The Album Club: "Rhythm of Love" by Kylie Minogue

OccultHawk · 05-01-2018, 08:04 PM

Never seen it.

Trollheart · 05-01-2018, 08:18 PM

It'll probably draw the Google Gestapo, but until then...

**Frownland** · 05-01-2018, 08:31 PM

Minogway

~~MicShazam~~ · 05-05-2018, 01:39 AM

Ok that's it, I can stay silent no more!

No, Nea, I did not plan for everyone to like this album. Starting with this album, my picks for the club will be based purely on what I feel like listening to, not what I expect anyone in the club to like. I learned that lesson with the world destroying choice that was Billy Child's Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro. Naive as I was, I thought people was largely gonna like it. No more trying to please you guys!

I chose Rhythm of Love simply because, at the time, I'd bought all of Kylie's old albums recently and this one was the one I felt the most like listening to right then and there. (As an aside, that guy in the video above is totally wrong. Enjoy Yourself is the worst of the three first records as it's all over the place.)

I see a lot of you guys bring up how this album isn't anything special. I actually like that about it. Or rather, what I mean to say is that I like that it has this incredibly early 90's sound to it that dates the album to a very specific moment in pop. It might not be a super unique record, but I enjoy it as being Kylie's spin on a prominent pop sound of the time.

As for the quality of the songs themselves, I don't think this album is a revelation, but there's a few strong tracks and nothing that I outright dislike. It's just a bit of simple, fun dance pop music.

Some may question my method for choosing albums for the club, but this is how it's going to be. I'll chose albums that I personally like and feel like listening to - completely ignoring the tastes of other forum members (I miss every time when I try to please anyway) and completely ignoring factors like how genre defining an album is, how respected it is, etc. Just a completely subjective choice where all that's guaranteed is that my choices are my kind of thing.

I'm not actually trying to torture you people, I'm just not actively trying not to either. Not anymore.

I think a lot of you are gonna suffer with my next pick as well

In conclusion, I think this album is good - not great - but worthwhile for how it has Kylie doing her take on that, at the time, everpresent 1990 style of pop.

NOTE: I forgot to mention what songs I like the most. I can't remember all titles, but I knof for sure that "Things Can Only Get Better" is my favorite track on the disc.

Trollheart · 05-05-2018, 05:38 AM

Three words: Stock, Aitken, Waterman.
End of.

~~MicShazam~~ · 05-05-2018, 05:51 AM

I don't really have an opinion about them, honestly.

Anteater · 05-05-2018, 08:14 AM

MicShazam, I actually enjoy the 80's and early 90's pop sound. Like a lot of dance pop records from that period, I just don't think the "hits" were as good as a few of the B-sides in this particular case, hence my rating. If all the tracks had been as good as 'The World Still Turns' or 'Count The Days' or that one you mentioned, I'd have likely bumped my rating up around 8 because if its good dance pop, then its good regardless of the era or production.

Remember, I was the one who had everyone review the 1991 Seal debut a few months ago (which got trashed for similar reasons to Rhythm Of Love despite being a much stronger album compositionally).

Long story short, a lot of people get hung up about production and rawness vs more polished / mechanical sounding production and for some people its an issue they can't circumvent. So the deck was stacked against this even if the songwriting had been better than it is.

~~MicShazam~~ · 05-05-2018, 11:01 AM

I don't mind it being voted low anyway. I'm just curious to see what people think about whatever random album I feel like picking for the club. 99% of the stuff I like the most will have most members shrugging or gagging, so I'm not going to strain to finde the needle in the haystack (i.e. the one album in a 100 that might get an unexpectedly positive reaction). I've got my expectations in check, so it's cool. The real question is how long people can put up with my choices before they want me to leave

About production, then I've definitely noticed criticisms of various albums being "over produced" coming up in all sorts of threads with some frequency. Personally, I'm all about whatever I think fits the album in question. A lot of things I like are very tampered with in the studio, but also a lot isn't like that. Whatever fits. I enjoy both if done well.

Trollheart · 05-05-2018, 07:50 PM

I've no problem with production, but a production/assembly line like SAW made out of all their artists' music? No. Listen to any album produced by those ****s and you'll be hard-pressed to say whose it is. It's just the same ****ing thing over and over and over and over again. I should be so lucky (lucky, lucky, lucky)...

Well one thing you can say about your picks, Mix (I think I'm gonna settle on calling you that, short for MicShaz - so like, mix-az, less you have a problem with that? Don't want to call you MS for obvious reasons) is that they engender discussion, even if it is vitriolic or mocking. At least nobody ignores them.

Neapolitan · 05-05-2018, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I've no problem with production, but a production/assembly line like SAW made out of all their artists' music? No. Listen to any album produced by those ****s and you'll be hard-pressed to say whose it is. It's just the same ****ing thing over and over and over and over again. I should be so lucky (lucky, lucky, lucky)...

Well one thing you can say about your picks, Mix (I think I'm gonna settle on calling you that, short for MicShaz - so like, mix-az, less you have a problem with that? Don't want to call you MS for obvious reasons) is that they engender discussion, even if it is vitriolic or mocking. At least nobody ignores them.

It's my job to pick albums that get ignore.

View Poll Results: How Much Did You Enjoy The Album?
Loved it	0	0%
Liked it	1	14.29%
Meh	2	28.57%
Disliked it	0	0%
Hated it	4	57.14%
Voters: 7. You may not vote on this poll

05-01-2018, 08:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	Never seen it. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

05-01-2018, 08:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	It'll probably draw the Google Gestapo, but until then... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-01-2018, 08:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Minogway __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

05-05-2018, 05:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Three words: Stock, Aitken, Waterman. End of. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-05-2018, 01:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Ok that's it, I can stay silent no more! No, Nea, I did not plan for everyone to like this album. Starting with this album, my picks for the club will be based purely on what I feel like listening to, not what I expect anyone in the club to like. I learned that lesson with the world destroying choice that was Billy Child's Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro. Naive as I was, I thought people was largely gonna like it. No more trying to please you guys! I chose Rhythm of Love simply because, at the time, I'd bought all of Kylie's old albums recently and this one was the one I felt the most like listening to right then and there. (As an aside, that guy in the video above is totally wrong. Enjoy Yourself is the worst of the three first records as it's all over the place.) I see a lot of you guys bring up how this album isn't anything special. I actually like that about it. Or rather, what I mean to say is that I like that it has this incredibly early 90's sound to it that dates the album to a very specific moment in pop. It might not be a super unique record, but I enjoy it as being Kylie's spin on a prominent pop sound of the time. As for the quality of the songs themselves, I don't think this album is a revelation, but there's a few strong tracks and nothing that I outright dislike. It's just a bit of simple, fun dance pop music. Some may question my method for choosing albums for the club, but this is how it's going to be. I'll chose albums that I personally like and feel like listening to - completely ignoring the tastes of other forum members (I miss every time when I try to please anyway) and completely ignoring factors like how genre defining an album is, how respected it is, etc. Just a completely subjective choice where all that's guaranteed is that my choices are my kind of thing. I'm not actually trying to torture you people, I'm just not actively trying not to either. Not anymore. I think a lot of you are gonna suffer with my next pick as well In conclusion, I think this album is good - not great - but worthwhile for how it has Kylie doing her take on that, at the time, everpresent 1990 style of pop. NOTE: I forgot to mention what songs I like the most. I can't remember all titles, but I knof for sure that "Things Can Only Get Better" is my favorite track on the disc.

05-05-2018, 05:51 AM	#6 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I don't really have an opinion about them, honestly.

05-05-2018, 11:01 AM	#8 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I don't mind it being voted low anyway. I'm just curious to see what people think about whatever random album I feel like picking for the club. 99% of the stuff I like the most will have most members shrugging or gagging, so I'm not going to strain to finde the needle in the haystack (i.e. the one album in a 100 that might get an unexpectedly positive reaction). I've got my expectations in check, so it's cool. The real question is how long people can put up with my choices before they want me to leave About production, then I've definitely noticed criticisms of various albums being "over produced" coming up in all sorts of threads with some frequency. Personally, I'm all about whatever I think fits the album in question. A lot of things I like are very tampered with in the studio, but also a lot isn't like that. Whatever fits. I enjoy both if done well.

05-05-2018, 07:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	I've no problem with production, but a production/assembly line like SAW made out of all their artists' music? No. Listen to any album produced by those **s and you'll be hard-pressed to say whose it is. It's just the same *ing thing over and over and over and over again. I should be so lucky (lucky, lucky, lucky)... Well one thing you can say about your picks, Mix (I think I'm gonna settle on calling you that, short for MicShaz - so like, mix-az, less you have a problem with that? Don't want to call you MS for obvious reasons) is that they engender discussion, even if it is vitriolic or mocking. At least nobody ignores them. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018*