Kylie Minogue is one of the worldās best-loved popstars and sheās enjoyed over 27 years of success in the music industry. Last year she released her 12th studio album Kiss Me Once and commercially it performed disappointingly for Kylie. Despite peaking at number 2 in the UK charts, and topping the charts in her native Australia, Kiss Me Once failed to spawn any hit singles and the album hasnāt matched the kind of sales that Kylie is accustomed to. Last autumn she hit the road for the Kiss Me Once tour, which despite the disappointing performance of the album, was a huge success for her.
Recently Kylie has released Kiss Me Once Live at the SSE Hydro capturing the Glasgow date of her tour. The release comes as a DVD or Blu-ray pack that features two CDs so you can listen to the show whenever you want. As is to be expected from a Kylie show, Kiss Me Once Live is a mixture of classic hits and selections from her latest album. If thereās one thing Kylie knows how to do, itās to give her fans what they want and she never fails to deliver.
Kiss Me Once Live opens with Les Sex, a track from Kiss Me Once, but it doesnāt take long for Kylie to bring out the classics. The popstar has had so many hits over the years that it must be a nightmare for her to pick a set list but with the Kiss Me Once Live song selections she gets it almost right. There are high-energy performances of classics such as Wow, Step Back In Time and Spinning Around. One of the highlights of the show is when Kylie pays homage to her classic music videos for a medley of Enjoy Yourself, Hand On Your Heart, Never Too Late, Got To Be Certain and I Should Be So Lucky.
There are a couple of tracks included here that we could have done without. Sexercize is a bit of a misfire on all fronts for Kylie as she tries to channel her inner Rihanna, and Beautiful is fairly dull (and lacking in Enrique Iglesias, who appears on the album version of the track).
Visually Kiss Me Once Live is one of the more stripped-back Kylie arena tours sheās done. Whilst there is plenty of dancing, the visual spectacle isnāt on par with previous tours such as the Aphrodite tour or even the X tour. Instead the focus is more on the performance and Kylie is such an engaging and mesmerising performer that the lack of spectacle isnāt a huge deal.
The show comes to a close with the double whammy of All The Lovers and Into The Blue. All The Lovers remains one of Kylieās finest singles in recent memory and we can see why she sequenced it next to Into The Blue as the two songs are similar in sound and style.
Extras on the release include Kylieās collaboration with Garibay, Sleepwalker, along with several screen visuals used during the live show.
Kylie Minogue Kiss Me Once Live at the SSE Hydro is a nice momento for fans who went to the shows or those who couldnāt make it. Any Kylie fan will want to have it in their collection and the inclusion of two audio CDs capturing all the songs from the show is a real bonus. Kylie excels as a live performer and even if her new music doesnāt set the charts on fire, sheāll always have a loyal fanbase that wants to see her performing live.