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Rating:
Unfortunate, that’s how it should be defined. A single, simple word. Unfortunate.
Impossible Princess was released in 1997, and already the chosen temporal placement for the album's release nurtures an unfair destiny: it coincides with the period following the death of Princess Diana Spencer and Dodi Al-Fayed. The title, controversial if that tragic event comes to mind, was changed to Kylie Minogue, despite the previous release already bearing that name. But the success was scarce and scant: few top-ten placements, few certifications, destined for mental oblivion and removal from the shelves of great achievements. A blow for poor Kylie, who made the serious decision to abandon the sound experimentation applied to this album to dedicate herself to dance floor music, a choice certainly more profitable commercially (just mention Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and Spinning Around to get even a mild idea).
But there was talk of experimentation. What distinguishes this work? A richness and vastness of sounds, of musical styles, united and fused together in a great union: Pop, Hip-Hop, Rock, Electronic, Indie, Trip-Hop, sounds that, in a few tracks, summarize a good part of the experiments that, after a long underground maturation, and not only, were pushing towards the mainstream world. And Mrs. Minogue grabbed the opportunity, perhaps a little too early, anticipating by a few months the electronic-commercial revolution of Ray Of Light, a masterpiece made by Madonna.
The album opens with the unsettling Too Far, where a dark classical-electronic background engages with Kylie’s tone, the same tone that immerses in voluptuous and ecstatic vocal orgasms. An experimental track, an authentic alternation of a pulsating and energetic Trip-Hop rhythm and dark, ambient sounds, all seasoned with the aforementioned kylian orgasms. Electronic, decisive beats, synthesizers, expressions of certain and sure inspiration by Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, just to mention two important names in the underground electronic-Trip-Hop scene, are the perfect ingredients for Say Hey, Jump and Limbo, tracks in which these sounds and Kylie’s seductive voice meet, marry, elevate.
In a more rock context are Through The Years and Breathe, while the final Dreams worthily concludes the dances with an unrepeatable mix of ambient, natural sounds, electronic and Trip-Hop, in a sinusoidal wave of calm, moderate and peaceful moments alternated with stretches of uneasiness and darkness.
Unfortunately, some attempts to open up to more rock sounds did not have noteworthy positive effects: the overly country Cowboy Style and the “Cranberries inspired” (which recalls some melodies by the "Cranberries") Some Kind Of Bliss slightly diminish the work, albeit making it even more heterogeneous.
I am sure that many know and appreciate Minogue for her various dance tracks, for the tasty and sensual gyrations of Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head & co., yet I believe that the undisputed talent of this performer, small (in stature) but with a great and sweet voice, can also be encapsulated within melodies that are less "dance-floor addicted", but not for this reason devoid of appreciations and recognitions.
Kylie Minogue, Impossible Princess
1 Too Far
2 Cowboy Style
3 Some Kind Of Bliss
4 Did It Again
5 Breathe
6 Say Hey
7 Drunk
8 I Don’t Need Anyone
9 Jump
10 Limbo
11 Through The Years
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Too Far (04:43)
Caught up in this house
Trapped my very own self in the snare of my mind
No more space than a slither
What I'd give for a deep breath inside
Where the chaos has my captive
Where there's no exist sign
Where I fuel the stupid fire with these feeling of mine
Lured into this den, it's bitter and I want sweetness again
A taste that I agree with
Get me past these perils and to my eden
Where the silence is a comfort
Where there is no-one else
Where I'll be up from under can uncurl my selfToo many, too much, too hard
Help me
This time I went too far
Too many, too much, too hard
Help me
This time I went too far
Can I smash all of this open
Can I pass the hurt with a little pain
I wanna see all of it crumble and start afresh all over agin
My eyes are wide open
But I can hardly see
Will laughter find a way around these silent tears
Too many, too much, too hard
Help me
This time I went too far
Too many, too much, too hard
Help me
This time I went too far
02 Cowboy Style (04:44)
Shed my skin since you came in,
where do you end and I begin?
awoke my senses yet you stopped time,
you took me to a deeper high,
the essence of my hopes and fears,
creation of my muddled dreams
Cowboy Style,
with a peaceful smile,
you are from the temple won't you stay a while
Found my voice to have my say,
you take me close to far away,
and now I find and now I feel,
the ordinary is surreal,
peace and terror all in one,
my future life has just begun
Cowboy style,
with a peaceful smile,
you are from the temple won't you stay a while (x2)
Won't you stay a while
I am frightened I'm aroused,
I'm enlightened to the now
Cowboy style (x2)
Cowboy style,
with a peaceful smile,
you are from the temple won't you stay a while
03 Some Kind of Bliss (04:13)
Shut my eyes
Feel the colour of you
So get to this elation
So high so fast
Shut my eyes
Feel the colour of you
Succumb to this illusion
So strong so deep
Cos everyday is all there is
In my some kind of bliss
Cos everyday is all there is
In my some kind of bliss
Study my reflection
and let the colours fall
Slip into stillness
And be above it all
Good to be here
Time to be alone
I've found a space where I belong
Not succumb to fear
Cos everyday is all there is
In my some kind of bliss
Cos everyday is all there is
In my some kind of bliss
04 Did It Again (04:22)
Clever girl
Think you are but you think too much
Shut down turn around
Don't like that way anymore
Clever girl
Think you know but you don't know much
Try to make a move
Go to a different door
You know it's all in your head
You better put that business to bed
By your fair hands of design
You met the monster in your mind
You did it again (oh-oh)
You did it again (oh-oh)
Won't you listen to me when I'm telling you
It's no good for you
Clever girl
Think you're right but what's right from wrong
Little miss genius
You make it hard on yourself
Clever girl
You've got it all but you're all messed up
Time now turn around
Move on to something else
You know it's all in your head
You better put that business to bed
What you see nobody sees
It only brings you to your knees
You did it again (oh-oh)
You did it again (oh-oh)
Won't you listen to me when I'm telling you
It's no good for you
05 Breathe (04:38)
Don't blame me just because I am bored,
I'm needy I need to taste it all,
don't down me just because I am quiet,
I'm thinking about it all.
I'm helpless about the way of me,
and I'm thinking,
thinking about it all,
I'm sorting everything inside
I'm looking into space,
this time this void,
I'm making my way through the muddy minutes,
the pull is in my muscle,
the ache is in my bones,
Its hard to be alone
Breathe, breathe,
it won't be long now (x3)
Breathe, breathe
See through me when I put up a fight,
I'd like you to see the things I hide,
go deeper than I will let you know,
I'm frightened but I won't let it show,
I'm helpless about the way of me,
and I'm thinking,
thinking about it all,
I'm sorting everything inside
I'm looking into space,
this time this void,
I'm making my way through the muddy minutes,
the pull is in my muscle,
the ache is in my bones,
and it's hard to be alone
Breathe, breathe,
it won't be long now (x3)
Breathe, breathe
Breathe, breathe,
it won't be long now (x12 to fade out)
07 Drunk (03:59)
I'm suffocated with desire
I need to save me from myself
I ache for great experience
There's a riot in my senses
Time and space and hurt and tears are not enough
Love and light and faith and words are not enough
I'm not happy drunk till I'm drunken
Till you take all of me.....
You put me to the test and I understand
There's more and more and more to know
Don't take me halfway (halfway)
I won't be contented that way
Time lies like my love for you and space grows like my envy for you
Hurt comes like my pain for you and tears pour like my lust for you
Love lies like my hope for you and light falls like my armour for you
Faith stays like my care for you and words wait like my crave for you
I'm not happy till you take all of me
I'm not happy till you take all of me
I'm not happy drunk till I'm drunken
Till you take all of me
I'm not happy waste till I'm wasted
Till you take all of me.....
Time lies like my love for you and space grows like my envy for you
Hurt comes for my pain for you and tears pour like my lust for you
Love lies like I hope for you and light falls like my armour for you
Faith stays like my care for you and words wait like my crave for you....
09 Jump (04:03)
If I'm scared let me loose it
If I'm hungry let me have it
If I'm cold, let my skin rise
If I'm wrong let me learn it
If I'm grubby, let the dirt stay and
If I'm tired, let me shut my eyes
I have dread and fear and light and laughter
I know there is an ever after
I'm eager and ready, it only hurts sometimes
I run to the future and jump
If I'm hurt let me feel it
If I'm sad let the tears flow
If I'm stupid, let me be that way
If I'm bored let me show it and
If I'm bad, let me be it
If I'm sure let me have my say
I have dread and fear and light and laughter
I know there is an ever after
I'm eager and ready, it only hurts sometimes
I run to the future and jump
10 Limbo (04:05)
I see them all smiling
Those all around me
Tend to my wounds and alert my senses
It would be nice
I'm not here
I'm dreaming
Holding on
Time has no meaning
All of it wasted
Smothers me till there's no more air
When will it be that I can breathe again
I'm waiting in the void
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) limbo, limbo
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo)
This notion of needing has held me ransom
And all I can do is avoid my mind
Don't make me speak or hear or look
Because I'm hurting
Help me out
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) limbo, limbo
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) I'm in limbo
Limbo, limbo....
I'm getting tired
I'm getting tired, tired....
Caught in a crossfire
Nobody gets it
I'm finding it hard to contain myself
Take all my trust and faith and hope
Untill I need it once again
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) limbo, limbo
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) limbo, limbo
(Limbo) lost in limbo
(Limbo) limbo, limbo
(Limbo) I'm lost in limbo
(Limbo) I'm in limbo
(Repeat)
Limbo
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By francis
"'Impossible Princess' represents the lowest commercial point of the singer but is certainly her artistic peak, destined never to be matched again."
"The result is certainly disorienting and diametrically opposed to the clean-cut pop of the era ... abounds with dark sounds and electric guitars."
