Impossible Remixes

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Impossible Remixes
Kylie Minogue - Impossible Remixes.png
Remix album by
Released8 July 1998 (1998-07-08)
Genre Dance [1]
Length90:34
Label Mushroom
Producer
Kylie Minogue chronology
Impossible Princess
(1997)
Impossible Remixes
(1998)
Mixes
(1998)

Impossible Remixes is the fourth remix album by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue. It was released on 8 July 1998 by Mushroom Records. The album was materialized while on her Intimate and Live Tour (1998) and contains remixes from her sixth studio album Impossible Princess (1997). Originally scheduled for a 1999 release, Mushroom released Impossible Remixes in Australia in July 1998 after releasing the UK counterpart Mixes (1998) earlier than its original date.

Contents

The cover sleeve for the album was shot by British photographer Simon Emmett; Minogue had personally commended the cover sleeve for showing "a lot of heart". [2] Impossible Remixes received negative reviews from music critics, who viewed the release as tedious and the material as repetitive. Impossible Remixes is Minogue's highest charting remix album in her native country, reaching 37 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.

Background and release

In November 1997, Minogue released her sixth studio album Impossible Princess . [3] Then in January 1998, Minogue begun rehearsals on the low-budget tour Intimate and Live. [4] Minogue intended to only perform in Australia, but strong public demand in the United Kingdom prompt Minogue to tour there too. [4] With tickets selling out instantly, more shows were announced in both Australia and the UK. [4] Minogue started the tour in early June 1998 and released "Cowboy Style" as the fourth single from Impossible Princess. [4] Two remix albums were subsequently issued in 1998: Mushroom released Impossible Remixes exclusively in Australia on 8 July, and Deconstruction released Mixes on 3 August in the UK. [5]

The cover sleeve was shot by English photographer Simon Emmett and designed by Andrew Murabito. [6] After completing the shoot, Emmett was asked by Minogue to shoot the sleeve for her single "Cowboy Style". [7] One of the shoot outtakes appeared on Minogue's photo albums including Kylie / Fashion and on her 1997 extended play Other Sides. [2] [8] In the photo book Kylie / Fashion, Emmett commented on the photo shoot: "[Minogue's] natural poise and dynamism transcended all typical props and accessories. We've made great use here of our easy rapport." Minogue commended the photo shoot at the time, saying "So much of what I was doing at this time had a tiny budget so I brought a lot of pieces... It was a great, simple shoot with a lot of heart." [2]

Material

The album features remixes of three singles from Impossible Princess: four remixes of "Breathe", two remixes of "Did It Again" and one remix of "Some Kind of Bliss", along with three remixes of Minogue's promotional single "Too Far". [6] [9] The remixes had all been previously featured in Minogue's CD singles. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Impossible Remixes features one remix that did not appear on Mixes, this being the "Breathe" TNT Club remix, a club commissioned edit of Tee's Freeze Mix. [6] All tracks were co-written by Minogue, with additional song writing assistance by James Dean Bradfield, Dave Ball, Ingo Vauk, Steve Anderson and David Seaman. [6] In 1997, Minogue traveled to Los Angeles, California to re-record her vocals for the "Breathe" remixes. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Impossible Remixes received negative reviews from music critics. Jenny Stanley-Clarke, who wrote the biography Kylie: Naked, felt the release "seemed nothing more than to run out Kylie's contractual obligation for a required third Deconstruction album." She favoured the contributions of "high profiled" DJ's. [15] Brendan Swift from Allmusic awarded the compilation only one-and-a-half stars out of five, making this Minogue's lowest scoring remix album and overall album on the website. [16] In his review, he argued the material was not new and felt the release tedious and the material was repetitive; he viewed the Razor-n-Go Remix of "Did it Again" as an example, despite highlighting it. In his extended review, he explained; [1]

Pint-sized pop diva Kylie Minogue's continued crossover from lightweight pop puppet to respected artist continued with the release of this, a compilation of remixed singles from the Impossible Princess album. [Impossible Remixes] walks an unrelenting line — with ten versions of four songs ("Breathe" clocks in with the highest total at four versions), there's not a lot of room for variation — and the repetition certainly makes for classic club fodder. This is the voice of the new Minogue doing dance as the faded remnants of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman patsy is left well and truly behind — she's now the voice behind the DJs — and there's plenty of their work on this double CD set to sink your teeth into [...] Hardcore Minogue fans with a good pair of dancing shoes may find this gyrating repetition worthwhile; general fans, however, may find the original Impossible Princess more accommodating.

Early pressings of Impossible Remixes helped the album debut at number thirty-seven on the Australian Albums Chart on 26 July 1998, the fourth highest debuting album that week. [17] During its debut week, Minogue's album Impossible Princess also charted at number nine. [18] This became her highest and only remix album to chart in Australia and her second compilation album to chart. The album slipped to number thirty nine the next week, whereas Impossible Princess fell to eleven. [17]

Track listing

Disc one [19]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Too Far" (Brothers in Rhythm mix) Kylie Minogue 10:22
2."Breathe" (TNT Club mix)Minogue, Dave Ball, Ingo Vauk6:45
3."Did It Again" (Trouser Enthusiasts' Goddess of Contortion mix)Minogue, Steve Anderson, Dave Seaman 10:22
4."Breathe" (Tee's Freeze mix)Minogue, Ball, Vauk6:59
5."Some Kind of Bliss" (Quivver mix)Minogue, James Dean Bradfield, Seaman8:40
Total length:43:08
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Too Far" (Junior Vasquez mix)Minogue11:52
2."Did It Again" (Razor-n-Go mix)Minogue, Anderson, Seaman11:21
3."Breathe" (Sash! Club mix)Minogue, Ball, Vauk5:23
4."Too Far" (Brothers in Rhythm dub)Minogue8:37
5."Breathe" (Nalin & Kane remix)Minogue, Ball, Vauk10:13
Total length:47:26

Personnel

All credits and personnel adapted from Impossible Remixes liner notes: [6]

Charts

Chart (1998)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] 37

References

  1. 1 2 3 Swift, Brendan. "Impossible Remixes – Kylie Minogue - Songs, Highlights, Awards and Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Minogue, Kylie (12 November 2012). Kylie / Fashion. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson. p. 55. ISBN   9780500516652. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 Flick, Larry (4 April 1998). "Minogue Makes Mature Turn on deConstruction Set". Billboard . Vol. 110, no. 14. Nielsen Business Media. p. 18. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved 2 March 2013 via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Minogue, Kylie; Baker, William (2002). Kylie: La La La . London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 125. ISBN   0340734396.
  5. "Reaction Sheet: Kylie Minogue 'Too Far'" (Press release). Deconstruction. 21 May 1998. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Minogue, Kylie (8 July 1998). "Impossible Remixes booklet". Impossible Remixes (Double CD remix album). Australia, New Zealand: Mushroom. 74321 587151.
  7. Cowboy Style (CD single liner notes). Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records. 1998. MUSH01812.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Cowboy Style (CD single). Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records. August 1998.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. Minogue, Kylie (1998). "Mixes booklet". Mixes (Double CD remix album). Kylie Minogue. Australia, New Zealand: Deconstruction. 74321 587152.
  10. Minogue, Kylie (September 1997). "Some Kind of Bliss booklet". Some Kind of Bliss (CD single 1). Kylie Minogue. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom: BMG, Deconstruction, Mushroom. p. 1. MUSH01695.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  11. Minogue, Kylie (November 1997). "Did It Again booklet". Did It Again (CD single 1). Kylie Minogue. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom: BMG, Deconstruction, Mushroom. p. 1. 74321 53569 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  12. Minogue, Kylie (November 1997). "Did It Again booklet". Did It Again (CD single 2). Kylie Minogue. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom: BMG, Deconstruction, Mushroom. p. 1. 74321 535702.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  13. Breathe. Deconstruction, BMG, Mushroom (CD 2, single notes). Kylie Minogue. March 1998. MUSH01739.5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. Breathe. Deconstruction, BMG, Mushroom (CD 1, single notes). Kylie Minogue. March 1998. MUSH01739.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. St. Clarke, Jenny (2002). Kylie: Naked. London, United Kingdom: Edury Press. ISBN   978-0091880965.
  16. True, Chris. "Discography – Kylie Minogue - Songs, Highlights, Awards and Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 "Australiancharts.com – Kylie Minogue – Impossible Remixes". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 1998.
  18. Hung, Steffen. "Chart week of 26 July 1998". Australian Chart Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  19. "Impossible Remixes by Kylie Minogue". iTunes Store. 8 September 1998. Retrieved 19 August 2015.