Customer Reviews

Hits Plus

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Prior to Kylie's 2000 career revival, she released two albums under the dance label, Deconstruction. Though contrary to the title of the album as the songs weren't exactly hits, they present the best of Kylie in the past decade or so. Breaking free from the Stock-Aitken-Waterman factory, the sexy gal glamed herself up, released her first proper dance hit Confide in Me which reached #2 on the UK chart. A sensual song revelled in mystism, the lady followe up with one of her best hits ever, the sexy mid-tempo Put Yourself In My Place, a very favorite of mine. It didn't hurt when Kylie was orbiting nude in space in the video. Other gems from the album simply titled Kylie Minogue includes Where Is The Feeling and Automatic Love, a collaboration with Pet Shop Boys. A duet with Nick Cave also lent more credibility to Kylie.

Kylie went experimental on Impossible Princess (re-titled Kylie Minogue due to Princes Diana's untimely death) in 1997, working with some of the best in the industry including a member of the Maniac Street Preachers. the album was a mix of modern dance and electronic coolness and Kylie shines on Did It Again and another career milestone Breathe.

Other gems found here include several unreleased tracks that were b-sides to the released songs. Though a blatant cash-in on the part of the record company, it's a good way for old and new fans to own all these songs on one CD. Unfortunately, the US edition left out the Nick Cave collaboration Where The Wild Roses Grow and This Girl.

Buy this to discover Kylie! You wont be disappointed. You wont get Kylie out of ur head!

This rare Kylie Collection of hits,is from her first two deconstruction albums,Kylie Minogue '94 and Impossible Princess,both now available as remastered versions.Kylie has come a long way - buy other albums,Light Years,Fever and Recent album Body Language to see how far kylie has come.This is not the 'old' kylie,where we saw hits like I Should be So Lucky.Locomotion,Got To Be Certain,Hand On Your Heart etc... This was the introduction to a new kylie.At the 1993 Brit awards,kylie announced that she'd signed up wuth the label 'Deconstruction' - a rare dance company and one of the best around.My Version of Hits+,has 16 tracks on it - not 14.

Tracklisting:

1 Confide In Me 5.56/5/5/A Single Release
2 Put Yourself In My Place 4.11/5/5/A Single Release
3 Where Is The Feeling? (BIR Dolphin Mix) 4.13/5/5/Originally,a single release
4 Some Kind Of Bliss 4.14/5/5/A Single Release
5 Did It Again 4.18/5/5/A Single Release
6 Breathe 3.39/5/5/A Single Release
7 Where The Wild Roses Grow 3.56/5/5/A Single Release
8 If You Don't Love Me 2.10/4/5/B-Side
9 Tears 4.30/5/5/B-Side
10 Gotta Move On 3.37/5/5/Unreleased
11 Difficult by Design 3.44/5/5/Unreleased
12 Stay This Way 4.35/4/5/Unreleased
13 This Girl 3.07/5/5/Exclusive UK Track
14 Automatic Love (Acoustic) 4.25/5/5/Unreleased
15 Where Has The Love Gone? (Roach Motel Mix) 9.24/5/5/Unreleased
16 Take Me With You 9.10/5/5/Taken From 'Other Sides',a c-d free when you bought 'Impossible Princess' (original)

I have been a huge fan of Kylie Minogue since I heard "Light Years" almost two years ago, before anyone in this country has rediscovered Kylie with "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". I wasn't sure if I wanted to get "Hits Plus" but when I saw that I haven't heard the majority of the songs, I decided to buy it. I am rather disappointed that on the copy that I have didn't include her duet with Nick Cave "Where the Wild Roses Grow" from Nick's album "Murder Ballads". That is truly one of Kylie's best songs although it is a duet. I believe the version of "Hits Plus" that includes "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is on the import version. Anyways, all of the songs on "Hits Plus" are songs prior to "Light Years" when Kylie's music was less popular than today. The only songs I have heard on this cd is "Some Kind of Bliss", "Did It Again", and "Did It Again", and "Breathe". Those songs are from "Impossible Princess", probably my personal favorite Kylie cd. The rest of the album is new to me. A lot of the older songs have that jazz/torch influence. They don't sound anything like what I have heard on "Impossible Princess", "Light Years", and "Fever". There some excellent club tracks like "Tears" and "Put Yourself In My Place". My one problem with this album is that towards the ends of the album, the songs started to sound alike. I think it could have been shorter but that is just my opinion. Overall, this is a really good compilation of Kylie's earlier songs pre-"Light Years" and "Fever".

Hits+, the "Best Of" album from her second record label, is spawned from her best records to date. Her singles from the two albums in this period are all present - each of them fantastic, each of them quite different in sound and style. After all, the deConstruction label is known for its indie and dance sounds. Included in the package are some rarities and little treasures... "Automatic Love" (acoustic) is breathtaking and truly the highlite of the album. "If You Don't Love Me" (a beautiful piano ballad) "Stay this Way" (a jazzy slink-around-on-the-piano track), "Tears" (a driving indy-dance gem), and "Take Me With You" (an epic, moody piece with a middle-eastern flare) are also fantastic reasons to give the album a listen. The deletion of "This Girl" (the track was included on the import versions) is just short of tragic, but it was replaced by a previously unreleased version of "Where Has the Love Gone" which is really a plus.

1. CONFIDE IN ME - Hit single which reached No.1 in Australia and No.2 in the UK. A great song about confiding in someone - 10/10

2. PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE - Single which reached No.11 in the UK. A excellent song about love, great to listen to if you have just broken up with someone - 10/10

3. WHERE IS THE FEELING - BIR Dolphin Remix of song reached No.16 in the UK. A great song which is alot better than its original - 10/10

4. SOME KIND OF BLISS - Kylie's lowest charting single in the UK reached No.22. A good song that is slightly repetitive at the end, but this does not affect the song on the whole... - 10/10

5. DID IT AGAIN - My favourite Kylie single ever reached No.15 in Australia and No.14 in the UK. A more snarling Kylie that we have not seen before! - 10/10

6. BREATHE - A great Kylie single which reached No.23 in Australia and No.14 in the UK. This is the faster version - not the album version from Impossible Princess - 10/10

7. WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW - Duet with Nick Nave reached No.2 in Australia and No.11 in the UK. A great song and quite haunting at times! - 10/10

8. IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME - I would give this song full marks if only it was a bit longer... Gosh! It's only 2 minutes and 10 seconds long! - 9/10

9. TEARS - Possible my favourite non-Kylie single or B-Side. This song is a really great one! - 10/10

10. GOTTA MOVE ON - Another good song where Kylie explains how someone has to move on and they don't belong there anymore. Previously unreleased - 10/10

11. DIFFICULT BY DESIGN - This song is strange. At first I hated i0t and was not impressed but it took me quite awhile to like it! I love it now! Previously unreleased - 10/10

12. STAY THIS WAY - The worst song from the album, however, it is still good. Previously unreleased - 9/10

13. THIS GIRL - This song only lasts for just over 3 minutes but it is so brilliant - the lyrics and the music. Exclusive UK Track - 10/10

14. AUTOMATIC LOVE - The acoustic version of this song is the best version available. Much better than the album version from Kylie Minogue '94! Previously unreleasaed - 10/10

15. WHERE HAS THE LOVE GONE - The Roach Motel Mix of this song is excellent! I think that it is better than the album version - I prefer this 9-and-a-half minute remix! Previously unreleased - 10/10

16. TAKE ME WITH YOU - A rare song that Kylie performed on her Intimate And Live Tour in Sydney in 1998 - 10/10

Overall Score - 158/160 = A = 98% = 5 stars

For those who have all of Kylie's albums up through Fever, the release of Hits+ may or may not elicit a "Wha...?" reaction. This contains material from her two albums under Deconstruction Records, her eponymous fifth album and the techno/industrial misfire of Impossible Princess, as well as rare tracks not on any album.

At the very least, the best songs from each of those albums are here. From Kylie Minogue, we have "Confide In Me," which introduced the new Kylie, from dolorous violin and strings, and then the programmed industrial drum machines forming a backbeat. As a prelude to the title, she sings, "We all get hurt by love, and we all have a cross to bear, and in the name of understanding now, a problem should be shared."

An airy and dreamy aura is heard in the soulful ballad "Put Yourself In My Place" where the protagonist asks for empathy before being told she's no longer in someone's life. One of the better tracks from that album.

The BIR Dolphin Mix of "Where Is The Feeling" ensconces the original in a mix more at home from Impossible Princess rather than the original's nouvelle disco. Not too happy with this version.

However, there's an acoustic version of "Automatic Love," consisting of piano, guitar, and strings instead of the synths and drum machines of the original. I'm kind of getting attached to this version more. The Roach Motel remix of "Where Has The Love Gone?" consists of loud techno and bouncy bass synth beats which I have no complaints over.

From Impossible Princess, we have "Some Kind Of Bliss," which despite the industrial crunch is helped by a jangly guitar, brass section, and strings that are meshed into a weird wall of sound. "Did It Again" incorporates a sitar along with the industrial techno, while "Breathe" is a worthy shot at ambient utilizing Moby and Massive Attack sounds.

Of the new songs, "If You Don't Love Me" is a great Bacharach-like piano only ballad with Kylie trying to sound like Mariah Carey in her higher octave. Love this one and the moody nightclub piano jazz of "Stay This Way." "Tears" is a rapid BPM techno number that belongs on Impossible Princess, with a guitar-like synth blaring on occasions.

With the early-Madonna sounding, "Gotta Move On," along with Swing Out Sister-like jazziness mixed with bubblegum-type drumming, I say "no kidding." Another hidden treasure! "Difficult By Design" fits squarely in her self-titled album, a sister track to the original strings/bubblegum version of "Where Is The Feeling?" with an SOS-like AM jazzy piano. Finally, "Take Me With You" is another Massive Attack-like song with female tribal chants inbetween verses.

I wonder if a schism was created between two sets of Kylie fans, those who first fell for her during her Stock-Aitken-Waterman era (like me), and those who were introduced to her via her brief sojourn away from disco. Whatever the case, this compilation at least serves to close the brief second chapter of the continuing story of Kylie Minogue, and herald the glimmering chapter 3, beginning with Light Years. As for those new piano ballads, rare gems indeed!

Thanks to the massive worldwide embrace of Kylie due to her smash "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", the US market is finally getting a taste of the pop princess we abandoned thirteen years ago, when her cover of the classic "The Loco-Motion" made top 3. During this span of time, Kylie produced four records of pure, unashamed pop songs. After this however, she made of her self as a sort of alternative dance pop act on the indie Deconstruction label. Confide In Me, the first single on that label, was a massive number two hit in the United Kindgom, but following that a slump occurred, with her next series of releases all failing to break into the top ten. Among these is the emotional "Put Yourself In My Place", which to date, is her very best ballad. Her trio of "Impossible Princess" singles were deep into the indie sound, the best of these being "Did It Again". After the failure of the "Impossible Princess"/"Kylie Minogue" album, she was dropped by Deconstruction. She was signed to a new label, and made a suprise comeback with the disco pop "Light Years" album. Do to the new success, Deconstruction released this album soon after, compiling her six singles, along with some b-sides and rarities. The best of these are the jazzy piano led "If You Don't Love Me", and the wonderful "Difficult By Design". Now, as she's broken the States again, Arista Records has liscensed this album for release over here. It's a great collection of Alt-Kylie tunes, though it cuts the hauntingly creepy Nick Cave duet "Where The Wild Roses Grow" and the rare "This Girl". Deserves it's title of "Hits+". A great period in Kylie's musical career.

HITS+ garners tracks from Kylie Minogue's two highly underappreciated albums for the British dance label Deconstruction. Though regarded by many as her worst period musically--it certainly was commercially--it's hard to deny that
such left-field gems as 'Confide In Me','Put Yourself In My Place','Breathe', and 'Some Kind Of Bliss', while admittedly far from the Stock Aitken Waterman safety net, rank as some of her most creatively satisfying singles. Those expecting the Kylie of LIGHT YEARS or FEVER need not bother with this--it's far removed from those discs. However, those looking for a little overview of an artist musically experimenting outside her producer-assigned musical niche will enjoy this adventurous set.

This is the hits collection put out by Arista /BMG Heritage to show America the Kylie that BMG had from 1994 to 1998. This collection features the European hits "Confide In Me" in its full length version,"Put Yourself In My Place","Where Is The Feeling"(in remixed form),"Some Kind Of Bliss", "Did It Again"and"Breathe". The songs are less dance and more pop to almost alternative rock in stance. The other songs are from her two BMG collections or b-sides or rare tracks. The track "Where Has The Love Gone" is the Roach Motel Mix(9:25) and is rare --for all the Kylie Remix.... "fans" . This is a collection of songs from her years between her PWL and EMI days. It shows growth on her part and faith on the fans part for following her to wherever Kylie wanted to go.

Careful because the title "Hits+" can be misleading. There are a couple of things you need to know.
First of all, the US version only contains 14 tracks while the European version has 16 tracks. This compialtion contains only 6 singles (The first 6 tracks), the latter being Live versions, B-sides, unreleased tracks or rare remixes.
This album covers Kylie's short career while being in the now closed DeConstruction label, she released two albums and a remix album with them, Kylie Minogue'94 and Kylie Minogue'98 (Original title being "Impossible Princess") and "Impossible Remixes".
The singles found here found their way to the chart through 1994-1998 and then Kylie left DeCon and came back to her roots. The first three songs are from KM94 and the other three are from KM98. This was a phase where she took control of her musical direction, (NOTE: The entire "Impossible..." lyrics including album songs and unrelesed songs were written by Kylie alone) but sadly children and gay men (Her main market) were disappointed since this was not for them, this is a mixture of pop rock with a techno vibe only adults could find it amusing. Here's a low-down on track by track.
1. Confide in me (Anderson/Seaman): With its haunting intro, this #2 hit was the one that marked Kylie's phase where she turned her back on poppy pop and into more serious music. It's really good and shows Kylie's vocal talents specially at the end.

2. Put yourself in my place-Radio edit (Harry): A ballad. One of her more underrated singles. It only reached #11. The video features her in a pink space suit and slowly strips down to nothing. The song alone is not bad at all but she tries to hard on the high notes. Personally one of my favorites.

3. Where is the feeling-BIR Dolphin Mix (Smarties/Hanna): This song which is one of Kylie's least remembered singles is very strabne musically. It blends a lot of sounds and goes nowhere. It reminds me of Madonna's 90's stuff.

4. Somekind of Bliss (Minogue/Bradfield/Moore): Brit pop from back in the day, 1997. This is an uplifting track mixing guitars with strings in the background. You can hear her putting all this feeling in the song.

5. Did it again-Radio edit (Minogue/Seaman/Anderson): Personally my all time favorite from her. Clever lyrics talking about herself in the beginnings until now. This is pop rock with oriental sounds, really recommended along with the fantastic video that features four Kylies (Indie, Sex, Dance and Cute) where they all fight to be in the spotlight but logically at the end the Indie Kylie wins, if she could see herself now...

6. Breathe-Radio mix (Minogue/Ball/Vauk): A faster version different from the one in IP, this one is a little bit faster and shorter. Another one from my favorites, kinda like Bjork meets Dido with a great trip hop beat and sultry vocals.

7. If you don't love me (McAloon): A cover ballad. It's nice to hear it though it's 2.30 long. It's different cause it's just Kylie and a piano and shows off she can sing. This was a b-side to "Confide in me".

8. Tears (Minogue/Ball/Vauk): Republica sounding track. This is fast techno and is from the "IP" throw aways but it's a great track nonetheless.

9. Gotta move on (Mallozzi/Sabu/Minogue): This is another unreleased track but this time from KM94. I don't have words for thi track...I hate it. It's nice to see Kylie didn't like too and she didn't want it on any of her albums because it's really a bad song with bad bad music.

10. Difficult by design (Mallozzi/Sabu/Minogue): By the title I hoped for this to be good but....See Track 9.
11. Stay this way (Minogue/Anderson): "IP" material again. Nice jazzy ballad, nothing outstanding like the singles.

12. Automatic love-Acoustic version (Mallozi/Sabiu/Minogue/Humpe): Wow, Kylie can sing. But not too keen on the song. But, again it's from KM94 and by the sounds of it, it seems that the singles were the only worthy tracks.

13. Where has the love gone?-BIR Roach Motel Remix (Palmer/Stapleton): Cool music but not enough lyrics and just the title of the song going through. It's a very long song, about 8-9 minutes, however it's not a bad track and it's from KM94 too so this was a surprise.

14. Take me with you-Extended mix (Minogue/Anderson): Another Bjorkish song. Very nice chillout music and one of my vaorite unreleased songs on the album. Evene if it drags a little, 10 minutes, the music is very cool and very relazing mixing percussions with techno sounds and Kylie making indian choruses.

*15. This girl: Not included here and never heard it...

*16. Where the wild roses grow Feat. Nick Cave (Nick Cave): Haunting song and was the one that gave Kylie her credibility. Both fo their voices blend in and make this a fantastic track specially the live version.

Overall rating of the album: 8.5/10.
For more on Kylie music, check out either "Impossible princess", "Intimate and live" ether in DVD or CD featuring songs from "IP" and covers on an amazing acoustic concert, "Kids" (enhanced cd single) duet with Robbie Williams or "Hits+" in three different versions available.