Skip to main content

20. Dannii Minogue - Neon Nights (2003)

Pop is littered with brothers and sisters, but usually they're involved in the same enterprise: The Kinks, Oasis, Heart, The Beach Boys, Hanson, etc. Very rarely do you see siblings of established artists come out alone and make a go of it. Andy Gibb (younger brother of The Bee Gees) did well with his career, and Janet Jackson hasn't done too poorly for herself, but a more typical story is Solange, Beyonce's sister. What do you mean you haven't heard of her?!

(Of course kids of popular artists are a somewhat different story...witness Nancy Sinatra, Jakob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, Wilson Phillips, et al.)

So Dannii Minogue is Kylie's little sister, and not only is she aiming for similar pop stardom, she's also decided to occupy her sister's electro-disco sex kitten niche. A curious move, and one that makes comparisons unavoidable. So...

1) Is she as hot?
Judging from the plentiful assortment of bedroom shots included in the CD booklet, she's quite attractive. But in the video that accompanies the disc, it's obvious that she isn't as gifted at dancing.

2) Can she sing as well?
Yes, but her voice is less distinctive than Kylie's, except when she sounds like Kylie.

3) Is she as sex-obsessed?
Oh yeah, even more so than Kylie, which is saying something. The aforementioned video features her frolicking with a stripper pole and being molested by ghostly hands. And here are some lyric samples: "it's like I'm dripping," and "I'm caught in the push of your big red love." We'll come back to this topic momentarily.

The album starts off with three killer tracks, Put The Needle On It, Creep, and I Begin To Wonder. All of them have great melodies and bleeps, beats, and bloops that make you want to bust a move. All are easily worthy of her sis. The next few songs muddy it up though. None are bad, but nor are they especially memorable. They are just exercises in bland seduction.

But things really heat up with Vibe On. It's an ode to, yes, her vibrator: "Jump on top it, sit right on it / plug it in gimmie my vibe on, gotta have vibrations." Later, she declares herself a "vibraholic." It's worth noting that Dannii wrote the lyrics herself, and she should be proud. It's not easy to tackle the topic of self-pleasure, but she's added a formidable entry to the canon (see the Misc. Lists section for others). I ask, no demand, that her record company release this as a single. It would go through the roof!

From there, it takes the last three songs (and an overlong bonus track) just to come down.

Ultimately, a Kylie fan could do much worse when they need a break from listening to Light Years or Impossible Princess. It's an excellent record for driving or doing the robot to, and I'm glad to own it. But if Dannii is hoping to blaze territory her sister hasn't she's in the wrong line of work!

Rating: B-
Fave Song: Creep

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REO Speedwagon: R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)

REO Speedwagon got its start in the late 1960s on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. The band grew out of a friendship between a students Neal Doughty (piano/keyboard) and Alan Gratzer (drums). Joining up with a couple of other musicians, they took the name R.E.O. Speedwagon. It wasn't long before they started getting gigs at parties and bars, doing covers of the hits of the day. The band cycled through several players in its first three years, with Gratzer and Doughty as the only constants. One-by-one they added the members that would form the first "official" lineup: singer Terry Luttrell in early 1968, bassist Gregg Philbin later that summer, and guitarist Gary Richrath at the end of 1970. Richrath was a native of Peoria, 90 miles northwest of Champaign, and had essentially stalked the band until they let him join. It was a good move, as he not only an accomplished guitarist, but also a songwriter. With Richrath the band ascended to the n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stuck, or Obsession Cessastion

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...
7 comments
Read more

Rock Bottom: The Beach Boys

The one constant in every established artist's oeuvre is the bad album , the one that's reviled by both fans and critics. Those unlovable albums are the ones this feature, Rock Bottom , is concerned with. Here's how it works: I've consulted three sources, the AllMusic Guide and Rolling Stone (for the critical point-of-view) and Amazon.com (for the fan perspective*). The album with the lowest combined rating from both sources is the one I'll consider the worst. I may not always agree with the choice, and my reviews will reflect that. I'll also offer a considered alternative. Finally, there are some limits. The following types of albums don't count: 1) b-sides or remix compilations, 2) live albums, 3) albums recorded when the band was missing a vital member, and 4) forays into a different genres (i.e. classical). *A note about Amazon.com. I consider this the fan perspective, because most people who choose to review albums on this site are adoring fans of ...
1 comment
Read more