Aphrodite (Special Edition) [CD+DVD, Special Edition]

Firstly, you will notice that for a few bitter people they will be the first to take shots at Kylie Minogue. No matter what she does it's just not good enough. Which brings me to this incredible album that is "Aphrodite" which celebrates the true essence of Kylie. Unashamed hands in the air dance pop, which revisits the 6 million selling forumla of "Fever", but with more than a nod to her Stock Aitken Waterman days. Despite the few catty comments, they pale in comparison to the dominant force of strong reviews, that clearly see this album for what it is.

Alot of thought and planning went into this track listing to make sure it wasn't the mess that was "X". Tracks were recorded with top producers RedOne, Fernando Garibay, Greg Kurstin which didn't make the cut, however tracks done with Xenomania have made the cut on the digital release ("Mighty Rivers") and Japanese CD ("Heartstrings"). Thankfully Stuart Price came on board at the right time, to choos what he, Kylie and label considered the best tracks and delivered the final result.

And they've done it!!
Here is a breakdown track by track:

All The Lovers
Weird choice for the first single, but after a few listens it's clearly a Kylie classic. Bassline is a little bit Moroder, lush chords and a thumping dance beat when the chorus hits. A No 3 hit in the UK, and Top 10 in several European countries, so it seems people get it.

Get Out Of My Way
Insanely instant unlike "All The Lovers" and the 2nd single. Key change in the chorus hits you like a steam train and you're singing along very quickly. True pop dance Kylie at her best.

Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)
Another instantly infectious signature Kylie song. I would imagine this is a strong contender for a single, another thumping dance anthem for Kylie.

Closer
Not the same "Closer" from 1991 (b side to "Finer Feelings". This song is a masterpiece. It is still a dance track with a very strong European flavour, a touch of Abba, a touch dark, even Pet Shop Boys comes to mind. Only criticism is that it's too short.

Everything Is Beautiful
The album's first mid-tempo song and is so melodic. Another amazingly catchy chorus and the sole collaboration with Tim Rice-Oxley from Keane. Kylie's voice is great on this.

Aphrodite
Get ready for this one. Full of attitude and a powerhouse vocal from Kylie.
A dance track with a slightly rocky edge. A highlight, and can see everyone from handbag housewives to drag queens miming or singing this at the top of their lungs.

Illusion
The first of 3 Kylie co-writes. People have knocked her for not doing much writing on this album, but I would rather 3 songs with her and mimimal co-writers than her name being one of 5 or 6 writers. Then you know the tracks are alot more of Kylie's work. Nobody other than Kylie could write these lyrics, she has her own style and it works on this slower track, a little bit like "Fever", her title track from the album of the same name. So catchy, and 80s bleeps and chor changes everywhere.

Better Than Today
Leo Sayer meets Scissor Sisters, it's like 1978 meets 2010. It's slow funky disco with some great synths in the chorus, and was one of the first tracks recorded for this album. It gets stuck in your head.

Too Much
The BPMs are back at full speed now, on this collaboration with Jake Shears and Calvin Harris. It's frantic, busy and has an early 90s funky house pop influence in a modern day dance track. The 2nd Kylie co-write.

Cupid Boy
Great guitar driven bass, along a dance drum track, and is one of only few songs where Kylie uses her much higher girly voice. Great verses, if I had to choose a least favourite album track this would be it, but it's hard as it's still great.

Looking For An Angel
Kylie's final co-write and 2nd with Stuart Price (the other being "Illusion"). Smooth dance pop with a mild 80s vibe. You can hear early Madonna or even early 80s Michael Jackson in the verse melody.

Can't Beat The Feeling
And the album ends on an energetic uplifting dance anthem that Stock Aitken Waterman would be very proud to have written. Hope this is a single, and a a great way to end a great album.

This album is excellent from start to finish, and I've listened to nothing else for a week. The last Kylie album I did that with was the 1995 debut album with DeConstruction.

Her vocals are alot stronger on this than the girly higher vocals on her last couple of albums (with a 1 or 2 exceptions).

It's nothing more nothing less than great catchy dance pop, which only Kylie does best. If you still think that isn't good enough, maybe find something else to invest your time on, instead of telling the world how much you hate this.

After the slightly flat but fun X, Kylie comes back with a fine album full of anthemic dancefloor numbers and synthpop catchiness unlike what she's previously released.

The album on a whole is musically impressive, but doesn't break any boundaries in terms of chords/chord progressions. It owes most of its success and charm to the instrumentation more than anything. 'Closer', in which the verse follows the C minor scale up C-D-Eb-F-G and back down, works well because of the unusual use of the harpsichord (playing broken chords) adding flavour to the simplistic base. This is quite common in pop music - an easily digestible melody disguised by the instrumentation or additional harmonies. There is obvious use of 80's synthesizers (or atleast 80's synth emulators) which, as a fan of that sound, are instantly engaging. The spaces in the mix which the synths don't occupy are pumped with plenty of bass, whitenoise and other effects/instruments, all kept in line by a clear, effective & cutting-edge production.

The songs:

'All the Lovers' - Understandably the first single from the album. Crammed full of awesome synthesizers, a great memorable chorus, and an epic climax towards the end of the song. This is definately a song for fans of classic Kylie. 9/10

'Get Outta My Way' - Another single, definately more dance oriented, typical of Kylie's newest offerings, and probably the best overall sample of the album. The rising cut-offs of the keyboard seem to echo 'Love at First Sight' and 'In Your Eyes', definately one of Kylie's signature sounds. 9/10

'Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)' - Features a recognisably 'Kylie' verse, similar to something off Fever - chilled out, building up to the chorus one instrument/effect at a time, but then in keeping with this album's theme, the song pounds the listner with a drum heavy chorus that might put-off Kylie's older fanbase. I've always thought the song sounded like good remix material, and since the release of this album there have been a few different remixes made available, which are well worth checking out. 8/10

'Closer' - As mentioned above, this song features a harpsichord accompanying Kylie's vocal melodies, giving the song an instantly recognisable sound. Less anthemic than the previous three songs but more experimental, this song is clearly less commercial than other songs on the album, but still holds its own against the more popular tunes. Unfortunately, the song doesn't seem as fresh, and I could have sworn I've heard something very similar before, but the song is still a very enjoyble direction for Kylie to take. 8/10

'Everything is Beautiful' - A small throwback to the disco flavoured Fever and Light Years, but with a somewhat updated sound bank, this song isn't quite as impressive as other songs on the album, but is definately still enjoyable. The biggest problem I have with this song is that the drum texture and pattern exactly the same in the chorus as it is in the verse. What makes a chorus so powerful is the introduction of an effect or two on the drums (the reverb on the snare in 'All the Lovers'), or even layering some more drums over the top of the original set - which makes the chorus sound heavier. And so chorus for this song doesn't have quite the right amount of energy as it could have, but then as I mentioned above, this song is disco, not dance. 7/10

'Aphrodite' - Definately one of my favourite Kylie songs of all time. Backed by a marching band, an echoing piano, a distorted electric guitar and all those lovely synths, Kylie reveals her true identiy as Greek goddess of love: Aphrodite. Anyone doubt it? As with 'Closer', this song is quite different from anything else here, featuring a rock-like chorus and a verse to do nothing other than march along to. The piano sounds just like Faith No More too, which I assure is something quite special. Add to that Kylie's sublime vocal performance, and you have quite possibly one of the best pop-rock songs ever written. 10/10

'Illusion' - Another slightly disappointing song, which now definately sounds like an updated song from Fever or Light Years. I have no problems with those albums (they're just as good if not better than this one!), but 'Illusion' just seems like an unnecessary step back. Listening to this song and 'Everything Is Beautiful' now, I think it may be the inclusion of the woodblock that also puts me off the songs - that's a sound best left in the 90's. Of course, since anything sounding like something from Fever or Light Years isn't going to be bad at all, this song is still enjoyable. 7/10

'Better Than Today' - Probably the most accessible 'pop' song on the album. It is a midtempo, Scissor Sisters sounding track, featuring a strummed acoustic guitar, a funky bassline, fun and catchy synths and a playful vocal performance. The verse and chorus are very memorable here, and there's a guitar solo! 8/10

'Too Much' - Similar to 'Put Your Hands Up', builds up to an explosive chorus. Calvin Harris helped write and produce this song, and the results are quite impressive. The choice of bass synth gives this song perhaps the hardest hitting chorus on the album. I'm surprised this song hasn't been remixed for clubs yet, it's aggressive enough for sure. 8/10

'Cupid Boy' - The cutest song on the album by far, and definately takes influence from the glam stylings of the previous album X. The guitar riff sounds a little similar to 'Pleasy Stay' from Light Years, but goes off in a different direction. The chorus is yet again anthemic. White noise is used effectively throughout the song, providing interesting accents on the second snare of a bar - Kick-Snare, Kick-WOOSH, Kick-Snare, Kick-Snare... etc. 9/10

'Looking For An Angel' - Enjoyable but not recommended. I tend to think the song could have been left off the record, which is perhaps down to its position on the album, rather than its quality. The chorus is as catchy as the other songs, but it seems to take some of the shine off better songs, merely by its existence. At this point I should point out that any of the songs rated 7/10 could be dropped to improve this album, but I tend to get tired by this song thanks to its position, and tend to criticize it more. 7/10

'Can't Beat The Feeling' - Like a breath of fresh air comes a definitive slice of modern Kylie: heavy dance beats, a highly memorable synthed horn, and an in form Kylie providing those all important vocal hooks. Definately single material, surprised it wasn't released as such. 9/10

Overall album score: 8/10

Love Kylie and loved this Album. Actually really liked the title track "Aphrodite". "Can you feel me in stereo?" *****