Rhythm of Love (Kylie Minogue album)

Rhythm of Love was influenced by Minogue's romantic relationship with Michael Hutchence (left), as well as Madonna's (right) 1989 album Like a Prayer.

Minogue relocated to London after filming her final scenes for Neighbours between June and July 1988.[5][6] She tried to steer her public image away from her character Charlene Robinson, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic, whom she felt at that point was merely an "exploitation" to her career.[7] In April 1989, it was announced that Minogue had accepted the lead role of Lola Lovell in her debut feature-film The Delinquents.[8] She believed the role as a rebellious and passionate country girl, who suffers through an abortion during her teenage years and has several love scenes in the film, would establish herself as a serious actress.[7][8] Principal photography of The Delinquents began in May and lasted about two months,[9][10] coinciding with the recording process of her sophomore album Enjoy Yourself.[11] Released in late 1989, both projects received commercial success[12][13] but also mixed reviews from critics, many of whom considered them as failed attempts to differentiate her girl-next-door image.[14][15]

Minogue first met INXS frontman Michael Hutchence at the Countdown awards show in July 1987.[16][17] They started a romantic affair in Hong Kong in September 1989, just days before her first concert tour Disco in Dream opened.[17][18] That December, she broke up with her three-years partner and Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan over the telephone[19][20] and subsequently went to the Australian premiere for The Delinquents with Hutchence, publicly announced their relationship to intense attention.[20] She also lent her voice to "Do They Know It's Christmas?", an all-star ensemble charity single to raise funds for famine in Ethiopia.[20] Produced by SAW,[20] it was the Christmas number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and the ninth biggest-selling single of 1989.[21][22]

As alternative rock and techno entered the musical mainstream, the SAW producers struggled to find their audience. They became more aware of their gay following, who still embraced their pop output—Mike Stock pointed out the strong appeal their "pure pop songs about love, life, and feelings" had towards women and a certain amount of male audience, including gay men.[23][24] The trio also acknowledged Minogue's evolving public image and discussed how to change the emphasis both musically and lyrically in her next album. They decided to subtly move on from her previous material to avoid alienate her fans.[25][26]

Rhythm of Love was recorded for six months in spring and summer of 1990.[27][28] One of their earliest songs was "Better the Devil You Know",[23] which was recorded in three hours in London during the Enjoy Yourself Tour in March.[29][30][31] They tried to adopt a more fitting approach for the current music market.[23] Matt Aitken stated they took many cues from techno music, and felt that "pure pop [songs] had run its course" at the time.[24] Due to Pete Waterman's background as a popular DJ in gay clubs, PWL co-owner David Howells thought that making more club-oriented songs for Minogue was simply "inevitable". Meanwhile, Stock was not familiar with the genre and felt "[alienated] in many respects". They also had to update their rhythm tracks to match the Roland 909 sound, which was popular back then. "We struggled to make it sound more like what everybody else was doing at the time, but we got there in the end", said Aitken.[24] "Step Back in Time" was one of the tracks recorded in late July.[27] In London, the sessions occurred at the PWL Studios.[29]

Rhythm of Love marked a stage where Minogue began to take more control over her workload.[32] She came up with a lot of ideas visually,[26] and took inspirations from American singer Madonna and her 1989 studio album Like a Prayer.[23] Before starting to work on Rhythm of Love, she asked not to record all the tracks with the SAW producers, to which they accepted.[33][27] "She was going to clubs, seeing different people, hearing different things... I knew the artist was going to want to get involved," Pete Waterman recalled.[26] In March, she took a trip to Los Angeles to enlist the help of other music producers from the United States.[34] Those sessions with Keith Cohen, Michael Jay, and Madonna's longtime collaborator Stephen Bray eventually produced four tracks—"The World Still Turns", "One Boy Girl", "Count the Days", and "Rhythm of Love"—all of which credited Minogue as co-writer for the first time.[34][27] Hutchence held a key position to the process—he was with her in the sessions, listened to the rough tapes and gave advice towards her songwriting.[27] "[Hutchence] really does help me and influence me a lot... He encourages me to be myself and go for it", Minogue said.[27] In Los Angeles, the sessions took place at Trax Recording, Ultimo, Ground Control Studio, Scotland Yard, Larrabee Sound, and Saturn Sound.[29]

Rhythm of Love is primarily a dance-pop album, a departure from the bubblegum pop music of its predecessors.[2] It features a more dance-oriented production, with instrumental such as saxophone and guitar.[35][36] Its opening track, "Better the Devil You Know", is a dance-pop song with worldbeat influences which finds Minogue wrestling with a lover's flaws.[37][38] The SAW producers wrote it as a response to her leaving Neighbours, as well as her overexposed romantic relationships with both Donovan and Hutchence.[30][39] Her delivery was compared to Madonna by Joe Sweeney of PopMatters.[38] A disco song about the love for music, "Step Back in Time" is one of a few non-relationship-related tracks by Minogue.[40][41] It pays homage to 1970s disco music by referencing many titles and catchphrases,[37][27] while containing uncredited samples of Bobby Byrd's "Hot Pants – I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming" (1972) and B. T. Express's "Give Up the Funk (Let's Dance)" (1980).[42] Cameron Adams from the Herald Sun described the track as "Motown meets Hi-NRG meets Studio 54."[41]

The rave-infused "What Do I Have To Do" features piano lines, whooshing noises, and built-in rushes.[41][37] The song gained comparisons to Madonna's "Vogue" (1990), Black Box's "Ride on Time" (1989), and Deee-Lite's "Groove is in the Heart" (1990).[41] Lyrically, it finds Minogue trying to get someone to know how much she loves him.[37][40] "Secrets" draws similarities to the earlier work by Olivia Newton-John and Minogue's previous album Enjoy Yourself.[42][37] It shows the singer's vulnerability towards her lover, where she scared her secrets would "force [him] to leave".[35] She sings about falling in love on "Always Find The Time", a SAW-produced upbeat track with incidental cymbal crashes.[37] It samples Mary Jane Girls' 1983 single "Candy Man", which was written and composed by Rick James.[42] Jeremy Mark of Number One noted "The World Still Turns", the album's first song co-written by Minogue, as "the only real attempt at a ballad on the album", even if its pace is "not especially slow and smoochy".[37] On the seventh track, "Shocked", Minogue exclaims how amazed she is to find herself so deep in love. It contains a more sophisticated dance sound with electric guitars against disco beat.[37]

"One Boy Girl" blends rhythmic new jack swing with house elements. It included strong dance beats, as well as a rap conversation between Minogue and American female rapper The Poetess, for which she was uncredited.[37][42] "Things Can Only Get Better" is a Saturday Night Fever-influenced dance song that contains a message about striving to fulfill your dreams.[37] An ode to long-distance relationship, Minogue co-wrote "Count the Days" with Bray. She dedicated it to her relationship with Hutchence, saying "It's obviously difficult for us to match up – we're both so busy."[34][42] Ian Wade from Classic Pop felt that the "jaunty" pop song strongly influenced by Madonna and it "wouldn't have been out of place on True Blue".[43] Jeremy Mark found the merry tune of "Count the Days" is reminiscent of "Everybody" (1983) and the early work of Paula Abdul.[37] He further called the title track, which serves as the album closer, as "an exceedingly Madonna-esque affair", while Ian Wade noted its similarities to Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" (1989).[43]

Minogue performing lead single "Better the Devil You Know" during the Golden Tour (2018-19)

The album's lead single, "Better the Devil You Know", was released on 30 April 1990. The song received positive reviews, with critics noting it as a highlight to the album.[2] Many critics noted the new style of Minogue's direction, not being the same as her previous music. Commercially, the song was successful on the charts peaking inside the top 20 in countries including Australia, Belgium, France, Israel, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, being both certified in Australia and the UK. The music video was directed by Paul Goldman and was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. The music video featured Minogue in very mild sexually suggestive scenes with a black man, who played the role of her lover. It caused some controversy as it presented Minogue in a much more mature image than videos from earlier years. The album's second single, "Step Back in Time", was released on 22 October 1990. Originally, "What Do I Have to Do?" was going to be released as the second single but the decision was changed to "Step Back in Time". This song marks the first time Minogue took her music into the genre of disco. The song peaked inside the top-ten in Australia, UK, Ireland and South Africa.

The album's third single, "What Do I Have to Do", was released on 21 January 1991. The song received very positive reviews from critics, praising the song as being a '90s masterpiece.[44] It peaked at 11 in her native Australia, becoming her first single to miss the top-ten. It peaked at number six in the UK, however. The album's fourth and last single, "Shocked", was released on 20 May 1991. The song was critically acclaimed, with critics noting it as one of Minogue's best works and a career highlight.[45]

"What Do I Have to Do" was originally planned to be the follow-up to "Better the Devil You Know" in late 1990, but was held back after the release of "Step Back in Time" until January 1991, when a newer remix of the song was used for the single version. "I Am the One for You", written by Minogue, Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, was an unused track from these recording sessions which was eventually made available to fans on the Australian-only compilation album Greatest Remix Hits 4 (1998).

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Classic Pop	(favourable)[46]
Digital Spy	[35]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[47]
Entertainment Weekly	(favourable)[48]
Number One	(favourable)[37]
PopMatters	[38]
Select	[40]
Slant	(favourable)[49]
Smash Hits	[1]

Rhythm of Love received general positive reviews.[36][50] In a three-stars out of five review, Chris True of AllMusic considered it to be a "more complete album" than Minogue's previous output, benefited from the songwriting, production and her "confident [vocals]", and termed it her best work during the Stock Aitken Waterman years.[2] Writing for Digital Spy, Nick Levine similarly labeled the album as Minogue best effort despite its uneven nature towards the end. He cited the strong choice for singles as the main reason that made the album "well worth another listen".[35] Jeremy Mark of Number One was impressed by the "catchy" and "memorable" material, praising "Step Back in Time" and "Better the Devil You Know" as two of the singer's finest singles.[37]

In a review for the 2015 reissue of Rhythm of Love, Joe Sweeney of PopMatters felt the album "clears up the mess" from Minogue's first releases by "letting [her] natural charisma and underrated voice" to shine. He commended the producers for "[taking] a big step in the right direction" and rated the album eight-stars out of ten, higher than any of her album under PWL.[38] By contrast, Select's Andrew Harrison was disappointed by her mature appeal to the audience, saying it was "a post-pubescent at least", and criticized the "useless" collaboration with other producers.[40] Marc Andrews from Smash Hits also commented that the album "is not as 'different' as it could have been" with the majority of familiar dance tunes, but found it was "pretty much a cracking pop outing" overall.[1]

In retrospect, Rhythm of Love is considered to be a definitive turning point in Minogue's career.[51] Oliver Hurley from Classic Pop wrote that the album "marks the high-water mark of the singer's entire PWL period" while helping Minogue "[flexing] her compositional skills".[52] In another review from the same publication, Wade noticed it was "certainly contemporaneous to the mood of the new decade", one that "set Minogue up for the rest of her career". He ultimately commented that the album was "an underrated classic that richly deserves its due."[46] In 2018, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine selected the album as Minogue' strongest effort during PWL-era based on the singles choice alone. He acknowleged the producers put Minogue "somewhere near, if not in, the same league as her female chart rivals for the first time."[49] Ernest Macias from Entertainment Weekly cited Rhythm of Love to be the first album that "fully understand the sound and essence of a Minogue song, and her entire career for that matter", one that "spropelled by her angelic vocals, sensual music videos, chic fashion, and distinct dance sound."[48] It was one of Minogue's only three studio albums to receive a four-stars rating from British writer Colin Larkin in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2011), besides Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001), classifying it as "high standard".[47]

Minogue singing Rhythm of Love's second single, "Step Back in Time", during her 2015 Summer Tour

Rhythm of Love was not as much of a commercial success as the previous albums.[36][46] It debuted and peaked at number nine on the UK Albums Chart,[53] becoming her third consecutive top-ten entry and her first studio album not to reach number one.[54] It fell to number sixteen the following week and stayed inside top twenty for a total of five weeks.[54] It returned at number sixty-two in June 1991 and stayed on the chart for three more weeks.[54] It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for selling 100,000 copies on 6 December 1990.[55] In Ireland, it peaked at number two on the album chart on 28 October 1990, as reported by Music & Media.[56]

In her native Australia, the album debuted at number seventeen.[57] It climbed to number thirteen the following week but fell afterwards.[57] When Minogue was promoting her Rhythm of Love Tour, it peaked at number 10 in the week of 10 March 1991, becoming her third top-ten studio album four months after its release.[57][58] Later that year, it was certified platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association for selling 70,000 in the region.[59] In New Zealand, the album only spent a sole week on the charts at number thirty-six.[60] It performed similarly in Sweden, only peaking at number forty-four on the charts there.[61] In Spain, the album reached number twenty-six and stayed in the charts for ten weeks, later being certified gold by the Productores de Música de España for selling 50,000 copies.[62] It peaked at number seventy-six and spent seven weeks on the album chart in Netherland.[63] In France, it peaked at number twenty-five and later became the seventy-ninth best-selling album of the year in the region.[64][65] In Japan, it peaked at number thirty-two on the Oricon Albums Chart and sold 67,000 copies as of 2006.[66][67]

All songs written, produced and arranged by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, except where noted.

Notes[42][43]

• "Step Back in Time" contains uncredited samples of "Hot Pants – I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming", written by James Brown, performed by Bobby Byrd; and "Give Up the Funk (Let's Dance)", written by B. T. Express and Carlos Ward, performed by B. T. Express.
• "Always Find the Time" contains a sample of "Candy Man", written and composed by Rick James, performed by the Mary Jane Girls.
• "One Boy Girl" included guest vocals by American female rapper The Poetess, but was uncredited.

• Australian tour edition

To promote the successful tour of Australia and Japan, a special tour edition was released in Australia on double LP, CD and cassette, containing three bonus tracks in a gold outersleeve. This edition was later released in the UK on CD and cassette, and is commonly referred to as the "Gold edition".

• Australian special edition

Another edition in special packaging was released in Australia only to promote the "Shocked" single. The same CD/cassette as the tour edition was included along with a second CD/cassette of the "Shocked" Australian single.

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[29]

• List of UK top-ten albums in 1990

• Rhythm of Love at Kylie.com (archived from 2008)
• Rhythm of Love at Discogs (list of releases)