Kylie Minogue: Impossible Princess, Possibly Brilliant

Crowned the “Princess of Pop”, Kylie Minogue is a character who doesn’t remain in the same vein of music for more than an album or two. Like Madonna, she is renowned for ceaselessly reinventing herself and exploring a new corner of the broad genre of “pop music”. The nineties saw her rise to stardom, her epic fall and her glittering comeback. Surprisingly it was her epic fall, the landmark album Impossible Princess, that I regard as her strongest nineties album.

Impossible Princess was the sixth studio album from the diva, but marked the first album she had full creative control over - contributing to all of the lyrics. While many critics commended its maturity and personal subject matter it was ultimately a commercial disappointment. It didn’t connect with the general public or with a large section of her fan base, who turned on Minogue for doing something they couldn’t instantly recognize as pop. Kylie was accused of ‘going indie’ and ‘losing her way’; and many thought this album, this reinvention, had sunk her career. There was a clear divide between those who loved the album and those who loathed it. I err on the side of loving it, and passionately.

The album is like nothing she had ever done, and unsurprisingly like nothing she has dared to do since. Impossible Princess had a number of standout tracks: from the frenetic I Don’t Need Anyone, the quirky Did It Again, to the deeply personal Dreams. Drunk proves an absolute gem of song and is another personal favorite. It could rival her old hits as a dance track but still maintains the slightly darker tone that distinguishes this album from her others. However the greatest highlight comes from Breathe, an intoxicatingly tranquil four and a half minutes which stands out not just amongst this album but amongst Kylie’s entire back catalogue. It’s important to recognize that all of these favorites are pop songs; only coming in the wake of straight-up pop anthems like Shocked, Better the Devil You Know and I Should Be So Lucky did they seem to many like something other than pop. Kylie herself had to struggle with this misconception about her album, saying: "I have to keep telling people that this isn't an indie-guitar album; I'm not about to pick up a guitar and rock." (1) Yet though it was one of Kylie’s most creative, consistent and personal ventures, it will frustratingly be remembered as the low-point of her career. Ironically, the largest criticism of her last album, X, was that it was impersonal and too eclectic – the tracks weren’t deep or cohesive.

With every next album, the Impossible Princess seems to be in a bit of a bind, unable to remain static, she constantly has to take a risk in updating her image and differentiating herself from her last look and the look of every other pop star. Marshall notes that: "Any style eventually loses its power to represent difference, as the marketplace continuously appropriates the idiosyncrasies of codes of style for commodity innovation. Thus, the popular music performer is also continuously appropriating new representations of individuality through style." (2) This fluidity is the predicament of many pop stars - the push and pull to be 'different' but essentially the same. It inevitably leads to a number of incarnations for any pop act – from “Schoolgirl Britney” to “Ringleader Britney”, or “Cowgirl Madonna” to “Geisha Madonna”. Every pop icon is in the position of striving for 'difference', but without ever becoming too different from what made them popular to begin with. This phenomenon was satirized in Kylie's music video for Did it Again (below). The video see’s the four incarnations of Kylie - “sex Kylie”, “cute Kylie”, “disco Kylie” and “indie Kylie” - battle it out for supremacy. And while we don’t see a clear winner, real life shows that it was “indie Kylie” who lost out.

For a while Minogue may have been dead, but she was never buried; and a committed return to pop with a pair of gold hot pants saw her rise from the ashes. For an artist often reputed as a shallow, style-over-substance pop act, it was a shame that her most different and brilliant nineties album was given such little praise.

Kylie Minogue: Breathe



Kylie: Did It Again

For more Kylie visit http://www.kylie.com/home

References

(2) Marshall, P.D. 1997. 'The Meanings of the Popular Music Celebrity: The Construction of Distinctive Authenticity'. Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture. University of Minneapolis. pg 162.