album is the third consecutive ballad in the track list for the CD. "Automatic Love" was produced by the Rapino Brothers, another team of dance produces for Kylie, however this song was more of a lounge-y, chill-out track, with heavy backing vocals.
"Where Has The Love Gone?" Is a fairly unique song for a pop singer like Kylie Minogue to vocalise. Ticking in at almost 8 minutes in length, this is a dance ballad, with excessive backing vocals by an uncredited male singer, and a dance piano arrangement over a house beat.
"Falling" is another unique song for a singer such as Kylie Minogue to sing, alongside "Where Has The Love Gone?". Although the song has dance-pop production efforts and lyrics about love themes; which are both not uncommon for Kylie, the song's lyrics were written by the Pet Shop Boys, and it is indeed another song that has an unbelievable length; the song was 6 minutes and 44 seconds.
The closing track "Time Will Pass You By" is a classic old joyful dance track that was produced by M People. "Time Will Pass You By" was actually supposed to be released as a single, and a Paul Masterson remix was commissioned, but the single was canceled, however the remix was released on the 2003 limited edition of the album. Backing vocals are again no stranger to "Time Will Pass You By" but Kylie's main vocals are still sufficiently emphasised. The song was produced by the accomplished dance/jazz group M People, but written by Dino Fekaris, Nick Zesses, and John Rhys.
I believe that this album is an enjoyable dance record, and I believe that it's maturity and high quality music have been underrated by critics and public alike.
I find it impossible to judge the best songs on this record, because the quality and power of each song is continued throughout the 57 minutes of the album.
Minogue certainly pushed the boundaries for song length on this album, with the average track being 5.7 minutes, but I find this fascinating and innovative for a pop singer to do.
It is upsetting that the in fact decent song "Where Is The Feeling?" Has been underrated by critics and public alike. The song was sadly one of Minogue's least successful singles, but is still a great composition. Despite being a cover of a lesser-known club song, it still gives the Kylie vibe.
I am true to saying that I think this album is one of Kylie's most accomplished, mature, and entertaining records, but listeners need to have a long attention span for "Falling", "Where Has The Love Gone?", "Where Is The Feeling" and possibly "Confide In Me".
Overall rating: 9.5/10
Sources:
Wikipedia contributors, "Kylie Minogue (album)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kylie_Minogue_(album)&oldid=601452493 (accessed April 6, 2014).
Wikipedia contributors, "I Should Be So Lucky," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Should_Be_So_Lucky&oldid=601965922 (accessed April 6, 2014).
Wikipedia contributors, "Got to Be Certain," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Got_to_Be_Certain&oldid=601480357 (accessed April 6, 2014).
Photo:
Kylie Minogue black and white, JPEG File, Accessed 6 April 2014, <http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=277216>.
