Golden

Being a huge Kylie fan this is bound to be a biased fantastic review. But the quality of this album is like nothing like what we have had from Kylie before. The photography, production and vocals are on top form. Every song is brilliantly written which is what herself and her fans were looking for. After 30 years in the music business and still surprising us is nothing short of amazing, it deserves the success it should reap. Even being a 'Superfan', if another artiste made an album of this calibre, I would be shouting about it too. 5 stars, and then some!!Track Review:Dancing: Lead single from the album. I can see why this was chosen as the first single, even though it was released in January, it still feels fresh.Stop Me From Falling: Great choice for the second single also. Has you hooked from the first verse, it builds with the pre-chorus 'one day i might get it right' before it explodes into its euthoric/country twang chorus. Just listening to it makes you feel happy and clap along involuntarily.Golden: Title track from the album. A nod to the fact that she is 50 years old this coming May (no she really is!!). Another great song, worthy of a single release. Her title tracks from previous albums are always good, but are never serious single contenders, but this one is right up there as one of the best.A Lifetime To Repair: The most country sounding of tracks on the album. Her vocal performance on this track is so amazing. Another killer chorus, I have now taken to singing this very loudly (sorry neighbours!!) and giving it air punches as I do so. One of her finest moments on this album.Sincerely Yours: I loooovvveeee this track! A love letter to her fans, it makes you quite emotional listening to the words. The production on this is sublime, it reminds me a little bit like 'Love Me Like You' Do from Ellie Goulding.One Last Kiss: Another amazing song (do you see a pattern emerging here??)!! A catchy verse leading into an even catchier chorus, another of the country influenced songs on here.Live A Little: OMG, this is just wow (no pun intended!!) If I had to compare this, I would say its very much like Rita Ora's 'Anywhere'. Got it on constant repeat, this has to be a single!!Shelby '68: A song written for her Dad Ron and his love for this car, it's a lovely addition to the album. Not one of the strongest tracks on here, but production is great. A nice little touch that the car sound on the song is from her Dads actual Shelby '68 car. Cute.Radio On: Where can I even begin to start with this song. It is everything and then more. I have always been into melodies of songs more than the lyrical content, but in this track I hang on to every word she sings. The song is just beautiful, touching and emotional. I love a Kylie ballad, they don't come around often, but when they do you know its going to be something special. Radio On is completely on a different level. Her storytelling in this song is heartbreaking. Her vocal delivery in this is just like nothing I have ever heard. Reviews from so called professionals saying that her vocals are weak and strained on this album have it so so wrong. They sound fragile, sincere, unprocessed. This is the intention of this album, instead of her voice being over processed on previous ones, it's like she is taking to us rather than just singing down a microphone. Just stunning.Love: So just when you get over the greatness of 'Radio On' comes this track. Just when you thought she had peaked and it could only be downhill from there Love starts to play and you think omg there's more greatness. The melody of the song just makes you feel so happy and uplifted. It feels like you have heard the song a million times but it's still sounds so fresh. Kylie is nowhere near a tribute act, but if ABBA where still recording it would sound a bit like this. It has you from the first line, right to the end, another album highlight.Raining Glitter: As with Shelby '68, this is another track that is brilliant but not the strongest on here. This track is more of a classic Kylie sounding ones. It still fits well on the album, and her vocals on this are beautiful. WHOOP!Music's Too Sad Without You: A duet featuring Jack Savoretti, a beautiful haunting song. Rich production, beautiful vocals from the both of them, its every bit as good as when she sang 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' with Nick Cave. This will be a classic and well loved song for years to come.Lost Without You: Usually when an artist throws bonus tracks on the end of the album they are usually good but not quite good enough to be on the main album. This fully deserves to be among her amazing new music and has earned it's place to even be included. Again it sounds very like an Ellie Goulding song, and it could be released as a single. Brilliant, and big thumbs up!!Every Little Part Of Me: Another great addition to the album, super catchy verse.Rollin': Yet another great song, should this have been a 2 disc album?, the quality of these songs are fantastic. This would sound great on a hot sunny day riding along in a car with the windows down.Low Blow: What a way to finish off this piece of musical masterpiece. Instantly grabs you and gets your attention, it has 'Blurred Lines' vibes all the way through, even dare I say Vengaboys during the ooh oohs! (Listen to it, it's amazing). So glad they included this on the album, and it leaves you wanting more.

Clubby, with a Nashville twist. Personal, with every song written by Kylie. One of the best collections of her career.This is NOT a country album. Far from it. There are plenty of pop/dance/electronic sounds. Some classic 'Kylie' tracks and some experimental material (one look at her back catalogue and it's clear Minogue has been more adventurous and taken more risks in her career than most artists could imagine.)As cliche as it may be, Kylie is one of the few, true queens of 'reinvention' left. The current younger batch of artists make carbon copy albums over and over, pick producers to work with from a similar selection box of 'trendy' names whom no one will recall in five years. They're styled by the same people. They take track writing credits on songs they had no involvement in writing. None of them are becoming musical icons like Kylie, Madonna, Prince, Bowie, Michael et.al. and never will now, because by the time they hit their creative peaks, especially for women but certainly happens to plenty of men too, they'll no longer be played on radio.For Kylie Minogue, it is almost always the case that a completely new look, theme and sound emerges with every album, reflecting her mood at the time. Some extremely pop, some extremely experimental. Some mostly or entirely written by her. Other times only a few songs appear with her name listed as a cowriter. Some provocative, others shy. You'll find pop, dance, drum and bass, trip hop, indie rock, reggae influences, folk, electronica, RnB, new jack swing, house, balearic beats, funk, jazz and just about every genre of music in her back cat. somewhere.This time she uses organic country influences and references 70's Stevie Nicks and Dolly Parton (Less 9 to 5, more Jolene.) The results is an album fit for any club, with the western sounds used to freshen up and reinvent Minogue once again. There are a couple of tracks, especially 'Radio On', where she dips her toe a little further into the Nashville sound. They're especially beautiful songs. Try not to shed a tear during the aforementioned track. But the majority of the songs here, while clearly influenced by Country music, are 'bops' as the kids call them.In summary, some songs here will make you cry, some give you hope, others make you feel elated. For Kylie fans this won't alienate you. For those simply curious about Kylie, this would be a fantastic record to introduce you to her. Especially since its personal themes are so relatable. Make sure you get the full 16 track version of the collection, including the song 'Lost Without You', which ironically does not feature any western production but has instantly taken a seat in the Kylie canon as one of her best recordings of all time. Brilliant stuff.

This isn't a country album. It's a Kylie album with country theme mixed with pop. It's an album that needs multiple listens before you get it and love it.The album starts with Dancing a great track but not the best on the album. Stop me from falling is another great track both sticking with the country theme.A highlight is up next with title track Golden, upbeat and lovable.A lifetime to repair starts full on country then you are blasted with dance during the chorus. It's a great song but you have to listen a few times before you like it.Sincerely yours is written beautifully and sounds great.One last kiss minds me off Kiss me once from KMO. That's not a bad thing. It's more off classic Kylie.Live a little is not a track I like. Her vocals are over produced for me. Lyrics are great though.Shelby 68 is a laid back track and lovely vocals. It shouldn't work but it does.Radio On is another laid back track. This has great vocals, lyrics and is another highlight.Love, is just brillant. The chorus is just great and put on your headphones and just feel the song.Raining Glitter is more classic Kylie but feels like a poor B side tbh.Music is to sad is just laid back bliss with Kylie vocals on point.Extra tracks well Lost without you should not have been a bonus. It's great. The others are nice to have but Low Blow does not work for me.I like the album less maybe 3 songs. Give it a try. Put on repeat a few times. You will love it.