Kylie Minogue...

Yes, she's one of the most well-known and sometimes controversial artists in Europe. Sure, she's only had two hits in the United States (1988's The Loco-Motion and 2001's Can't Get You Out of My Head). Even with two Grammys under her belt, the music she makes is both loved by many and dismissed by others as simple, run-of-the-mill garbage by others.

...but you just can't dismiss her. She's been around for a while and isn't going anywhere soon. Minogue's a fighter determined to recover from any setbacks sent her way, whether it's from being called (essentially) yet another product of a major hit-factory, backlash felt due to an "experimental" album's sound, or a recent bout with breast cancer.

Since most listeners in the U.S. are familiar with Minogue's more recent material, I thought I'd go back and take a look at one of her earlier albums, when she was still (mostly) under the thumb of hit-makers extraordinaire Stock, Aitken, and Waterman. 1991's Let's Get To It was Minogue's final album with their label (not counting a greatest hits collection released a year later) and, while it still sounds like an early-90's pop record through and through, there's some decent music here.

Sure, the album has its more cringe-worthy spots (an ambitious cover of Chairmen of the Board's Give Me Just A Little More Time, while utilizing some almost pop-jazz-esque instrumentation, is slighted by Minogue's vocal, which borders on yelling at times; the sappy-sounding acoustic-guitar driven ballad No World Without You is pedestrian, both vocally [Minogue's delivery gives the impression that she's incredibly bored] and lyrically, containing the usual tripe and clichéd "I-need-you-or-my-world-isn't-complete" lyrics), but those don't take away from the album too much. The brighter spots on the album (I.E., the dramatic, orchestrated, extremely-slightly-urban pop number Too Much Of A Good Thing; pulsating dance number I Guess I Like It Like That, which, while sounding like something I could create on my keyboard and not containing the best vocal on the album, gets points for its unique blending of new material and some of Minogue's older songs into one track) outweigh those missteps, anyway.

Even with all the good tracks here, one particular track stands out from the rest: Finer Feelings, the album's final single. An almost haunting orchestral-backed R&B-tinged ballad, the track utilizes Minogue's vocals well - she's restrained in her performance enough that it makes a point given the song's lyrical content (the fact that sex without the "finer feelings" is just sex and will eventually fade to nothing). Quite a good song, this one.

Looking back, this album may not contain the Kylie of today, but there are shades of that musical style and direction beginning to take shape. It's typical pop music, but it's done well, which sets it apart from all the other stuff. Recommended.

Kylie Minogue: "Let's Get To It"
[ PWL | Released 1991.10.14 ]

01. Word Is Out [ 3:32 ]
02. Give Me Just A Little More Time [ 3:06 ]
03. Too Much Of A Good Thing [ 5:49 ]
04. Finer Feelings [ 3:54 ]
05. If You Were With Me Now [ 3:12 ]
06. Let's Get To It [ 4:48 ]
07. Right Here, Right Now [ 3:54 ]
08. Live And Learn [ 3:15 ]
09. No World Without You [ 2:46 ]
10. I Guess I Like It Like That [ 4:48 ]

[ http://www.kylie.com ]

Recommended: Yes