Kylie holds up the disco port

Madonna started it all, but I do not think that even the Material girl envisioned how far the music would go or that there would come a time when disco would be considered old-fashioned. Admit it, the likes of newer artists Rihanna and Lady Gaga have turned dance music on its end. What were initially fun tunes to groove to have been turned into performance art, often innovative and always prone to lots of experimentation.

Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue is often regarded as a Madonna wanna-be. She is known for mostly dance recordings. Strikingly beautiful, she mounts spectacular concerts with techno dazzle that amazes audiences wherever she performs. But while her singing and dancing sisters would often push for what is deemed new or different, Kylie has, save for one or two instances, kept her music in the time-tested mold of disco.

Aphrodite, her eleventh release, is just that, a dance album with no aspiration to be regarded as something more. This is the kind of CD that you put in the machine and leave playing if you want to have a fun time. Nothing serious. Just pounding beats and driving rhythms. Part Europop and part R&B, it harks back to ABBA and KC & the Sunshine Band, the Nolans and of course the Madonna of the Like A Prayer period.

I know, Kylie’s music has often been accused of being shallow, but I say, tell that to the 60 million people who bought copies of her albums all over the world. Besides, just in case you haven’t noticed, dance music, the old disco way is making a comeback. Listen to Christina Aguilera’s or Shakira’s latest and you will find that they have gone club or disco or whatever you call dance music these days. Kylie has been there all along and it is good to see that she has not changed one bit in Aphrodite.

So why not listen to what Kylie has to offer. Her first single All The Lovers has the trendy, sophisticated feel that young people like to have around them. Everything Is Beautiful and Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) are bright sexy spots that radio loves. The cleverly arranged Closer creates a trancelike atmosphere and it you want something truly rousing, there is Aphrodite, where Kylie presents herself as a powerful dance goddess. That is how her fans like her best.

Kylie started out as a child star in Australian television. She branched out into recording with Locomotion in her early 20s and has since then been one of the most popular celebrities and most consistent hitmakers all over the world. Kylie dated the late Michael Hutchence, has an OBE from the Queen of England and is a cancer survivor.

Among her biggest hits are I Should Be So Lucky, Give Me Just A Little More Time, Especially For You, Better The Devil You Know, Confide In Me, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, Come Into My World, I Believe In You, On A Night Like This, Hand On Your Heart, Did It Again and What Kind Of A Fool.

Aphrodite also includes Get Outta My Way, Aphrodite, Illusion, Better Than Today, Too Much, Cupid Boy, Looking For An Angel and Can’t Beat The Feeling.

Billboard’s Top 20 Albums

As for holding the fort elsewhere, it looks like Lady Gaga is the only one left to hold the fort for female acts in the Billboard tally of the week’s top selling albums in the U.S. of A. There is nothing from Aguilera or Miley or any of the other divas. The 20 titles that made the grade in the Top 200 Albums list are the following:

Recovery by Eminem; Korn III Remember Who You Are by Korn; Thank Me Later by Drake; Born Again by the Newsboys; My World 2.0 by Justin Bieber; Symphonicities by Sting; Judge Herrod & The Hung Jury by Jerrod Niemann; Stampede by HellYeah; Maya by M.I.A.; The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack by Various Artists.

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum; Now 34 by Various Artists; The Fame by Lady Gaga; Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty by Big Boi; To The Sea by Jack Johnson; Black & White by The Maine; The Foundation by the Zac Brown Band; Euphoria by Enrique Iglesias; Mojo by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers; and Raymond V Raymond by Usher.