Kylie Minogue - Tension
- Thread starter xOJakeXo
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he / him
In the lead up to Disco, I think that at least three forum members asked to have their accounts deleted, so it's still very tame at the moment.
There is a weird aggression that is often aimed at Kylie/her music on here that isn’t really aimed at many of the other pop girls. I think she’s been around for so long that people feel a sense of ownership and that she owes them something and then feel a kind of resentment when she doesn’t deliver what they want. Yes this is a pop forum where people are free to post opinions, but for the life of me I can’t understand it when people who haven’t liked an artist for years camp out in their threads expecting something different when clearly they’re not going to get it? Like you don’t find people sitting in the Shania or Steps thread for weeks on end demanding something completely different from what we’re obviously going to get?
Though we already assumed as much, The S*n are saying she’ll be performing new music at the World Pride show.
For some reason The S*n is her teams choice when it comes to leaking little bits of information so it’s more than likely true.
Both Golden and Disco are solid imo. I don’t dislike the Sky Adams production but I do find it hit and miss. Works great with songs like Dancing or Dancefloor Darling which have a more raw feel but stops other tracks from being stand-outs due to their flat, busy production. Lifetime to Repair and Monday Blues both could’ve been album highlights if they were deeper and cleaner sonically. A Steve Anderson clean up for a few of these tracks and both albums would’ve been perfect imo.
As far as a lead single, I’m in the mood for something more aggressive and less wholesome this time. Head, Slow and even 2 Hearts had that. Since All The Lovers, every lead single has aimed for the same thing emotionally. Dancing and Say Something had good timing (label change, lockdown) but not sure if a shimmery, euphoric bop will stand out this time.
As far as a lead single, I’m in the mood for something more aggressive and less wholesome this time. Head, Slow and even 2 Hearts had that. Since All The Lovers, every lead single has aimed for the same thing emotionally. Dancing and Say Something had good timing (label change, lockdown) but not sure if a shimmery, euphoric bop will stand out this time.
What? Compared to some popstars, Kylie is handled with kid gloves on this forum. Yes, there are a group of people (including myself) who shit on her recent output (but I do this to many artists), but you don't get nasty comments about her looks, lifestyle choices, etc.
Where Kylie is musically seems unlikely to change now - she sells a reasonable number of albums off the back of Radio 2 airplay and some TV appearances, and still has enough goodwill to get those. BMG will want her to keep doing what she's doing, variants on the 'Kylie' sound but otherwise solid pop songs. Risks she could take now would be much harder to recover from if they didn't pay off, and she can't afford to lose the airplay and goodwill she has.
Personally, I'm still enjoying her music, and what I look for more than anything are quality pop songs with good melodies, and she still delivers those. I'd love some more experimental stuff, but it's never going to happen as a mainstream album. I'm almost surprised she's never done fan-only website exclusives of off-cuts and less commercial stuff, but I suppose someone has to pay for it vs how much it would make.
Personally, I'm still enjoying her music, and what I look for more than anything are quality pop songs with good melodies, and she still delivers those. I'd love some more experimental stuff, but it's never going to happen as a mainstream album. I'm almost surprised she's never done fan-only website exclusives of off-cuts and less commercial stuff, but I suppose someone has to pay for it vs how much it would make.
Honestly that’s probably because Kylie is just about the least controversial pop star in that respect.
I don't know how trustworthy these usually are, but I've seen all these rumours on here over the past few weeks, so they might have just compiled it from those.
You're totally right, but I'm just saying that it's a bit silly to act like Kylie is shredded in a way that other popstars aren't. I feel a lot of people in this thread get defensive about benign music-based criticism and just want all positivity all the time. Whereas the regulars in the Madonna thread have had to put up with straight up vile things being said about her along with the musical criticism, which I don't have a problem with as long as its fair.
Plus, Gaga gets just as much of the "I don't like what she's doing now. I wish she'd do this" type of criticism. It's by no means a Kylie exclusive phenomenon.
Honestly, it'd be more of a insult to her if people who didn't like Kylie's recent output were just like, "Yeah, this shit sucks but it's all she's really capable of." But instead people are saying she can do better.
He/Him
1. I like to think that I swoop in and cause carnage intermittently. I’d stay longer but there are other threads that need me.
2. The reason people want better from Kylie over Shania or Steps is that the other two are simply not on her level.
In her prime Kylie released some of the shiniest, glossiest, most potent pop music in the world. That singles run from 2000 to 2003 is the stuff for the history books. She’s still capable of greatness, Say Something being the clearest example of that in recent years.
I will always root for her to serve again, no matter how many misfires, branded wines, cheap linen collections or terribly produced disco pastiche rehashes she sends our way. But I also reserve the right drag her when she gives us phoned in floppery.
he / him
I feel like those of us who would like something different from Kylie wouldn't mind variants on the "Kylie" sound if she didn't return to the same two songs as reference points—"Love At First Sight" and "I Believe In You." Although I absolutely love the former and appreciate the latter, those wells are dry at this point, imo.
When it was mentioned that "Slow" would be the reference point, the response was largely positive.
I mean the (fairly unhinged) post on the previous page saying that she should be ashamed of releasing Disco would beg to differ with this point. It’s obviously unnecessarily harsh and extreme but has gone (pretty much) uncommented on because it’s accepted in a Kylie thread where it wouldn’t be in many of the other pop girl threads.
And criticising a popstar’s looks is clearly unacceptable no matter who they are.
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he/him
I think the tension comes from some fans feeling disconnected from her current output for whatever their reason is: they believe Kylie is "phoning it in," they have issues with some of her creative choices, she's not making music that sounds like {insert favorite album or song}. These are all valid reasons to feel the disconnect! I sometimes feel them, too.
I don't think anybody has said this thread can't be a place of critique. But if you haven't enjoyed anything she's done since 2010 and are writing off entire albums and eras, what's the point of spending more energy talking about how much you dislike something? Especially if there's no balance and you're not offering anything new. Again, this is not to say criticism isn't welcome! It just offers nothing new to the discussion you haven't said already, and starts to feel antagonistic. This goes for the opposite side too, if you're blindly praising everything.
Kylie has the blessing and curse of making it seem like pop music is effortless. There have been some extremely weak songs on Kiss Me Once, Golden, and Disco. Still, it's factually untrue that she isn't putting effort into her music. Making music requires more effort than people realize. Kylie is decades into her career and over 50. She's still reaching incredible new highs but perhaps adjusting expectations might make the disappointments feel less heavy.
Somehow we always end up in this position in this thread's discussion timeline. I'm just trying to offer some perspective for both sides.
I don't think anybody has said this thread can't be a place of critique. But if you haven't enjoyed anything she's done since 2010 and are writing off entire albums and eras, what's the point of spending more energy talking about how much you dislike something? Especially if there's no balance and you're not offering anything new. Again, this is not to say criticism isn't welcome! It just offers nothing new to the discussion you haven't said already, and starts to feel antagonistic. This goes for the opposite side too, if you're blindly praising everything.
Kylie has the blessing and curse of making it seem like pop music is effortless. There have been some extremely weak songs on Kiss Me Once, Golden, and Disco. Still, it's factually untrue that she isn't putting effort into her music. Making music requires more effort than people realize. Kylie is decades into her career and over 50. She's still reaching incredible new highs but perhaps adjusting expectations might make the disappointments feel less heavy.
Somehow we always end up in this position in this thread's discussion timeline. I'm just trying to offer some perspective for both sides.
TBH, I think you're seeing what you want to see.
My point with the comment about looks is that they never appear in Kylie threads but do in Madonna threads, so why are you acting like Kylie is most targeted popstar?
Yes, that post you referred to was over the top, but are you trying to tell me that such comments don't happen in other threads?
Artists that I love and adore most are also usually the ones I drag the hardest when they release something that's clearly below their capabilities *points to the Chr0m4t1c4 thread with a shrug*, so I think the judgment of "person X drags artist Y's output because person X hates artist Y" is quite misguided. Not saying this is the case for everybody, but it is what it is. "Dance Floor Darling" is a discography highlight though!
The frustration for me is that I think that Disco would have been massively improved by some pretty easy fixes. A little bit more imagination in the production, trying (a lot) harder on the lyrics, more attention to detail in the vocal production and mastering, a couple songs that have something to say, etc. There's no doubt that she's putting in effort in some areas. The melodies are still sharp and Say Something is one of my favorite songs of hers. But there are clearly aspects of her music where they definitely seem to have a "this will do?" attitude.
I am not as harsh on Golden. It's bloated and the production is unimaginative and repetitive, but a few of the songs have some pretty interesting lyricism and storytelling, which is nowhere to be found on Disco.
At least both albums have at least one lowkey classic (Dancing, Say Something). Not every veteran artist has that.
he/him
Dance Floor Darling, Lost Without You and Say Something alone (without factoring anything else in) are evidence that her discography remains as vital as ever for me.
Would I love to see her stretch her legs? Yes. Am Idefinitely most likely going to love the album regardless? Yes. I can appreciate the tricky position she’s in of banking on a legacy to see her through the next few decades - it can’t be an easy line to strike. And we haven’t heard a thing yet - there’s much still to learn about the record that could render this debate pointless. The inclusion of James Ford alone has me incredibly excited.
But still… call SG Lewis mum x
Would I love to see her stretch her legs? Yes. Am I
But still… call SG Lewis mum x
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They/Them
It's been ignored because everyone knows it's full of hyperbole and not worth commenting on. You're just trying to create a narrative that simple is not there, Kylie does not get treated any more harshly than any other artist here, in fact she gets off more lightly.