Kylie Minogue Album: “Rhythm of Love”

Considered by many to be her finest hour, Rhythm of Love moved Kylie out of the bubble gum arena and into that of the full fledged diva. Better The Devil You Know, the opening track, is still considered by fans to be her crowing achievment and it stands the test of time. Other highlights include Step Back In Time (and the word at the beginning is FUNK), What Do I Have to Do and Shocked. Released in 1990 (except in the US) this quartet of songs has become a mainstay of the British and Australian music scene. Also look for Confide in Me released in 1994. File Under: Fun and Fantastic!

RYTHYM OF LOVE, the third album of Kylie's, marks the transformation from the likable teenager who made us dance with "The Loco-Motion" to the sensual adult who was ready and willing to take us into the 1990s. For many people, RYTHYM OF LOVE remains the quintessential Kylie album, the magical moment when she cast aside any lingering self-doubt and boldly presented herself as someone to be reckoned with in the music industry; you can hear in her voice how much more assured she is, and you can't help but be caught up in her optimism. "Better The Devil You Know," the leadoff song of the album, remains to date one of the jewels in her crown, a song so utterly energetic you'll exhaust yourself just listening to it. Other worthies include "Step Back In Time," "What Do I Have To Do?", "Count The Days," and "Shocked." Along with IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS, RYTHYM OF LOVE is a "must-own" for anyone who purports to be a fan of Kylie's. If you're new to Kylie's world and are looking for a place to get acquainted, let RYTHYM OF LOVE be your guide.

In 1980's Britain, the most successful pop record producers were the team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Many of their singers faded from popularity as quickly as they emerged, leaving a legacy of doubtful importance, but a few rose above the rest, most notably Kylie.

This album, the third of Kylie's career, is different from its predecessors. Stock Aitken and Waterman wrote and produced seven songs, including the biggest hit here, Better the devil you know. Kylie wrote the four of the songs herself and used a different producer. Anybody familiar with Kylie's excellent Light years album will see some of its roots here but Kylie's music underwent many changes in the intervening years.

While many will continue to dismiss Kylie (especially these early albums), she is much better than many of the singers she is sometimes compared to, and has proved it by lasting longer than any of her critics thought possible.

Note that this CD is also available via the boxed set - Kylie Minogue x3. It's only three individual CD's wrapped in a cardboard slipcase but it's much cheaper than buying the three separately.

Rhythm Of Love was somewhat an unexpected departure for dear, sweet girl-next-door Kylie in 1990. The uber-success of Kylie's first 2 albums (all of which delivered 8 UK Top 2 singles) was a hard act to follow. Having scored legions of fans, it was hard to know what Kylie would do next so not to bore her fans, nor alienate them. The result was this. A mixed bag of affairs which saw Kylie's public image become very mature & sexy in light of her sexual awakenings with Michael Hitchence(it worked v. well IMHO), although not all fans were as receptive. Sales of this album waned, but not withstanding the fact that this album delivered some of Kylie's finest pop performances, which are still loved today. Better The Devil You Know is now a classic - & 11 years later you can understand why. It still hooks you with its whooahs - Step Back In Time only made it to No.4. Very respectable position (but the first Kylie single not to go Top 2). It yielded one of the most accelerated songs in existence. It's a non-stop 70's ride, with a smashing video to accompany. A true hommage to the 70s funk of the O-Jays, etc. The next 2 singles only fared UK No.6 positions yet these are the ones deemed Kylie's most enduring trax. Paradox indeed. The naughty & yearning What Do I Have To Do, with its stylish video is adult pop music & Shocked continues the sultry style that the album forbodes, (with a superb rap by Jazzy P - although only available on the single version, the fusion of pop & rap was something Kylie was not renowned for). So if these songs are so great, why did they not reflect the status of earlier hits? They are by far more memorable than Hand On Your Heart or Wouldn't Change A Thing for example. The problem was that Kylie fans could not cope with the dramatic change (album cover alone heralds the sexiness). Many stayed with her, cos her music speaks for itself, but not as many as before. Today, it's an entirely different affair. Yet this album does not fail to deliver. There are some superbly effective songs which could have been as big hits as those released. Secrets is pure euphoria & Things Can Only Get Better is pop meets electronica. The SAW camp certianly gave Kylie their best songs & indulged in some risks. But Kylie delivers. Her sauciness is pale by her standards today, but her music is as brilliant back then as it is now.

I have always been a massive Kylie Minogue fan since as long as I can remember. I just recently went on a spree of purchasing her albums and I found that "Rhythm Of Love" is undoubtedly the beginning of this great pop icon even though it is of course her third album after "Kylie" (1988) and "Enjoy Yourself" (1989). This album is definately a strong collection of pop songs and you can basically listen to the whole album and be entertained all the way through. Kylie at this point, was growing up and decided to ditch her girl-next-door image and move on to a more mature, provocative and sexier one. As well as her image, she also changed her style of music from the bubblegum-pop sounds of her first 2 albums. Rhythm Of Love features a very club oriented dance sound which basically became the sound of mainstream pop music for the 90's shortly after. Kylie also co-wrote three of the tracks making it the first time she wrote music for her own albums. Take a look at the tracks:

#1 BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW - this song is still in my opinion the best song on the album. I'm sure everyone loves this song and understandably. This song has that club oriented dance-pop sound and it really shapes the whole expectation and enjoyment of the rest of album. Great!!

#2 STEP BACK IN TIME - this was the second single after "Better The Devil You Know". this track is good because it has a strong Disco sound to it which makes it unique on the album. Definately a standout track.

#3 WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO - another great dance-pop track. this was the third single and it sounds a little different from some of the other songs, but it is still great energetic dance-pop.

#4 SECRETS - some have called this track a good girl track that was similar to her first 2 albums. Wrong. Although the sound is a more cute dance-pop, the lyrics are actually quite mature for Kylie at the time. The song is about her confessing that she two-timed on her boyfriend with an ex-lover and was sleeping with him.

#5 ALWAYS FIND THE TIME - This is a good dance-pop track but not as notable as some of the other tracks. Give it a go nevertheless.

#6 THE WORLD STILL TURNS - this is a pop ballad that was co-written by Kylie. Its nice that its the only ballad on the album but I still generally skip past it due to the high energy the rest of the album gives you.

#7 SHOCKED - the DNA remix of this song was released as the fourth single and that is a fantastic song. This album version differs but is still a great dance-pop song.

#8 ONE BOY GIRL - i personally love this song. Definately one of the best on the album and the fact that Kylie co-wrote it makes it even better. This is early 90's dance-pop gold. Catchy, fun and the rap section three quarters in is so good. Of course Kylie isn't actually rapping, there's some female rapper doing that (don't know who though).

#9 THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER - another standout track. This song has grown on me greatly and now I think it is great dance-pop and like "What Do I Have To Do", it is a little different to the other tracks but still fantastic.

#10 COUNT THE DAYS - this song was co-written by Kylie (possibly about Michael Hutcence of INXS, her boyfriend at the time). It is good but it doesn't have that energetic dance-pop sound the others track do, instead it has a more pop/R&B/dance kind of sound. still good though.

#11 RHYTHM OF LOVE - the title track was also co-written by Kylie and like "Count The Days" it also has a kind of pop/R&B/dance sound to it but I think this is better than Count The Days. Mind you, the R&B sound is an 80's R&B sound so it was different to what R&B is today. There was more funk involved as opposed to soul.

So overall, Rhythm Of Love is a very strong album and that's what Kylie does best.