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Ultimate Kylie is truly an ultimate greatest hits collection. Kylie's musical career is now heading for its twentieth year and she has come a long way in that time. Her first single, Locomotion, was an enormous hit in her native Australia, but it was supposed to be nothing more than a novelty ... Read review
Tracklisting: I Should Be So Lucky Got To Be Certain The Locomotion Je Ne Sais Pas ... more
Pourquoi 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...
Advantages: Disc 2 is full of great tracks Disadvantages: Disc 1 sounds dated
...loves Kylie.
Ultimate Kylie is truly an ultimate greatest hits collection. Kylie's musical career is now heading for its twentieth year and she has come a long way in that time. Her first single, Locomotion, was an enormous hit in her native Australia, but it was supposed to be nothing more than a novelty song, riding on the back of her success in the soap opera Neighbours. Few people - Kylie included - could have anticipated that ... ...of the nineties and beyond. Ultimate spans Kylie's complete career and, notably, includes offerings from every era and record label, across two discs.
Disc one could easily be referred to as the Stock Aitken and Waterman era. From 1988 to 1993, Kylie enjoyed enormous success on the PWL label. She had numerous number one singles (I Should Be So Lucky, Hand on Your Heart, Tears on My Pillow and Especially For You), all of which are included ... more
I have a strange fondness for Kylie Minogue. It stems from the fact that I have grown up with Kylie. When I was at school, developing my individuality and music taste (or lack of it), Kylie was there. As I ventured into gay bars and clubs for the first time, the soundtrack was Kylie. As I left home and started to enjoy my independence, Kylie seemed to grow up with me. She's still going strong, proving critics wrong and somehow she has reinvented herself as a credible and much-loved icon. You only have to look at the outpouring of care in the popular press when, earlier this year, she announced that she was battling breast cancer. It would seem that everybody loves Kylie.
Ultimate Kylie is truly an ultimate greatest hits collection. Kylie's musical career is now heading for its twentieth year and she has come a long way in that time. Her first single, Locomotion, was an enormous hit in her native Australia, but it was supposed to be nothing more than a novelty song, riding on the back of her success in the soap opera Neighbours. Few people - Kylie included - could have anticipated that she would go on to become one of the most enduring pop singers of the nineties and beyond. Ultimate spans Kylie's complete career and, notably, includes offerings from every era and record label, across two discs.
Disc one could easily be referred to as the Stock Aitken and Waterman era. From 1988 to 1993, Kylie enjoyed enormous success on the PWL label. She had numerous number one singles (I Should Be So Lucky, Hand on Your Heart, Tears on My Pillow and Especially For You), all of which are included here and nearly every other single she released made the top ten.
Her first two albums (Kylie and Enjoy Yourself) stuck to a very simple, bubblegum pop formula and proved to be very lucrative for the singer, whom nobody really believed could actually sing. Indeed, it was strongly rumoured that Kylie Minogue was in fact Rick Astley, greatly speeded up. Or was it round the other way? Listening to the likes of Got To Be Certain, I Should Be So Lucky and Never Too Late now, the songs seem to have dated terribly. It's hard to listen to many of the tunes on the first disc without decreasing the volume, lest anyone hears exactly what you're listening too. This is eighties drivel at it's most drivelous and yet I still have a soft spot for them all. Never Too Late is probably my favourite, commercially probably the least successful but as Stock Aitken Waterman tunes go, a classic.
Album three (Rhythm of Love) spawned the birth of a new Kylie and even though she was still on the PWL label, she exerted some independence and creative input into her music. It was at this point that "Gay Disco Kylie" was invented with Better The Devil You Know and What Do I Have To Do capable of reducing excited queens into a quivering dance floor wrecks. The songs are timeless - play them in a gay club now, and the floor will fill up pretty quickly. These were anthems - and that's something that never really changes. Album four (Let's Get To It) couldn't sustain this material and Kylie decided to go all moody on us. The album still spawned a selection of top twenty hits, but nothing as memorable as previous albums and this is indicative by the absence of Finer Feelings and If You Were With Me Now, neither of which is included here. By the time the album had done the rounds, Kylie had had enough. She released her first Greatest Hits collection, complete with two new singles (Celebration, included here and What Kind of Fool, not included) and closed the door on this musical era in her life.
Looking back now, it's hard to imagine that she lasted as long as she did and disc one is a weak listening experience, Many of the tunes are tinny and - frankly - rather naff and it comes as no surprise that Kylie decided to move on. The SAW years should certainly be appreciated for the likes of Better The Devil You Know but this disc is hard work on the ears in 2005 and is unlikely to be played past one or two tracks.
Disc Two is by far the more superior of the collection, documenting all the things that Kylie has done since she left the clutches of Stock Aitken and Waterman.
Albums five and six (one again called Kylie Minogue and one called Impossible Princess) were Kylie's attempt to be trendy. Firstly, she hooked up with Brothers In Rhythm (they were trendy at the time), signed to DeConstruction (it was trendy at the time) and hit the clubs. Next she hooked up with the Manic Street Preachers and then quickly disappeared into the ether. I always felt that she was completely wasted on the label, who lacked the resources to really promote the singer and keep her in the limelight where she needed to be. This is actually a great shame, because she released some good material here. Only four singles have made it onto the second Ultimate disc though. Confide In Me, Put Yourself in My Place, Breathe and Did It Again (which should quickly be forgotten). Alongside other tracks on this disc, Ultimate Kylie serves only to remind us not nonly how wasted Kylie was but how underestimated the material is. Breathe is a fantastically moody, mature ambient dance song (with fantastic remixes not included here). Put Yourself in My Place was a sumptuous, gorgeous funky love song with a great Barbarella video. Neither of them made the top ten, when both should have been number one. They do, nonetheless, take their places here, along with the slightly odd Where The Wild Roses Grow, Kylie's duet with Nick Cave, where he sets about murdering her.
It was after a protracted absence that saw Kylie's true return to the top. Signed to another new label (Parlophone, the label on which Ultimate was released) Kylie wisely decided to stick to what she knew best and went back on the pop scene. The result was another number one (Spinning Around) and a successful album (Light Years) packed full of disco anthems. Ask any gay man what his favourite Kylie song is, and Your Disco Needs You is likely to be there, even though it was criminally never released as a single so doesn't make it here. The coup de grace came in 2002 when Kylie's best selling single, Can't Get You Out of My Head was released and gripped pretty much everyone, I think. Continued success followed and every single from the two Parlophone albums is included here, along with two new songs, I Believe In You and Can't Stop, both now released as singles.
Disc Two is a rich, interesting album full of different styles from pure pop (Can't Get You Out of My Head) to R & B (Red Blooded Woman). As an album in its own right it is pure gold, with every song being a classic and working strangely well as a collection. This is due in part to the decision not to place the songs in chronological order, but to mix them up a bit instead. The two new tracks are both classic songs in their own right - no fillers here - and the whole disc serves only to remind us of how versatile and funky Kylie has grown in her old age.
Overall, Ultimate Kylie is therefore very much a mixed bag. Disc one is there for the purists but for every else likely to be quickly skipped save a couple of songs. Disc two is by far the more accomplished of the two and in opposition to disc one, with this one you're likely to increase the volume in an announcement that you're listening to Kylie. Given that the album retails for the price of a single album, you can pretty much forgive the first disc and work on the basis that disc two alone is enough to justify the price. Ultimate Kylie won't win many new fans, but for a trip down Kylie memory lane it is the ultimate collection.
Advantages: Eclectic mix of modern pop Disadvantages: Missing 6 fantastic singles
So much is written about Kylie Minogue's love life, her body, and most importantly her derierre that her music sometimes fades into the background. But when talking about Kylie's music itself - the lady has faced every critisism in the book. Rarely has someone of longevity been so frowned upon and faced so many questions over her talent. The main one is that she cant sing. I have seen Kylie live four times (heading for my fifth next Spring) and believe ... ...The music itself though is often a mixed bag. Very few of Kylie's albums have not had at least a third worth of B-side fodder slammed on to get the album out. Its something I'm sure must be of concern for Kylie - but deadlines are deadlines. The A Side of this album covers familiar territory in every sense of the word. Greatest Hits from the PWL days have been continuously slammed out with increasing haste, but when calling an album "Ultimate" it ...
bilbob20 09.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
Advantages: Old and new classics Disadvantages: None
The Ultimate CD
The Queen of Pop, aka Kylie Minogue. Love her or loathe her, you have to admit she has staying power. She has been in the music industry for well over 20 years now and has had some amazing pop hits. Ultimate Kylie was released in 2004 and is the only comprehensive collection of her greatest hits from 1987 to the present day and the only one to feature each of her 31 hit singles. It comes with a very sexy picture of Miss Minogue on ... ...tussled. What I love about this album is that it has a great mix of all her old classics and the new ones as well. If you could only buy one Kylie album then this would be the one you would buy to cover all your favourites. Like I’ve said above this album has 31 hit singles, including 7 UK No 1 singles and 25 UK Top 10 singles.
The album contains 2 separate discs. Disc one is what I like to call the old classics, the songs she brought out at the ...
Spottydog11 04.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
Advantages: Well its Kylie isnt it? Need I say more? Disadvantages: She's missed some pop gems - so not really "Ultimate"
...and 'Celebration' are firmly there! Seems odd.
And wy not add a few extra's? 'Your Disco Needs You' is ULTIMATE Kylie and should have been an extra track as maybe should her cover of 'Physical'. But we cant complain - its Kylie shes fab and so is this album! ...
simoon69 04.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
Advantages: All the hits on a double cd Disadvantages: Better the devil you know and the locomotion
A double helping from the Pop Princess,this 2cd album is a must have for any Kylie fan.It has all her hits from the 80s right through to the noughties,and some that are better best forgotten....hint hint locomotion and better the devil you know,just too cheesy and in your face for my liking.
This album does provide very good value for money as its got all the hits together from I should be so lucky to Breahe and the unforgettable Spinning around.
... ...a matter of fact every pop fan should own. I honestly prefer cd as It includes more of her most recent hits such as the catchy come into my world and captivating chocolate.
Even though you can find most of the songs used on these cds on her other albums its still nice and convenient to have them all on just 2 cds. For me though this album really shows just what pop was and is about, it not only shows how Kylies music has evolved but also how the ...
lauzdoors 18.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
Advantages: A blend of tracks spanning three decades Disadvantages: A few songs missing
The 2 CD album spans a combined total of 18 years over 3 decades. Disc 1 contains the older songs, most of which came out in the first 6 years of her singing career. Some people may think Disc 1 is outdated, but that is because they are more intrigued by her newer stuff (Spinning Around onwards from 2000).
I should be so lucky was her first major solo hit back in 1987, and that was the first stone along the successful path, which broke slightly ... ...hers had to be put on hold for a week, as the release date, and the title 'Impossible Princess' would not have been suitable as it was at the time of Princess Diana's unfortunate accident causing her to pass away. Having said that, The Loco-Motion was also further success in the 1980s, which brought the Australian pop princess to the fore. Whilst that mid to late 1990s slump seemed to have finished her off, the last 5 years have seen a Kylie resurgance. ...
woodywoodpecker 23.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue
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Product Information for "Ultimate Kylie - Kylie Minogue" »
Product details
Title
Ultimate Kylie
Performer
Kylie Minogue
Genre
Rock & Pop
Release Date
22/11/2004
Recomended Retail Price
18.99 GBP
Original Release Year
2005
Label / Distributor
Parlophone / EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics
Engineer
Karen Hewitt; Yoyo; Mark McGuire; P
Producer
Mike Stock; Matt Aitken; Pete Water
Pieces in Set
2
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
724387536524
Catalogue Number
8753652
Additional notes
Album Notes
To US audiences, Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue seemed to disappear after her 1988 international hit, a sugary-sweet cover of Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion." However, her musical career was actually just getting started. Under the guidance of the songwriting team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, the former television actress went on to have a wildly successful string of UK singles in the 1990s, including the techno-pop dance-club hits "Better the Devil You Know" and "Shocked." The two-CD ULTIMATE KYLIE collection presents the aforementioned tracks and other late-'80s/early-'90s tunes on its first disc. Even better, second CD features Minogue's finest singles from 1994-2004, a period where she developed a sly, sensual image that rivaled Madonna's, and continued her UK reign. In the early 2000s, Minogue finally reconnected to the American mainstream with "Can't Get You Out of My Head," an aptly named tune that showcases Minogue's penchant for infectious melodies and driving beats. In addition to other standout tracks such as "Slow" and "Come Into My World," ULTIMATE KYLIE includes "Where the Wild Roses Grow," her uncharacteristically morbid duet with Aussie brooder Nick Cave, which closes out this definitive compilation of her 1988-2004 output.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Better The Devil You Know
2.
Locomotion (7" mix)
3.
I Should Be So Lucky
4.
Step Back In Time
5.
Shocked
6.
What Do I Have To Do (7" mix)
7.
Wouldn't Change A Thing
8.
Hand On Your Heart
9.
Especially For You
10.
Got To Be Certain
11.
Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi
12.
Give Me Just A Little More Time
13.
Never Too Late
14.
Tears On My Pillow
15.
Celebration
Titles on disc 2
1.
I Believe In You
2.
Can't Get You Out Of My Head
3.
Love At First Sight
4.
Slow
5.
On A Night Like This
6.
Spinning Around
7.
Kids (radio edit)
8.
Confide In Me
9.
In Your Eyes
10.
Please Stay
11.
Red Blooded Woman
12.
Giving You Up
13.
Chocolate (radio edit)
14.
Come Into My World (radio edit)
15.
Put Yourself In My Place
16.
Did It Again
17.
Breathe
18.
Where The Wild Roses Grow - Cave, Nick & The Bad Seeds/Kylie Minogue
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