Aphrodite (album)

Background and production

Following her recovery from breast cancer, Minogue released her tenth studio album X in 2007. Slated to be released as Minogue's comeback album, X went platinum in her native country Australia after it debuted at number one on the Australian Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, the album entered and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and was eventually certified platinum. Critical reception towards X was generally favourable, although many critics felt that it lacked introspection from Minogue's side due to its lack of consistency and high amount of "filler" tracks. In retrospect, critics argued that the album did not serve as a worthy comeback for Minogue.

Soon, Minogue began working on her eleventh studio album Aphrodite. The initial recording sessions began in April 2009 when Minogue met with British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot, with whom she readied the track "Better than Today". Its live instrumentation, along with the fact that X had been burdened by contributions from too many producers, prompted Minogue's record label Parlophone to decide on a more natural and less convoluted production style for Aphrodite. Later sessions with Pallot proved to be less successful, as her suggested songs were "rapidly supplemented with tracks from a wide range" of contributors. Minogue felt her sessions with Pallot did not yield any dance-pop tracks; fearing that she was "going down the same road, doing the rounds of all the pop dynamos but lacking any cohesive quality," she approached her close friend Jake Shears, male lead singer of American pop group Scissor Sisters, for advice. Shears encouraged her to work with Stuart Price, a Grammy award-winning British electronic music producer who had collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their third studio album Night Work (2010). Miles Leonard, chairman of Parlophone, enlisted Price as the executive producer of the album. He had previously served as the executive producer of American recording artist Madonna's tenth studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), and international news agency Reuters regarded him as "one of the most in-demand pop producers". In an interview with a writer for Popjustice, Price revealed that he got involved in the production of Aphrodite after he met Minogue for a writing session in October 2009.

As executive producer, Price was responsible for "shaping the album's sound", deciding its track listing, and mixing the songs in order to ensure that they "feel like they're part of the same album". Popjustice commented that every song on the album has "gone through a bit of a Stuart Price filter so that it doesn't sound like some dickhead [sic] A&R has just aimlessly scooped a load of tracks off a shelf". Aphrodite marked the first time Minogue enlisted an executive producer; discussing the process, she said "It was just the best experience, and funnily enough I think it's the most cohesive album I've had since the beginning of my career, back in the PWL days, where by its very nature made it cohesive. There's a lot to be said for working with different producers and trying different stuff which has worked really well for me in the past but I definitely wanted someone to tie this together as Stuart has done so beautifully [...] so that it existed as a real body of work". Minogue and Price subjected songs on Aphrodite to a "Parton Test", as they "knew a song would work if it made sense when sung in the style of Dolly Parton". Shears also contributed to the album, while two of Pallot's collaborations with Minogue were kept. Additional collaborators on the album include Scottish disc jockey Calvin Harris, Swedish disc jockey Sebastian Ingrosso and Belgian musician Pascal Gabriel.

Composition

Billed by her record label Parlophone as her comeback album, Aphrodite is a celebration of Minogue's "dance-floor roots", and is primarily a dance-pop and disco album. Its title alludes to the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. "All the Lovers", one of the last tracks to be recorded for the album, is a "squiggly" electropop-influenced disco song written by Jim Eliot and Mima Stilwell, who had previously collaborated with Minogue on "2 Hearts", the lead single from X. It is similar to Minogue's 2004 single "I Believe in You", but has a "more danceable edge", and features a "gauzy, heartbeat rhythm" and 1980s-stylised synthesiser riffs. The song was met with critical acclaim from music critics and was frequently commended for its production and chorus. The second track "Get Outta My Way" combines electronic music and bubblegum pop with disco elements. The song focuses on a "frustrated and furious" Minogue delivering "wispy" vocals in a form of a warning to her uncaring partner, indicating that she may leave him and start "grinding away with another chap". Its lyrical content is suggestive in nature. The song received generally favourable reviews from music critics and was complimented for its musical composition and subject matter. "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" is a hi-NRG-influenced club song. Receiving mixed critical reviews, its lyrics were criticised for being clichéd although one critic named it a "concert hit waiting to happen." "Closer" takes a darker and more atmospheric approach, featuring "sighing background vocals and spiralling harpsichord-esque synths." Critics felt that it was one of the more interesting and experimental songs of the album.

Although Price said that no ballads were included in the album, critics opined that the downtempo pop song "Everything is Beautiful" was penned like one. "Aphrodite", the title track of the album, is a nineties-influenced dance-pop song which features a "foot-stomping" beat and "military drummed" instrumentation, similar to that of a marching band. Stuart Price likened the song to Janet Jackson for its "'Rhythm Nation'-esque qualities." The song, one of Minogue's two collaborations with Pallot that were kept on the track list, is penned like a dance anthem through which Minogue "brags" about her sexual prowess. It was met with critical acclaim by most music critics, and was declared to be one of the strongest tracks on the album. Minogue wrote the melancholic seventh track "Illusion" with Price. "Better than Today", the first track to be recorded for the album and the second collaboration with Pallot, is a "breezy summertime" pop song with influences of electropop and country music. It was complimented as likeable and a stand-out, but criticised for its monotony.

Rave music acts as a significant influence on "Too Much", a disco and synthpop track written by Minogue, Jake Shears, and Calvin Harris. Critics were divided on the track, with its energy being praised but Harris' production being disapproved of. The dance-rock song "Cupid Boy" finds inspiration from English alternative rock band New Order and features Minogue delivering "lusty" vocals over a retro bass line. Its intro, New Order-influenced bass line, and rock guitar instrumentation positively surprised critics. "Looking for an Angel", one of the first songs Minogue and Price wrote together, is composed of "celestial synth strings" and contains an extended breakdown. Price's production of the song received mixed opinions from critic. The set closes with the electropop track "Can't Beat the Feeling", which is similar to the work of French electronic music duo Daft Punk. Its energetic composition and placement as the closing track was appreciated by critics.

Singles

Four singles were released to promote Aphrodite. "All the Lovers" was released as its lead single in June 2010. Explaining her decision to release it as the lead single, Minogue said that "as I was recording it I knew that "All The Lovers" had to be the first single; it sums up the euphoria of the album perfectly. It gives me goose-bumps, so I'm really excited to hear what everyone thinks of it". Commercially, "All the Lovers" performed well, particularly in Europe. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles chart, where it was later certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 200,000 units. The single also reached the top ten in France, Italy, where it was later certified gold, Scotland, and Spain, where it peaked atop the physical singles chart. In Australia, "All the Lovers" missed peaking inside the top ten by reaching number 13 on the singles chart. In this region, it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 35,000 units. In the United States, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Joseph Kahn and features Minogue singing the song, dressed in a white cobweb-style T-shirt worn over a black bra and knickers, while standing atop a mountain of lingerie-clad couples caressing each other.

"Get Outta My Way" was released as the second single, on 27 September 2010. While it was moderately successful in the United Kingdom, and reached number 14 on the UK Singles chart, it was a commercial disappointment in Australia and only managed to peak at number 69 on the singles chart. In the United States, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The accompanying music video, directed by AlexandLiane, features Minogue, and a number of male models, performing various dance routines wearing a gold chain mini dress, a red silk mini trench and an LBD.

"Better than Today" was released as the third single from the album, on 3 December 2010. Although critics were generally favourable towards the song as a track on the album, some dismissed its release as a single due to its overly sweet-sounding composition. The single was less successful than "All the Lovers" and "Get Outta My Way". It peaked at number 55 on the Australian singles chart, and thus became the second single release from Aphrodite to miss charting inside the top 50. In the United Kingdom, it missed charting inside the top 20 by peaking at number 32 on the UK singles chart. In the United States, the song became the third consecutive single release from the album to peak at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. An old school arcade game-inspired music video was directed for the song by Minogue and her stylist William Baker. Following the poor chart performance of "Get Outta My Way" and "Better than Today", Minogue expressed disappointment in her record label Parlophone, saying:

"It's confusing. I felt a little let down with my releases from Aphrodite. I was caught out like a lot of artists were, with record companies figuring out how to do single releases these days. I remember doing a promo for one of the last singles and it just felt really old-fashioned. I'm pretty computer-savvy, something didn't feel right, but no one said anything to me. You get Britney releasing "Hold It Against Me" and Gaga's "Born This Way" available on iTunes the day you hear it first. That's how it should be. And there's me waiting for a mid-week chart figure like it's 1989."

Although Minogue mentioned that "Better than Today" would be the last single to be released from Aphrodite, "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" was released as the fourth and final single from the album, on 29 May 2011. The single managed to reach the top 50 in Australia, peaking at number 50 on the singles chart. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, thus becoming the fourth single from Aphrodite to peak atop the chart. No official music video for the single was commissioned, although a lyric video for a remixed version of the song by Pete Hammond was released.

Release and promotion

Aphrodite was released in Australia on 2 July 2010 in digital download, standard CD, and vinyl formats. In the United Kingdom, it was released on 5 July 2010. A special "Experience Edition" CD, which contains a 28 page booklet, unseen footage from Minogue's 2009 For You, for Me tour, behind the scenes footage of the promotional photo and video shoots of the album, an exclusive interview, and a previously unreleased bonus track entitled "Mighty Rivers", was also released on the same day. The artwork of the album captures Minogue "transformed into a goddess" as she is dressed in a dark blue, metal-adorned, silk muslin gown, taken from French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier's spring-summer 2010 haute couture collection. Gaultier had previously designed the costumes for Minogue's KylieX2008 and For You, for Me tours. On 6 July, Minogue celebrated the worldwide release of the album with a performance held at the Pacha Club at Ibiza, Spain. It was released in the United States on the same day.

Tour

To promote Aphrodite, Minogue embarked on the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour, beginning in early 2011. The tour was staged by the creative team behind Disneyland Resort's World of Color show, and the budget of the tour was reported to be around $25 million. Concert shows were held at Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and Africa. Minogue's costumes and wardrobe was designed by her frequent collaborators Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, owners of the Italian luxury industry fashion house Dolce and Gabbana. The concert shows were spectacles "loosely based around Greek mythology". The entire tracklist of the album, excluding only the song "Too Much", was included in the setlist of the tour; other songs were taken from Minogue's previous studio albums, such as Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001). The tour was a commercial success, and ranked at number 21 on Pollstar's year-end "Top 25 Worldwide Tours" list, with a total gross of $52.8 million and ticket sales of 527,683 units. A live album of the concert show held at the O2 Arena in London, was released as Aphrodite Les Folies: Live in London, on 7 June 2011.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Aphrodite received an average score of 67 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ben Norman from About.com appreciated Price's production, noting Aphrodite to be more consistent than X. Although the critic mentioned that the songs do not provide the "immediate appeal", like those in X did, he labelled Aphrodite "another knockout hit album" from Minogue and the "Do Not Miss album of 2010". Tim Sendra from AllMusic commended Minogue's choice of collaborators and producers, commenting that the album is the "work of someone who knows exactly what her skills are and who to hire to help showcase them to perfection". He also appreciated the album's cohesion and commercial prospect, and named it "one of her best". The Billboard review of the album complimented Price's "ability to create consistent sound without sacrificing each track's individuality", and termed Aphrodite a "journey cohesive, fun and fitting for a goddess". Ian Wade from BBC Music gave the album an extremely positive review and found it to be an "astonishing return to form" for Minogue. Wade commended her for returning to her roots and becoming the "Kylie of Fever and Light Years"; he concluded the review by calling Aphrodite an "all-killer, flags-aloft amazing triumph" and that "not liking this (album) would be like not being keen on breathing". Nick Levine from Digital Spy felt that it was her best album since Fever and admitted that while Aphrodite isn't "deep", it "sure ain't dumb either", opining that it is meant to be heard for relaxation and enjoyment. Mikael Wood praised the tracks' danceability and concluded that "The diminutive Australian diva is still delivering disco thunder from Down Under". Priya Elan from NME felt that Price was the "perfect choice of musical partner" and complimented him for producing Minogue's "most unified work in ages". Christel Loar from PopMatters found the album similar to Light Years and Fever and commended the production, opining that while "dance pop with this much gloss and unabashed glee is relegated to the realms of guilty pleasure", Aphrodite is "that rare representation of perfect production that is just pleasure, pure and simple". Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone labelled the album Minogue's "finest work since 1997's underrated Impossible Princess". Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph complimented Price for enlisting a "top notch" team of collaborators and termed Aphrodite a "mainstream pop blast". Barry Walters from Spin commended Minogue for returning to her original style of music, saying "Finally even the suits realize that no one wants ersatz hip-hop or Americanized AOR from Australia's ultimate pop tart".

However, many critics were displeased with Minogue's lack of innovation on Aphrodite. Helen Clarke from MusicOMH gave the album an overall positive review and appreciated Minogue for "just what she does, and somehow it works", but did mention that it " fails to quite hit the spot". Jon Parales from The New York Times found the album too similar to the work of Madonna, especially her studio albums Like a Virgin (1984) and Ray of Light (1998), and commented that "No one's asking for reality in this (Minogue's) pop bubble — just a little bit more innovation". Kitty Empire from The Observer enjoyed the album and complimented Price for "lending a sleek cohesion to the whole (album)", but opined that Aphrodite " lacks the depth and chutzpah of some of her rivals' efforts". Slant Magazine critic Sal Cinquemani noted it to be "more stylistically coherent than the abovementioned albums" and predicted that it would "no doubt please longtime fans", but also criticized Price's shallow "antiseptic" production which he felt was not able to complement Minogue's voice.

James Reed from The Boston Globe gave the album a negative review and criticized it for being too dated, commenting that its "release date is 2010, but its freshness seal is clearly stamped 2000 (circa Minogue's Light Years) [sic]". He called the album Minogue's "least interesting work she's made in a decade" and a "letdown", and concluded by saying that "simply being fabulous isn't enough". Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian acknowledged the album's "sharp production", but commented that the album is "only as good as Kylie herself" and criticized it for being uninteresting; she concluded by saying that "Perhaps thinking outside the box – an acoustic album? – is what's needed next". Margaret Wappler from the Los Angeles Times commented on the album's dependency on "old reliable" music and concluded "Our midnight bird (Minogue) has been in the club for a long time, however, and it shows". Sophia Money-Coutts from The National was not impressed with Minogue for bringing "the usual stuff about being completely herself on this album and how happy that has made her" and also criticized Price for not producing anything inventive. The critic was specifically negative towards billing Aphrodite as a comeback similar to Fever, because she felt it lacked new and diverse material from Minogue's previous efforts; she summed up by saying that "Criticising Kylie feels like swearing at the Dalai Lama, but this is a princess that needs a slight prod".

Accolades

In 2010, Aphrodite was nominated for "Best Pop Release" at the ARIA Music Awards, but lost to Sia Furler's We Are Born; Minogue was nominated for "Best Female Artist", but lost to Megan Washington. AllMusic included Aphrodite on their list of "Favorite Pop Albums of 2010" year-end list. Idolator included the album on their list of "10 Out of '10: Idolator's Favorite Albums of the Year" list, with critic Robbie Daw writing that "hooking up with producer Stuart Price turned out to be the perfect way for Kylie to give her already impressive career a fresh jolt" and that "Aphrodite pretty much was my Summer 2010". Minogue finished at number 40 on music website Last.fm's "Best of 2010" list, which is compiled on the basis of amount of "scrobbles" an album gets on the site. At the 2011 Virgin Media Music Awards, Aphrodite was voted the "Best Album" by British music fans. The lead single "All the Lovers" also received an award, being voted "Best Single". At the 2011 Brit Awards, Minogue received her eighth nomination for "Best International Female Solo Artist". In 2015, Aphrodite was ranked tenth on "The 99 Greatest Dance Albums of All Time" by Vice magazine.

Commercial performance

On the chart date of 18 July 2010, Aphrodite debuted and peaked at number two on the Australian Albums chart; it stayed in the position for three weeks. It spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart, and by 2011, Aphrodite had been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 70,000 units.

In the United Kingdom, Aphrodite debuted at number one on UK Albums chart, selling 79,000 copies on the chart date of 17 July 2010. and at number two on the Top Electronic Albums chart. The same feat had been accomplished by Minogue's debut studio album Kylie (1988) during the same week 22 years prior. Aphrodite was Minogue's fourth studio album to peak at number one in the region, after Kylie, Enjoy Yourself (1989), and Fever, and her tenth studio album to chart within the top 10. The album spent one week at number one and a total of 29 weeks in the top 40 of the chart. In April 2011, Aphrodite was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 300,000 units. Minogue became a Guinness World Record-holder for become the female artist with the most consecutive decades with top five albums in the United Kingdom. She also became the first solo artist to have a number one album in four different decades in the United Kingdom, in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

In Austria, the album entered and peaked at number three on the Austrian Albums charts and stayed on the chart for a total of 10 weeks. In the Dutch-speaking Flanders region of Belgium, it entered the Ultratop chart at number six and peaked at number four, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. It was more successful in the French-speaking Wallonia region of the country, where it entered the Ultratop chart at number 11 and peaked at number three, spending a total of 16 weeks on the chart. In Belgium, Aphrodite was certified gold by the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) for sales of 10,000 units. In France, the album entered and peaked at number three on the French Albums chart, and spent a total of 23 weeks on the chart. Similarly, in Germany, it entered and peaked at number three on the German Albums chart, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. In Greece, Aphrodite entered the Greek Albums chart at number 28 and peaked at number one, spending a total of seven weeks on the chart. It was Minogue's first album to chart in the region. In Spain, the album entered the Spanish Albums chart at number three and peaked at number two, spending a total of 37 weeks on the chart and becoming Minogue's highest-charting album in the region. In Switzerland, Aphrodite entered and peaked at number two on the Swiss Albums, spending a total of 13 weeks on the chart.

In Canada, Aphrodite became Minogue's highest-charting album to date by peaking at number eight on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. In the United States, the album peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart, spending a total of three weeks on the chart. It marked Minogue's second-highest-charting album in the region, behind only Fever, which peaked at number three. It also debuted and peaked at number one on the Billboard European Albums chart, and at number two on the Top Electronic Albums chart.

Track listing

Credits for Aphrodite adapted from liner notes.

Les Folies Tour Edition

On 28 June 2011, a three-disc remix collection of Aphrodite, subtitled the Les Folies Tour Edition, was released. It contains remixes of the original songs by various producers such as Pete Hammond, Denzal Park, Muscles, and Bimbo Jones.

Personnel

Credits for Aphrodite adapted from liner notes.