Fever by Kylie Minogue
Fever is the eighth album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 1 October 2001 by Parlophone Records and Mushroom Records, and on 26 February 2002 by Capitol Records. Minogue began work on the album in 2001, working with famous songwriters and producers like Cathy Dennis, Rob Davis, and Tom Nichols, moving into a "sexier" and "groovier" form of dance music. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, with most noting the dance and electric elements on the album and calling it edgier than Light Years. After its release, the album reached number one in Australia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom while peaking within the top twenty-five of other countries, including an unusually high peak for Minogue in the U.S. with number three. The album's first single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head", peaked at number one in fifteen countries, including a number seven on the United States' Billboard Hot 100 and a platinum certification there, becoming Minogue's biggest worldwide hit to date. The second single, "In Your Eyes", reached number one in Australia and number three in the UK, while peaking within the top twenty-five in other countries. The next single was "Love at First Sight", which reached number twenty-three in the US, two in the UK, and three in Australia, while becoming a top forty hit in the rest of the world. The final single was "Come Into My World", peaking at number four in Australia and number eight in the UK, while only managing a number ninety-one in the US. Minogue promoted the album in a series of live performances, including her most expensive tour to date, the KylieFever2002 tour. In the US, the album received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and it sold over 1.1 million copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. Fever also earned Minogue a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song "Come Into My World". To date "Fever" has sold over 8 million copies worldwide.
Kylie Minogue’s <i>Fever</i> is one of the defining albums of early ’00s pop, but it came about, in part, from Minogue finding herself at a crossroads. The Australian actor and singer had explored different aspects of pop since her cover of Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” established her as a dual threat in the late ’80s: She’d gone from fronting plush Stock Aitken Waterman tracks to digging into the ’90s alt boom’s electro side.<br /> In 2000, she released “Spinning Around”, which combined a buoyant synth-disco beat with lyrics that brought self-actualisation to the dance floor. The success of that single—and its attendant album, <i>Light Years</i>—laid the groundwork for 2001’s <i>Fever</i>. With tracks like the Village People-nodding “Your Disco Needs You” and the string-laden “Loveboat”, <i>Light Years</i> felt like a disco dress-up exercise at times. But <i>Fever</i> is both informed by its time and slightly ahead of it, with Minogue asserting herself as a new kind of diva—one who could command a dance floor with the power of a few sultry <i>la-la-la</i>s.<br /> Those cooed syllables made the lead single, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, one of 2001’s biggest songs. Written by pop auteurs Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis, it proved to be an ideal fit for Minogue’s lithe soprano, its understated longing allowing her to flaunt her voice’s versatility and its percolating beat proving to be fertile ground for the then-nascent genre of mash-ups. The rest of <i>Fever</i> has a similar composure. “Love at First Sight”, led by Minogue’s joyous belt, heads back to the disco, then transports everyone inside to the 22nd century; “Come Into My World” is all heavy breathing and pulsing synths, its come-on working for the dance floor and bedroom alike. “Burning Up”, meanwhile, brings acoustic guitars into its spaced-out mix, foreshadowing her country-electro turn on 2018’s <i>Golden</i> while also showcasing her playful side.<br /> Minogue was in her early thirties during the <i>Fever</i> era, and her confidence provided a foil to the hyperactive teen-pop that ruled the charts at the time. She’d already been in the entertainment business for more than a decade by the time it came out, and she’d weathered its slings and arrows with poise and verve. <i>Fever</i> is the sound of Minogue planting her flag in pop’s summit, inviting listeners to a dimly lit, desire-fueled party happening there.
