Cat. No: 24353 58042
As sales of her remarkably successful current single Fever
Several major highstreet retail chains have multiplied their orders for
this, the diminutive Aussie pop queen's speedy follow-up to 2000's
well-received Light Years , purely on the unprecedented popularity (even
by Kylie's golden-era peak of the late 1980s) enjoyed by Can't Get You
Out Of My Head .
Already the definitive hit of 2001, it completed a remarkable turnaround
in fortunes for Ms Minogue. Her PWL-puppet days long since behind her,
even those transitional years in the mid-90s on the now-defunct
deConstruction label (which produced two self-titled efforts of varying
quality and musical direction) are suddenly looking a lot further away
than they actually are.
Such is the enduring appeal of Kylie , constantly defying the odds with
relaunches and reinventions which - while lacking the authority and
zeitgeist-straddling gravitas of Madonna - are often effective enough to
put her right back at the heart of the pop landscape.
The question surrounding Fever is whether it can maintain the momentum
created by both Light Years and now * that* 5-star
single. Let's be honest, Kylie albums are not noted for their strength in depth, or for
their durability beyond their initial release period. 1990's Rhythm Of
Love (which included Better The Devil You Know ) was an underrated
mini-classic, and will forever be PWL's high watermark, but for most
people it took Light Years ' consistently enjoyable 14 tracks to really
suggest Kylie could cut it on the longer format.
It would be unfair to expect Fever 's dozen songs to all be of similar
stature as Can't Get You Out Of My Head , but there are, encouragingly, a
few other tracks here which attempt to emulate its sleek Kraftwerkisms
and infectious refrain. Come Into My World, Burning Up and Fragile stand
out among some occasionally mediocre disco stylings that, especially
during the album's first half, just sound like everyone concerned is
trying a little too hard.
The lyrics don't exactly help, never rising above serviceable
love-oriented cliches, but when the tunes and grooves hit the bullseye,
such things are not quite so important. Unfortunately, such occasions
are not quite as frequent as might have been hoped.
With no ballads to speak of, or any lyrical deviation from its chosen
formula, Fever lacks any of the traits that enable detailed critical
analysis. It's simply an album which - when heard - you will either
instantly warm to (thanks to its sheer dancefloor-friendliness), or else
find somewhat vacuuous.
Can't Get You Out Of My Head transferred the focus of Kylie's career
firmly onto the music itself, transcending all the preconceptions
created by her past and her celebrity status, but this accompanying
album is not really distinguished enough on its own to flourish with
quite so much ease.
It will undoubtedly sell in very healthy quantities at first, simply
because of the single, but the long-term prospects are more difficult to
predict. Hopefully, Fever 's other outstanding tracks will be chosen to
follow Can't Get You Out Of My Head into the Top 40, and all should
continue to be well.
Review copyright © Jason Maloney, 2001.
E-mail Jason Maloney
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As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
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