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Two things I don't often do on here are albums from the 21st century and requests. But I'm making a double exception here because an anonymous tipster (at least I assume they're anonymous, they're free to reveal themselves should they so wish) has actually supplied me with a copy of the discs, and invested almost two pounds sterling in the hope of seeing these tracks covered - see image at right.
We start with one of the most famous records of 2001, a track that was so widely and instantly recognised as a pop classic that I've scarcely ever been able to listen to it. The one previous time I've had to write about Kylie round here, I floundered somewhat for fear of the true believers who can't accept that anything she does is ever substandard. Whilst this wasn't exactly her comeback hit - she had of course had a Number One single the previous year - it feels like the very start of that idea. Rarely in the history of music has there been a record where I've felt that my own opinion is less valued - it seems like anyone of any musical taste or attitude is obliged to love it, just from different angles.
It's only the best part of a decade later that I've been able to listen to the record instead of hearing it. Actually, it's not bad musically, but I always found those girly chorus vocals a bit irritating. I don't really know whether I'm allowed to only like it a bit though, and in any case I feel like I'm a bit tired of it now. But I can restrain my contrarian impulse to pretend it's no good at all.
Also appearing on: Now 11, 18, 19, 21, 29, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 68, 69, 70, 76, 77
Available on: Fever
I've never understood why this is considered to be a classic - it's just two (annoyingly simplistic) musical ideas repeated ad nauseum. I like some of Kylie's subsequent stuff, and I usually get to a point where the penny drops and I realise what a great song everyone was talking about (cf Pulp's Common People, I hated it for years, now it's one of my favourites) - but I still think this song is gash.
ReplyDeleteI've liked some of her previous stuff, and maybe one or two of the subsequent ones - and like I said, I don't exactly dislike this one but because of the status it has it's never any fun to listen to. Perhaps the problem is that it's too simplistic to be really interesting but not direct enough to work on a simple level, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIt'd be tempting to think that it was only so popular because the time was right for people to get overexcited about a Kylie record, but of course this went on to become a major hit for her in the US, where she never had that sort of national-treasure status; so I acknowledge that people who say they like it are telling the truth, I just don't agree with them.