Album Review: Aphrodite by Kylie Minogue

"Very clever people know we all need a chance to stop our clever business and let go and dance." - Better Than Today

It was finally here. After years of waiting, a new era had dawned upon us. The Aphrodite era had arrived.

I first discovered Kylie in the late 2000s. I can't pinpoint an exact year, but it was either 2008 or 2009. My discovery was made where all good discoveries of the decade were made, in a Naruto animated music video montage. Yes, I was THAT kid at the time. The song was "In Your Eyes" from her 2001 "Fever" album. One listen and I was instantly hooked. I spent the next year or two learning the Kylie discography inside and out. I learned about the woman, the worldwide success, and most importantly the music. I had become a Kylie Minogue fan in one of the only countries where she isn't a household name. The internet is a beautiful thing people.

For any of my fellow Americans reading who may not have heard of the lovely Ms. Minogue, allow me to give you a quick history lesson. Kylie emerged on the scene in the late '80s, launching a music career somewhere between Debbie Gibson and Madonna in terms of sound. While she did score one major hit from her debut album, she would quickly fade from the public eye.

Yet, the story could not have been more different in Europe and her native Australia. There, especially in the UK and Oz, she would continue to be a major hitmaker for years to come, branching out of her bubblegum roots into a maturing artistry throughout the 1990s. By the decade's end, Kylie artistic experiments had cost her much of her success worldwide, yet a career redirection back towards dance-pop in the year 2000 would launch her back into superstardom. This peaked in 2001/2002, with the release of the "Fever" album and Can't Get You out of My Head", which would become her first American top 10 hit since the 1980s.

Kylie would spend the rest of the '00s at a career peak. While she did take a break in 2005 to successfully battle breast cancer, she returned in 2007 with her 10th album, "X". It was after this album had already been out that I discovered her. Hence, Aphrodite being her first album that I was cognizant of at the time of its release.

But how does the album I was so excited for hold up today, years after my personal fanfare has died down? Let's find out.

The following is a track-by-track review:

1. All the Lovers: "Dance. It's all I want to do, so won't you dance?" Probably the strongest of opening line to any Kylie album. Released as the lead single, All the Lovers was a worldwide hit for good reason. Straddling the lines between dance pop and dream pop, it's a beautiful album opener, inviting the listener in and enveloping them in a warm, romantic, layering of synths. 4.5/5

2. Get Outta My Way: The only other song on the album that would have made a good contender for album opener or lead single, Get Outta My Way takes away the comfort of All the Lovers for a rush of energy. One of Kylie's best single choices in my opinion, and vastly underrated by the GP, but thankfully not by fans. It's fun, high energy, sassy, and everything that a good pop star should aim for in a dance song. Truly, a career highlight. 4.5/5

3. Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love): Another excellent dance song, if perhaps a bit more forgettable than Get Outta My Way. Pretty simple lyrically and fairly straightforward musically, it's a good example of how a song can be enjoyable without needing to reinvent the wheel. 4/5

4. Closer: A bit of a left turn, making a move towards a more dramatic atmosphere. Stuart Price's synth work succeeds in building tension, although it never seems to truly resolve for me personally. 3.5/5

5. Everything Is Beautiful: It's okay. Kind of album filler, not much to say. It just sort of trudges along, but the chorus is enjoyable enough. 3/5

6. Aphrodite: I take back what I said about GOMW, this could have been a solid opener too. Kylie brings energy the matches the percussion heavy, military-esque beat well. She sounds like she's having such a good time on this track, which just makes it that much more exciting. More percussion Kylie! 4/5

7. Illusion: Wtf Kylie? I said more percussion, not life synths that sound like a heart rate monitor. I've had it out for this track for years. In reality, it's not nearly as bad as I remembered it being, but it still does nothing for me. This an example of an album filler track, and not a very good one at that. 2/5

8. Better Than Today: Better than Illusion, but not by a ton lol. At least it's enjoyable, even if it's a bit of mid tempo fluff. Probably the song on the album that sounds the most out of place. Does have a few memorable lines though. 3/5

9. Too Much: Phoning in some help from Calvin Harris and Jake Shears, Too Much is a rush of turn of the decade house music that doesn't slow down for a breath. Simple, but well-written with a few clever lines thrown in. Very exciting musically though! 4/5

10. Cupid Boy: Something tells me this song was planned for an American single release. Maybe not officially, but definitely the most "American" song on the standard edition. I really disliked this one at first, but it really grew on me over the years. Maybe I'm just a typical American falling for tracks planted with me in mind. 4/5

11. Looking for an Angel: My experience with this one is the opposite of that with Cupid Boy. I really liked it the first time I heard it, but seem to like it less every year. It's not bad musically, it's just so repetitive, and that's even by the standard of an album that's pretty repetitive to start with. 2.5/5

12. Can't Beat the Feeling: Excellent choice to close off the standard edition of the album. It's a little quirky, with what sounds like a harpsicord repeating throughout. A celebratory, fun song is always a good album closer. Good sequencing Kylie! 4/5

Bonus Tracks:

-Mighty Rivers: Such a waste to have been left off the standard album! A beautiful dance pop song that combines all the best features of the album. It's romantic, danceable, and stands up so well to repeated plays! 4.5/5

-Heartstrings: This one felt so stagnant the first time I heard it, but by the second listen I really came to appreciate it. I love when pop stars do sappy songs like these, the kind that could be perfect for a quiet night in cuddling or being blasted over club speakers. Makes me thing of the ending credits of a positive episode of Queer as Folk for some reason. 4/5

- Go Hard or Go Home: This actually could have been a pretty good choice to make a surprise acoustic song out of, with the strumming guitar intro. Although of course that's not the case, fitting the electronic, danceable nature of the album. I've heard others describe it as kind of trashy, which I can sort of understand, but it just has so much swagger, which isn't something Kylie always projects. This should have been the lead American mainstream single in my opinion, as it would have fit on top 40 radio of the time so well. 4/5

Conclusion:

As a whole, Aphrodite has held up pretty well in my opinion. It has its skippable tracks, like Illusion and Looking for an Angel, but has many high points, such as Get Outta My Way and All the Lovers. A few standard tracks should have been removed and replaced with the bonus tracks, but in the days of streaming and iTunes, I suppose that's not a big issue. Overall, great effort with many songs worth repeated listens.

3.7/5

Fun Fact: Aphrodite is Kylie's first album to have an executive producer. Somehow she never had a singular person leading the team on past albums. Stuart Price did at east help keep consistency on this album compared to the X and Body Language albums.