Kylie Minogue: we rank her lead singles

In 2007, Kylie released her first album post her battle with cancer and the lead single was an odd choice. ‘2 Hearts’ sounds like Goldfrapp (with a video to match!) and whilst Kylie adds her unique spin, it just didn’t feel like a single choice, let alone lead single. The album ‘X’ was something of a mish-mash of sounds that make you wonder if there were struggles between Kylie and her label as to what the sound should be. Any of the other three singles from the album would’ve made for better lead single choices in my opinion; ‘Wow’, ‘In My Arms’ and ‘The One’.

The lead single from 2014’s ‘Kiss Me Once’ album, tread familiar ground for Kylie with nods sonically to ‘I Believe in You’ and ‘All The Lovers’. It’s a good song, but just didn’t feel like a statement single like many of her other leads that sound unique to everything else in her back catalogue. The video didn’t seem to fit with the theme of the songs lyrics either, which talk of resilience and independence, although Kylie does look great in it!

Many might be surprised to see this one so low and it’s not because it’s not a great pop song, but more to do with the fact that it was more of the same following 1988’s ‘Kylie’ album singles. The video sees Kylie having to carry all the attention in three complimentary dresses in the primary colours of red, blue and yellow; this was due to dancers being held up in transit.

Kylie goes indie with this track co-written and produced by Manic Street Preachers and the lead from her experimental opus ‘Impossible Princess’. It’s a summery guitar-led, pop track that blended two sets of lyrics Kylie had given to James and Sean. Unfortunately, this song has the dubious honour of being Kylie’s first non-Top 20 single in the UK. Maybe fans weren’t ready for Indie Kylie, maybe Princess Diana’s sudden death changed the media landscape or maybe the dark single sleeve imagery didn’t fit the feel of freedom and joy the song and video give?

Turning up the New Jack Swing vibe, ‘Word is Out’ was still pop, but did feel another step towards a more mature sound upon release in 1991 as the lead single from fourth album ‘Let’s Get To It’. The single peaked at 16 in the UK and a different mix was put out in Australia as the single version. The video sees an early cameo for Davina McCall who joined Kylie as they strutted confidently through the streets, flirting with the boys.

Taking it right back to the start and her first UK single and No.1 at that. ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ is as catchy today as back in 1988 and proves its versatility with both dance and torchlight versions throughout the years. Famously written in a hurry by Stock, Aitken and Waterman and recorded in under an hour before Kylie jetted back to Australia.

This single did what it said on the tin! Following the edgier ‘Impossible Princess’, Kylie decided it was time to go out-and-out pop with this slinky affirmation. Originally written by Paula Abdul for her comeback album, Kylie’s team got hold of it and spent time working it into the classic we know today. Some gold hotpants later, and she was back at the top of the UK charts with this lead single from ‘Light Years”.

Who would have thought that during a pandemic Kylie would send her message of love and hope to the cosmos with the 80s tinged ‘Say Something’. Love is indeed love and this track made its way straight into my heart and that of many fans. The lead track from ‘Disco‘ doesn’t actually scream disco, but lyrically couldn’t have been more poignant.

In 2010, Kylie would claim a No.1 album with ‘Aphrodite‘ – meaning she had had a No.1 album in the UK in four consecutive decades: the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s. Lead single ‘All the Lovers’ set the tone for the Goddess of Pop to become the Goddess of Love. The songwriters behind ‘2 Hearts’ came through with a euphoric ode to a lover. It’s the song that named a fan base!

In 2018, Kylie shocked everyone by announcing she had been writing and recording in Nashville and her new album ‘Golden‘ would be country influenced. Some fans were sceptical, but on lead single ‘Dancing’ she showed us just what she meant by ‘Dolly Parton on the dancefloor’. With a message that can be interpreted as going out on a night out or leaving this earth for good, Kylie wants to go out dancing – don’t we all!

In 1990, Kylie was growing up and discovering herself as well as having her eyes opened to new things through then beau Michael Hutchence. SAW wrote ‘Better the Devil You Know’ for her to reflect a more adult pop sound akin to Cathy Dennis and what a bop it remains!

Kylie was enjoying her second coming following the monster success of ‘Fever’ in the early 2000s, but how would she follow that? What none of us expected was a minimalist, sexy, electro song called ‘Slow’. Complete with a video that oozed lazy, sexiness shot at Barcelona’s outdoor Olympic pool. It gave Kylie her first No.1 as a songwriter in the UK.

After four years with SAW, Kylie had outgrown their pure pop sound and was looking to experiment. She signed to cool independent dance label Deconstruction and the first fruits of her labour is the anthemic ‘Confide in Me’. Written by Brothers in Rhythm (who had remixed ‘Finer Feelings’ for single release in 1991) not only did it showcase Kylie’s vocal range, but it had all the cool tastemakers falling over themselves to write about her. The video saw six different Kylie’s in a faux sex line type advert and remains one of her very best.

So many of the songs in this list could have taken the top spot, but ‘Can’t Get You Out of my Head’ is just the perfect pop song. The coming together of the song, the video, the choreography; it all helped Kylie have her biggest selling hit in the UK as well as become a global smash. It sounded futuristic on release in 2001 and still does today, a major factor in the success of parent album ‘Fever‘.

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