Fever

Kylie Minogue Fever US CD album

Fever was released on a wave of publicity as the lead single, "Can't Get You out of My Head," battled on the U.K. charts with the debut effort of Spice diva Victoria Beckham--and it won spectacularly. Kylie Minogue's sound has progressed again since the disco-inspired Light Years, plundering the retro style of post-disco electro from the late 1970s and showing what might have happened if Kraftwerk had produced Donna Summer or Chic. Unlike most pop albums, or indeed pop artists, Fever is geared toward high-energy dance rather than pedestrian "I love lovin' you" ballads. Aside from the aforementioned hit single, another standout is "Give It to Me," a great piece of dance pop that has everything from Britney-style wailings to Basement Jaxx funk wrapped up with a catchy and typically suggestive chorus. The closest Minogue gets to a gentler moment is at the very end with "Burning Up," a breezy guitar progression with a laid-back melody, but it doesn't last long as the need to start dancing again takes hold and Fever breaks into some electro funk, finishing on a definite high. --David Trueman