CEREMONY | The Kylie Minogue Leads Rate

[Cruelty 5,887]

Breathe. Breathe
It won’t be long now
Breathe.
—‘Breathe’ (1998)

Welcome to the Kylie Leads Rate ceremony!

She’s always been the first to admit that she isn’t the world’s best singer, or dancer, or writer. And yet sometimes I think Kylie Minogue is the dictionary definition of pop music. Blessed with business know-how, a great eye for visuals and (by all accounts) a heart of pure gold, Kylie is one of pop music’s eternal fighters. Her famously chameleonic attitude towards genre and image allowing her to shapeshift through the worlds of bubblegum pop, indie rock and sleek nu-disco, Kylie has generated a bigger range of stone-cold classics than almost all of her peers. As she returns, 80 million record sales later, with her future-facing new single 'Padam Padam', it's only fair that we celebrate her towering achievements with this career-spanning megarate of an integral part of the pop music landscape.

For the past month, you’ve been rating the lead singles from Kylie’s 15 incredible studio albums. From ‘Slow’ to ‘Spinning’, ‘Head’ to ‘Hearts’, ‘Lucky’ to ‘Lovers’, these songs have been battling to be crowned Gagadaily’s Favourite Kylie Lead Single. Time to chase those Monday Blues away, and find out who you’ve voted your winner! Here’s your reminder of the competitors:

We’ll be counting down the 15 songs over the course of around 90 minutes. There’s a tie somewhere in the middle, so in that case the song with the fewest 11s will be eliminated first; apart from that it’s smooth sailing. Along the way I’ll be sharing the (amazing) comments you submitted, and providing some information on these songs’ backstories, as well as some of my own thoughts on the tracks.

The ceremony starts in an hour – 2PM PT / 5PM ET / 10PM UK. Whilst you’re waiting for me to get my act together, sit back & relax with this tailormade preshow playlist. No lead singles, and I promise everything here is a certified bop. Enjoy!

Spoiler

@candydarling @Dr Fudge @Lukasson @SimonBaetens @Noah @MANiCURE 6 @dimitristhe @Bronco @COOOK @HateMeHarder @Why am I on GGD @HeavyMetal Halcyon @OG Gaga Stan @lasagna @NNES @Kandy life  @Sexxx @BBhomemaker @bionic @tofueism @whoresup @GH333 @Nirvana @jimmytimestep @AnnTakamaki @SCHEISSEMONTRE @VTV @Levine @HookerOnAChurch @grimqueix  @androiduser @LaFama @ARTPOPe @RAMROD @Battle 4 Ur Life @ImMatt @Cello @Italian Plus the three users whose names I couldn't find 

 

[cELLO 53,482]

can't wait to see the results  rooting for my 11, Spinning Around

[HeavyMetal Halcyon 1,483]

41 minutes ago, Cello said:

can't wait to see the results  rooting for my 11, Spinning Around

Also rooting for Spinning Around, underrated pop anthem! 

[bionic 42,027]

i don't remember who i gave 11 to i think it mightve been i should be so lucky

[Cruelty 5,887]

We’re gonna do it – let’s get to it
—‘Too Much of a Good Thing’ (1992)

Let’s go!

[Nirvana 2,697]

Kylie has so many 11 worthy songs, it's not even fair to choose one! 

[Cruelty 5,887]

15 WORD IS OUT – average 5.33
The highs: 8 x 3 [@A @Cello @Italian] 
The lows: 1 x 1 [@Dr Fudge]

Let’s Get To It is… just a really bizarre album. Kylie’s fourth and final release on her original record label, it’s a grab-bag of random pastiches of contemporary songs. There’s some new jack swing, some dance-pop, a beautiful romcom ballad and a six-minute hi-NRG techno raver to close. The best track is the swirling, disorientating “Finer Feelings” (as @HateMeHarder pointed out), although there are two fantastic techno B-sides which eclipse anything on the record itself. Nothing feels very original, nothing links together, and the results are decidedly mixed.

“Word is Out” is the closest thing on the album to an 80s Kylie pop song, so on paper it makes sense to release it as the lead. Hang on… “Word is Out”? What the f*ck is “Word is Out”? On the evidence of your comments, nobody seems to have a clue. It’s HILARIOUS that basically every comment said the same thing: ‘not a very memorable song’, ‘I don’t even remember this song’, ‘[insert the mariah i dont know her gif]’, ‘not really anything special for me’, ‘kylie’s least memorable single’, ‘kinda forgettable’.

This is a fun perspective when you consider that Kylie’s singles discography also includes a special version of 2018’s ‘A Lifetime to Repair’ with added banjos. No, “Word is Out” is worse than forgettable: it’s memorably terrible. A mess of 90s brass and cheesy backing vocals, accentuated by an utterly mind-boggling honky-tonk piano breakdown, “Word is Out” feels like a parody of a Kylie song. Ironic, seeing how she spends the rest of the album copying other people’s songs. The only notable thing about this single is that future Big Brother UK presenter Davina McCall’s in the music video.

So there we go. Our first sacrifice. “Word is Out” is Out.

Comments:

Spoiler

@MANiCURE 6 Not a very memorable song to be honest.

@Bronco Probably the lead single & album I listen to least from Kylie…

@HateMeHarder The ‘Let’s Get To It’ era is really underrated and spurred one of her best singles: Finer Feelings. Word is Out is a fun little bop.

@Why am I on GGD I don't even remember this song, how was this a lead single?

@bionic [insert the mariah i dont know her gif]

@whoresup Not really anything special for me.

@jimmytimestep Nvm THIS is Kylie’s least memorable single lol

@SCHEISSEMONTRE I love this song but it's kinda forgettable when you think of her lead singles.

@VTV Nice pop song perfect for its time. Listening to it now feels like listening to my granma playlist bops.

@Cello i’ve never heard this one before but it’s pretty good

[cELLO 53,482]

1 minute ago, Cruelty said:

15 WORD IS OUT – average 5.33
The highs: 8 x 3 [@A @Cello @Italian] 
The lows: 1 x 1 [@Dr Fudge]

Let’s Get To It is… just a really bizarre album. Kylie’s fourth and final release on her original record label, it’s a grab-bag of random pastiches of contemporary songs. There’s some new jack swing, some dance-pop, a beautiful romcom ballad and a six-minute hi-NRG techno raver to close. The best track is the swirling, disorientating “Finer Feelings” (as @HateMeHarder pointed out), although there are two fantastic techno B-sides which eclipse anything on the record itself. Nothing feels very original, nothing links together, and the results are decidedly mixed.

“Word is Out” is the closest thing on the album to an 80s Kylie pop song, so on paper it makes sense to release it as the lead. Hang on… “Word is Out”? What the f*ck is “Word is Out”? On the evidence of your comments, nobody seems to have a clue. It’s HILARIOUS that basically every comment said the same thing: ‘not a very memorable song’, ‘I don’t even remember this song’, ‘[insert the mariah i dont know her gif]’, ‘not really anything special for me’, ‘kylie’s least memorable single’, ‘kinda forgettable’.

This is a fun perspective when you consider that Kylie’s singles discography also includes a special version of 2018’s ‘A Lifetime to Repair’ with added banjos. No, “Word is Out” is worse than forgettable: it’s memorably terrible. A mess of 90s brass and cheesy backing vocals, accentuated by an utterly mind-boggling honky-tonk piano breakdown, “Word is Out” feels like a parody of a Kylie song. Ironic, seeing how she spends the rest of the album copying other people’s songs. The only notable thing about this single is that future Big Brother UK presenter Davina McCall’s in the music video.

So there we go. Our first sacrifice. “Word is Out” is Out.

Comments:

  Hide contents

@MANiCURE 6 Not a very memorable song to be honest.

@Bronco Probably the lead single & album I listen to least from Kylie…

@HateMeHarder The ‘Let’s Get To It’ era is really underrated and spurred one of her best singles: Finer Feelings. Word is Out is a fun little bop.

@Why am I on GGD I don't even remember this song, how was this a lead single?

@bionic [insert the mariah i dont know her gif]

@whoresup Not really anything special for me.

@jimmytimestep Nvm THIS is Kylie’s least memorable single lol

@SCHEISSEMONTRE I love this song but it's kinda forgettable when you think of her lead singles.

@VTV Nice pop song perfect for its time. Listening to it now feels like listening to my granma playlist bops.

@Cello i’ve never heard this one before but it’s pretty good

Whaaat! Didn't deserve last place 

[ARTPOPe 10,016]

How did I not know Cherry Bomb was on streaming services??? 

Hope Slow wins or at least comes top 5 

[Cruelty 5,887]

14 SOME KIND OF BLISS – average 6.50
The highs: 10 x 1 [@KandyLife]
The lows: 3 x 2 [@SCHEISSEMONTRE @ImMatt]

Kylie’s most obscure and avant-garde release, 1997’s Impossible Princess is an intriguing experimental pop album infused with trip hop, electronica and rock. And, well… we ALL think they picked the wrong lead single. I received loads of comments suggesting other songs would have been better to announce the album (Too Far, Limbo, Breathe, Did It Again, I Don’t Need Anyone and Cowboy Style all came up). @bionic thinks it’s ‘not lead material’, @Bronco calls it ‘such a weak lead single choice’, in the words of @SCHEISSEMONTRE it ‘didn’t show what this era could’ve been’, and according to @OG Gaga Stan it’s ‘one of the worst songs on one of her absolute best albums’.

To be fair, I can understand why it made commercial sense in 1997 to lead off with “Some Kind of Bliss”, as the song was written and produced by the Manic Street Preachers, then a very successful indie rock band. A clash of chugging guitars, big strings and Fender Rhodes keyboard vamps, “Some Kind of Bliss” is a paradigmatic distillation of Britpop; you can quite easily imagine a Blur or Oasis version of the track. As the tentative verses emerge into the swooping 90s alt-rock chorus, Kylie sings about a love so omnipresent that she still feels it even in the lovers’ absence: “the ability to feel like they’re with you even if they are a million miles away”.

Ultimately, Impossible Princess is such an oddity in Kylie’s discography that it’s hard not to see this one as an outlier. If you love the Britpop genre, you’ll love this song. If you love Kylie Minogue, you’ll likely find this a sharp change from what you’d expect from her – and that might explain both its disappointing commercial success (it was her first solo single to miss the UK Top 20), and its poor showing in this rate.

Comments:

Spoiler

@MANiCURE 6 Not my fav from this album, but cute song.

@Bronco As much as I love this song, it’s such a weak lead single choice – Did It Again would have been way better & so would have I Don’t Need Anyone

@HateMeHarder I love this song, but it feels relatively safe for this era. I wish she had been able to lead with Too Far or Cowboy Style to really give a proper, daring start to Impossible Princess…

@Why am I on GGD It's cute but not memorable to me.

@HeavyMetal Halcyon Should have been Breathe.

@OG Gaga Stan One of the worst songs on one of her absolute best albums.

@bionic cute song. not lead material. should’ve been breathe

@whoresup Not very Kylie but it is still a great song. I actually think this is very underrated, maybe just because it doesn’t match with her normal sound. 

@jimmytimestep This is one of my favorite Kylie albums but in terms of lead singles, this is not it. I think the label was challenged with how to market the album and they chose the “poppiest” which was a mistake.

@SCHEISSEMONTRE One of her worst lead singles. It didn't show what this era could've been. Imo, I would've went with what Kylie wanted (Limbo) or what her musical director Steve Anderson wanted (Too Far)

@VTV Nice MV. Nice lyrics. Not feeling the vibe of the track.

@Battle 4 Ur Life 4 for trying out a new kind of sound but it just feels unnatural. I wanted to like it but it’s not for me.

 

[Cruelty 5,887]

13 HAND ON YOUR HEART – average 7.02
The highs: 10 x 3 [@dimitristhe @Bronco @QueenGloria]
The lows: 2 x 2 [@Dr Fudge @ImMatt]

Kylie’s sophomore effort Enjoy Yourself is a bit ‘more of the same’, again exclusively produced by the British team SAW who had worked on her debut. There are a couple of unabashed bangers on there, but also a couple of career worsts.

A barrage of beefy synths and clattering drums, any faults of ‘Hand on Your Heart’ are immediately forgotten by THAT CHORUS! Powerful, anthemic, a chorus for the ages. GGD seems to agree too, with generally positive comments: @MANiCURE 6 correctly identifies ‘the chorus slaps’, and @Why am I on GGD confesses ‘It’s not my usual kind of song but it’s SO CATCHY’.

I’m bumping this one a lot recently as I go through a truly horrific breakup. It’s what we all wish we could say to the man who broke our heart, that challenge: look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore. And if you can’t do that, why can’t we try to make it work? For me, this is just a wonderful pop song, equal parts cutesy and punchy. The production dates it, but it’s got a true heart of gold, and honestly I think you guys have done it a little dirty. This sublime piece of 80s synthpop is already much more worldly wise than anything on Kylie’s debut album, although it’s just the beginning compared to where she’ll go next…

Comments:

Spoiler

@MANiCURE 6 I love this song, the chorus slaps.

@Why am I on GGD It's not my usual kind of song but it's SO CATCHY.

@bionic fun! cute! basic!

@whoresup A bop, not up there with her best but still good.

@jimmytimestep Maybe Kylie’s least memorable single

@SCHEISSEMONTRE Timeless hit from her

@VTV This perfectly captures the late 80s.

 

[ARTPOPe 10,016]

The good thing about Kylie™️'s earlier work is that it makes me appreciate the later work much more 

[Cruelty 5,887]

12 2 HEARTS – average 7.14
The highs: 11 x 1 [@lasagna]; 10 x 4 [@Dr Fudge @dimitristhe @Kandy life @Sexxx]
The lows: 2 x 1 [@ImMatt]

Okay basically everyone who commented said “Wow” should have been the lead. Even the positive comments about X’s lead single “2 Hearts” are aware of its less than favourable reputation; @Bronco says ‘honestly don’t get the hate for this’, whilst both @dimitristhe and @Why am I on GGD used the phrase ‘criminally underrated’. There’s a clear pattern to how Gagadaily feels about this song: ‘a little underwhelming for a “comeback” single’; ‘an odd single choice’; ‘not lead single material’; ‘doesn’t reflect the album’; ‘not very representative of the album’.

During her Showgirl Tour in 2005, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was luckily spotted early enough for her to undergo treatment, and after a two-year hiatus Kylie returned in late 2007 with her new single “2 Hearts”. (It’s worth mentioning at this point, in case you still had any doubt about what a fighter Kylie is or about just how much the world adores her, that multiple scientific studies have observed a ‘Kylie effect’ where many more people booked breast screenings in the weeks following Minogue’s diagnosis, and that Kylie later received an honorary doctorate for her work raising awareness of the disease).

All of that is much more important than any petty discussion about a song, but we’re here on Gagadaily doing a megarate, so let’s talk about why “2 Hearts” doesn’t work as a comeback single, or even as a lead.

For a start, it’s not even a Kylie original. It’s a cover, originally released two years earlier by its writers, the British electropop duo Kish Mauve (who later got their sh*t together and wrote "All the Lovers"). Second, as many of your comments pointed out, it doesn’t sound like the rest of X sounds. Kylie’s tenth album is a little bitty, with a few sonic oddities here and there, but generally revolves around the kind of dancefloor-ready pop that’s become Kylie’s stock-in-trade. The basement room rock feel of “2 Hearts”, accentuated by fuzzy bass and sharp drums, is worlds apart from more traditional Kylie fare like “Wow” or “The One”. Third, it doesn’t even sound like a Kylie song! True, the ‘whooo’s in the chorus are very pop and very catchy, but on the whole this song represents a radical sonic departure from the music Kylie had been making beforehand. The stomping piano gives the thing a glam-rock lilt, campy like Scissor Sisters and vampy like Goldfrapp… but entirely unlike Kylie.

“2 Hearts” reached Number 1 in Australia and Number 4 in the UK; it’s clearly an enjoyable enough pop song on its own merit, and does have its fans. It shows Kylie diving into a sonic world that she hadn’t explored before. But as your big comeback single, when “Wow” and “In My Arms” (both of which do a more propulsive job of updating the Kylie formula) were both there as options? No way.

 

Comments:

Spoiler

@MANiCURE 6 Not very representative of the album, “Wow” would have been a perfect lead.

@dimitristhe It’s criminally underrated. A catchy and fabulous song.

@Bronco Honestly don’t get the hate for this even if Wow/In My Arms are better, I love the pseudo burlesque vibe

@HateMeHarder 2 Hearts is a cute song, but a little underwhelming for a "comeback" single. Especially since the song had already been recorded and released by writers Kish Muave. There were better options for X (personally, I would have chosen The One). 

@Why am I on GGD Criminally underrated. Go watch X Tour you heathens.

@HeavyMetal Halcyon Decent song, but doesn’t reflect the album. Absolutely should have been In My Arms or Wow.

@OG Gaga Stan One of the worst songs on one of her absolute best albums.

@bionic like some kind of bliss, good song but not lead single material. REALLY derailed the X era comeback.

@whoresup I remember loving this song when it came out in ‘07 so maybe I just have fond memories. Looking back, it was an odd single choice as it doesn’t really reflect the rest of the album and it is actually a cover.

@jimmytimestep It’s cute but Wow should have been the lead.

@SCHEISSEMONTRE The single rollout for this era was messy af (lol) I would've chose Wow as the lead imo 

@VTV Sounds like a hit Gwen Stefani song. 

@Battle 4 Ur Life I was addicted to this song when it came out and the video is fabulous. The album is so good I can’t help but think it deserved a more remarkable lead tho.

 

[Cruelty 5,887]

11 INTO THE BLUE – average 7.40
The highs: 11 x 2 [@princedeblebleble @ImMatt]; 10 x 4 [@COOOK @OG Gaga Stan @NNES @Kandy life]
The lows: 4 x 3 [@SimonBaetens @Sexxx]

Full disclosure: I’m doing most of these writeups as the ceremony is happening. It’s quite exhausting, and it means that certain songs just aren’t going to get much effort. Luckily, “Into the Blue” doesn’t really deserve much effort anyway.

Recorded on Kylie’s 45th birthday, “Into the Blue” kickstarted the topsy-turvy Kiss Me Once era. Her only release on Jay-Z’s label Roc Nation, the album was considered a commercial disappointment after the monumental Aphrodite, and fans continue to speculate that Roc Nation just… didn’t know what to do with Kylie as an artist. “Into the Blue” is certainly her most Adult Contemporary lead, a mature concoction of strings and piano with a limp EDM edge. Is it representative of the album? A little. Is it a perfectly passable song, beautiful even? Yes. But does it sound like a Kylie Minogue song? No. Not to my ears, at least. And that might be why it lands outside your top 10.

 

Comments:

Spoiler

@MANiCURE 6 Cute song, not the best on the album, but she took a risk here.

@Bronco KMO got done dirty by Roc Nation & I’m tired of people hating on what was a good album done dirty

@HateMeHarder From the final cut of Kiss Me Once, this was the best choice for lead single. Mature, sexy, and commanding. 

@Why am I on GGD Re-do some of those cheap hooks and we’ll talk.

@OG Gaga Stan A perfect pop song.

@whoresup An actual smash, this is so underrated. The chorus just slaps. 

@jimmytimestep It’s fine

@SCHEISSEMONTRE Another one of her worst leads. It's not one my faves and there could've been better options 

@VTV Nice song but not that memorable.

 

[cELLO 53,482]

11 minutes ago, Cruelty said:

12 2 HEARTS – average 7.14
The highs: 11 x 1 [@lasagna]; 10 x 4 [@Dr Fudge @dimitristhe @Kandy life @Sexxx]
The lows: 2 x 1 [@ImMatt]

Okay basically everyone who commented said “Wow” should have been the lead. Even the positive comments about X’s lead single “2 Hearts” are aware of its less than favourable reputation; @Bronco says ‘honestly don’t get the hate for this’, whilst both @dimitristhe and @Why am I on GGD used the phrase ‘criminally underrated’. There’s a clear pattern to how Gagadaily feels about this song: ‘a little underwhelming for a “comeback” single’; ‘an odd single choice’; ‘not lead single material’; ‘doesn’t reflect the album’; ‘not very representative of the album’.

During her Showgirl Tour in 2005, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was luckily spotted early enough for her to undergo treatment, and after a two-year hiatus Kylie returned in late 2007 with her new single “2 Hearts”. (It’s worth mentioning at this point, in case you still had any doubt about what a fighter Kylie is or about just how much the world adores her, that multiple scientific studies have observed a ‘Kylie effect’ where many more people booked breast screenings in the weeks following Minogue’s diagnosis, and that Kylie later received an honorary doctorate for her work raising awareness of the disease).

All of that is much more important than any petty discussion about a song, but we’re here on Gagadaily doing a megarate, so let’s talk about why “2 Hearts” doesn’t work as a comeback single, or even as a lead.

For a start, it’s not even a Kylie original. It’s a cover, originally released two years earlier by its writers, the British electropop duo Kish Mauve (who later got their sh*t together and wrote "All the Lovers"). Second, as many of your comments pointed out, it doesn’t sound like the rest of X sounds. Kylie’s tenth album is a little bitty, with a few sonic oddities here and there, but generally revolves around the kind of dancefloor-ready pop that’s become Kylie’s stock-in-trade. The basement room rock feel of “2 Hearts”, accentuated by fuzzy bass and sharp drums, is worlds apart from more traditional Kylie fare like “Wow” or “The One”. Third, it doesn’t even sound like a Kylie song! True, the ‘whooo’s in the chorus are very pop and very catchy, but on the whole this song represents a radical sonic departure from the music Kylie had been making beforehand. The stomping piano gives the thing a glam-rock lilt, campy like Scissor Sisters and vampy like Goldfrapp… but entirely unlike Kylie.

“2 Hearts” reached Number 1 in Australia and Number 4 in the UK; it’s clearly an enjoyable enough pop song on its own merit, and does have its fans. It shows Kylie diving into a sonic world that she hadn’t explored before. But as your big comeback single, when “Wow” and “In My Arms” (both of which do a more propulsive job of updating the Kylie formula) were both there as options? No way.

 

Comments:

  Reveal hidden contents

@MANiCURE 6 Not very representative of the album, “Wow” would have been a perfect lead.

@dimitristhe It’s criminally underrated. A catchy and fabulous song.

@Bronco Honestly don’t get the hate for this even if Wow/In My Arms are better, I love the pseudo burlesque vibe

@HateMeHarder 2 Hearts is a cute song, but a little underwhelming for a "comeback" single. Especially since the song had already been recorded and released by writers Kish Muave. There were better options for X (personally, I would have chosen The One). 

@Why am I on GGD Criminally underrated. Go watch X Tour you heathens.

@HeavyMetal Halcyon Decent song, but doesn’t reflect the album. Absolutely should have been In My Arms or Wow.

@OG Gaga Stan One of the worst songs on one of her absolute best albums.

@bionic like some kind of bliss, good song but not lead single material. REALLY derailed the X era comeback.

@whoresup I remember loving this song when it came out in ‘07 so maybe I just have fond memories. Looking back, it was an odd single choice as it doesn’t really reflect the rest of the album and it is actually a cover.

@jimmytimestep It’s cute but Wow should have been the lead.

@SCHEISSEMONTRE The single rollout for this era was messy af (lol) I would've chose Wow as the lead imo 

@VTV Sounds like a hit Gwen Stefani song. 

@Battle 4 Ur Life I was addicted to this song when it came out and the video is fabulous. The album is so good I can’t help but think it deserved a more remarkable lead tho.

 

I like this song, but I loved Wow when it was released. I need to revisit this album