X (Kylie Minogue album)
X is the tenth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. EMI Music Japan released it first in Japan on 21 November 2007, before its release in Australia by Warner Music Australia two days later. The album was released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 26 November 2007, and in the United States by Capitol and Astralwerks on 1 April 2008. Work on the album began in July 2006, following Minogue's gradual recovery from breast cancer. After finishing Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour in early 2007, she returned to the studio to complete the album, with the help from many producers including Bloodshy & Avant, Calvin Harris, Greg Kurstin, and Freemasons.
X
21 November 2007
July 2006 – August 2007
- Jonas Jeberg's studio (Copenhagen)
- Magnetic (Ibiza)
- EMI Publishing (London)
- Metropolis (London)
- Olympic (London)
- Sleeper (London)
- Stanley House (London)
- Echo (Los Angeles)
- Murlyn (Stockholm)
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X is a dance-pop and electronica album that explore themes of sex and celebration. Music critics praised the production but were ambivalent towards its consistency and lyrical content. Minogue garnered several nominations for X, including Brit Award for Best International Album and Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. Commercially, X debuted at number one on the Australian Albums Chart and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart. The album reached the top 20 in other countries, including Austria, Germany, Ireland, France, Scotland, and Switzerland.
Five singles were released from X. The lead single, "2 Hearts", peaked inside the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. "Wow" was released in Australia and the UK, while "In My Arms" was issued in Europe. "All I See" and "The One" were released as digital singles: the former to promote the album in the United States and the latter in Europe. Minogue promoted X by performing in the US during March and May 2008, and with the KylieX2008 concert tour, which saw her perform around Europe, Oceania, South America, and Asia. The album has sold over one million copies worldwide.
Background and development[edit]
In 2004, Kylie Minogue released her second major greatest hits album, Ultimate Kylie.[1] The album peaked within the top 10 and reached multi-platinum status in the UK,[2] Ireland,[3] and Australia.[4] In May 2005, while promoting Ultimate Kylie with the Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer.[5] She canceled the remaining concert dates and underwent immediate treatment: she had a partial mastectomy to remove a lump from her left breast and spent the next six months receiving chemotherapy.[6] Her hospitalization and treatment in Melbourne garnered intense media coverage.[7] Following her recovery, Minogue worried about not having sung in some time and whether she could return to performing so soon after her treatment.[8] The resumption of the tour was first announced in June 2006.[9] The rescheduled tour, renamed Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, began in November and travelled to Australia and England.[10]
In July of the same year, Australian concert promoter Michael Gudinski revealed Minogue was in the studio recording new material.[11] She recalled feeling happy to be back in the studio and not under pressure to record an album.[8] At the start of the tour in November, Minogue said she was recording new tracks, and felt more inspired than she had for a long period of time.[12] Once the tour ended in January 2007, she returned to the studio to complete the album, feeling that finalizing it was a personal goal she had set. "I had to go back to the studio just to test myself and to get something off my chest, which I did", Minogue recalled.[8] X was the first album Minogue had consciously prepared for the recording process—she had been engaged in a cycle of record, release, and tour for much of her career.[8] The production took a year and a half to finish, with more than 40 songs recorded.[13] Finishing with X was a great relief to Minogue, who felt she was ready for more.[14]
Themes and vocals[edit]
Critics identified the themes of sex and celebration on X.[91] Minogue described X as a sensual and feel-good pop collection that is "much more of a celebration" than her previous releases.[92] Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe and Ewing highlighted the enthusiastic and celebratory nature throughout the record.[93] About.com's Jax Spike viewed it is "an album meant for partying and having fun", while Petridis noted it relies heavily on the sexual and filled with double-entendres.[94] Minogue exclaims "I'm in love" on the opening track, "2 Hearts".[55] "The One" is a message to a lover, telling him she is the one and wanting him to love her.[53] The track has a reference to Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam in the lyrics: "It's a feeling that I need to know / Close to touch like Michelangelo".[28] Minogue references dancing and sex on "Wow", while telling her man to perform a striptease on "Nu-di-ty".[91]
"Stars", "No More Rain" and "Cosmic" touch upon Minogue's experience following her cancer treatment.[95] On "No More Rain", Minogue wonders about the universe and fantasises about her return to the performing stage.[96] On "Stars", she contemplates the meaning of life, advises the listener not to let a chance of love slip away, and to find joy in everyday life.[97] "Cosmic" has Minogue listing things she wants to do, including writing a song called "Cosmic" and speaking without the interruption.[98] Minogue recalled writing these songs as a mantra for positivity, and a tribute for the support she received from the public during her recovery.[33] Minogue refused to release an album full of material about her cancer treatment, thinking it would be seen as Impossible Princess 2 and be equally critiqued.[99] Several critics commented on the decision to ignore her health struggle and her breakup with French actor Olivier Martinez on X.[100] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters felt the album missed "a chance to say something deeply profound that would reach millions of people". He compared X to Sheryl Crow's Detours (2008), an album which explicitly addressed Crow's cancer struggle and her breakup with Lance Armstrong.[85] O'Connell said Minogue "might well have fancied a bit of fashionable recorded exorcism" similar to Spears' Blackout.[101]
Minogue's high-pitched and light tone of vocals on X attracted comments from several critics. Josh Love of The News & Observer thought her voice can match with the "chirpy buoyancy" of Stefani, Spears and Janet Jackson.[102] O'Connell linked her delivery to the breathy suggestiveness of Marilyn Monroe and the trademark falsetto of André 3000.[101] Critics also noted the hyper treatment of Minogue's voice, which is distorted and sliced-up on tracks like "Speakerphone" and "Nu-di-ty".[103] Petridis and Hubbard felt her delivery through electronic effects was robotic and made her sounds less connected to the music.[104] Sawdey, on the other hand, found Minogue engages the listener with her sex kitten persona despite her limited voice, and compared her robotic delivery on "Speakerphone" favourably to those of Spears during her Blackout (2007) album.[85] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone suggested she made the right choice to allow her vocals to be "processed and thoroughly T-Pained".[105]
Accolades[edit]
Courtney Devores of The Charlotte Observer hailed X as one of the best mainstream dance-pop albums of 2008.[180] The same publication ranked the album as the most underrated dance record of the year.[181] At the 2008 Brit Awards, Minogue was nominated for International Female Solo Artist and Best International Album for X. At the ceremony, she scored her second win in the former category while losing to Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2008) in the latter category.[182] At the 22nd ARIA Music Awards, X garnered two nominations for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Release, ultimately losing both to Gabriella Cilmi's Lessons to Be Learned (2008).[183] For their contribution to the KylieX2008, Frontier Touring Company was nominated for the Helpmann Awards for Best Australian Contemporary Concert in 2009.[184] In the United States, Minogue received a Grammy nomination in the Best Dance/Electronic Album category, her fifth overall.[185] At the ceremony, Minogue's album lost to Daft Punk's Alive 2007 (2007).[186]
Commercial performance[edit]
X debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart with first-week sales of 16,000 copies.[187] It was Minogue's third number-one album in her native Australia, following Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001).[188] The album spent 14 weeks in the top 50,[188] ultimately earning a platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) within the year, for shipments over 70,000 copies.[189] It was the 49th best-selling album of 2007 in Australia.[190] In New Zealand, however, it is Minogue's lowest-charting studio album to date, spending one week at number 38 on the RIANZ Albums Chart.[191] In the United States, the album sold 6,000 units in its first week, compared to sales of 43,000 copies of her previous album Body Language during its release week in 2004.[192] It charted at number 139 on the Billboard 200 and her first entry at number four on the Top Electronic Albums chart.[193] By March 2011, the album had sold 42,000 units in the US.[194]
X debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, selling 82,370 copies in its first week.[195] It was her twelfth top-ten album and her eighth studio album to do so.[151] Within days of its release, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the album platinum on 30 November 2007.[196] It appeared on the UK year-end album chart in 2007 and 2008, at number 51 and number 100, respectively.[197] The album had sold 473,537 copies in the UK by October 2020.[198] X peaked at number six on the Scottish Albums Chart, and number 14 on the Irish Albums chart.[199] It was certified gold by the Irish Recorded Music Association in 2007.[200] In Japan, the album peaked at number 40 on the Oricon Albums Chart and stayed there for 13 weeks.[201]
X peaked at number five on the Billboard European Albums chart, based on its commercial performance in Europe.[202] It ended up being the 64th best-selling album of 2008 in Europe.[203] The album peaked at number nine in Switzerland, her fourth top-10 entry,[204] while reaching the top 20 in Austria,[205] the Czech Republic,[206] Germany,[207] and Hungary.[208] X also entered the top 40 in Netherlands,[209] Spain,[210] Sweden,[211] Denmark[212] and Italy.[213] In Belgium, the album appeared on both regional charts: it peaked at number 26 on the Ultratop Flanders chart, and number 23 on the Wallonia chart.[214][215] It was the 78th best-selling album of 2008 in the region of Wallonia,[216] and was certified gold by Belgian Entertainment Association in 2007.[217] In France, X became Minogue's highest entry of the decade, peaking at number 19.[218] It received the gold certification from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique in December 2007, and appeared on the 2008 year-end chart at number 158.[219][220] As of December 2008, X had sold one million copies worldwide.[221]
Notes