Ultimate Kylie

OK, a few 'Greatest Hits' packages have been released during Kylie's time as Princess Of Pop, but they have pretty much been about her old record labels cashing in on her renewed success. This CD, on the other hand, charts her music career right from the beginning to the present, and not only is it endorsed by Ms Minogue but it also features a couple of new tracks (including the spellbinding "I Believe In You").

This is truly what pop music is about. The oldest stuff from the PWL days is cheesy, melodic, simple and just great fun ('Hand On Your Heart' is post-Abba singalong cheese at its best), though if you want depth and enlightenment this may not be your cup of tea. As the 90s dawned and she began to assert a more mature image her music was allowed to evolve with her (enter "Better The Devil You Know", one of the high points in the history of pop), and she even managed to incorporate a rap on 'Shocked' :-).

Eventually the constraints of PWL became too much, and off to indie label DeConstruction she went. Though commercial success somewhat eluded her during this phase, the actual records themselves were brilliant, particularly the hypnotic 'Confide In Me' and the trancy 'Breathe' (and it should be noted that many of the other tracks from her two DeConstruction albums are excellent too, even though they haven't made it on to this compilation - worth looking into...).

But of course, the Kylie we know and love today rediscovered her pop roots after her relationship with DeConstruction came to an end. Parlophone signed her, they had a mutual vision of where she should go, and voila, she was back at the top of the charts (with the help of a pair of gold hotpants). The 'Light Years' album was a return to pure pop, but with a noticeably more mature sound and a styling with which Kylie was clearly very comfortable. The singles were great, and did the job of telling the world that she was back, but in my opinion it is a crime against all that is good and proper that the album track 'Your Disco Needs You' has not made it on to this compilation, given that it has become a firm favourite amongst her fans.

It was the next project that launched her into the stratosphere, and also managed to finally break her in the USA (well, at least as something other than 'the Locomotion girl'). 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' was the perfect fusion of song, star and video, and for me it provided a very welcome boost in the gloom of September 2001. The 'Fever' album contained brilliant pop tunes and a fantastically mature sound, and the four singles went down a storm on the radio (as they did on MTV, now that some serious effort was being put into the videos). 'In Your Eyes' is just pure futuristic disco, 'Love At First Sight' is so utterly joyful, and 'Come Into My World' gradually captivates you with its brilliance.

After a bit of a break (and the enormously successful Fever Tour) she released 'Body Language'. With this album and it's #1 lead-off single 'Slow', Kylie tried an 80s-revival-with-a-modern-twist thing. Though it wasn't a commercial smash like its predeccesor it did at least show her critics that she wasn't going to get pigeonholed in the sort of sound that characterised 'Fever'. The singles provided a welcome relief from the manufactured pap being churned out by Simon Cowell and his ilk, and of course we got to see Kylie 'covering up' for her latest incarnation as Brigitte Bardot.

For the die-hard fans this album will only provide the two additional tracks as everything else is covered on her albums (though again I must point out just how brilliant 'I Believe In You' is!), but for everyone else this is the chance to add some of the best pop music ever created to your CD collection.