Kylie Minogue is a singer far more popular internationally than in the U.S. Overseas, her albums do incredibly well and she puts on elaborate concerts. Here, she's best known for two songs from 1988 (a cover of "The Loco-motion" and her "I Should Be So Lucky"), plus the brief success of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" in 2001. So it's no surprise that Kylie Hits: DVD Edition, which collects songs and videos from her four most recent albums, was made in Taiwan (and found by me on eBay).Kylie Hits: DVD Edition is both a 14-song album and 13-music-video dvd, both establishing Kylie Minogue as a pop princess. Heavily influenced by disco, Kylie is focused on making feel-good, bouncy music about love and dancing. To that end, she's content with very simple lyrics, from the repetitive ("la la la/la-la la la la"; "You're wow wow wow wow!") to basic self-empowerment ("And did I forget to mention/that I found a new direction/and it leads back to me"). I doubt there'll be a book published of Kylie's lyrics anytime soon -- or in my lifetime -- but her songs are about fun, not thought. And whether falling in love ("Love at First Sight," 2 Hearts"), dumping a boyfriend ("Get Outta My Way"), or just dancing ("Spinning Around"), she's perky and supported by lots of synthesizers. Most of the songs are both catchy and forgettable, enjoyable when playing but lacking any great distinctiveness. And bonus tracks include live versions of the two aforementioned songs from 1988, as well as a remix of "Get Outta My Way" that is both more acoustic and more techno than the original.
As for the music videos, they all feature Kylie showing off both her dancing and her body (along with enough buff males to make her gay fanbase very happy). What's odd is that only about half the music videos here are of the songs on the album. In fairness, many of the different videos are weaker musically (though I would have liked to have the song "Chocolate" on the music portion as well), and given that you'll find amazingly few music videos on the so-called music television networks (damn you, reality tv shows!) Kylie Hits: DVD Edition is probably the only place you'll get to see these videos (except for YouTube).
Kylie Hits: DVD Edition is a good representation of the disco-style pop Kylie Minogue has been releasing over the past decade. While it shows a contentment with simple music about love, sex, and dancing, it's enjoyable enough. As for the music videos, there are far worse ways to spend time that seeing Kylie dance!
Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch
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