The production is excellent. "Cowboy Style" stands out, with its haunting melodies that sucessfully evoke cowboy imagery without being a country song at all. (It could have almost been called "Cowboy Blues" with the mood it evokes.) "Some Kind Of Bliss" finds Kylie rockin' her hardest, with the Manic Street Preachers guitar-driven sound. "Say Hey" is deep trance, with an underground house sound. "I Don't Need Anyone" is somewhere between all of these, fusing the alterna-rock and alterna-dance sonics of this album, with a sprinkling of sweeping, retro-style strings that are common with Kylie.

But the jewel of the "Impossible Princess" album is "Breathe." This song is one of Kylie Minogue's finest moments as a songwriter: sultry vocals accompanied by a sensous groove that leaves infinite possibilities for remixing (check out Kylie's companion album, "Impossible Remixes," for 4 interpretations of this brilliant track, among others).

The only thing stopping me from giving "Impossible Princess" 5 stars instead of 4 is that -- although I appreciate Kylie's attempt to grow out of dance pop and I respect her experimentation with rock and underground sounds -- the production is not always the best showcase for her vocals. Don't get me wrong: the production values are excellent throughout the album. And Kylie wrote all the songs, so she obviously had a hand in the musical arrangements that accompany them. But occasionally the music drowns out her vocals. Of course, she might have been going for a "wall of sound" effect (particularly on the rocker "Some Kind of Bliss"), but her voice is generally light and gentle, and is showcased most effectively against the electronica of "Say Hey" or the subtle synthesizers of "Breathe."

Overall, a bold songwriting step for Kylie Minogue, and the flip side to the party mood of the high-spirited and catchy "Light Years" album.


Don't Miss This CD- Fan or Not   January 13, 2004
Chad E. Munn (Canton, GA. United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Impossible Princess is Kylie's best work to date. It's perhaps the most personal look into her soul and unfortunately her most overlooked 'pop' album. This isn't anything close to her usually 'insanely' upbeat pop- but I'm not knocking anything she's ever done- I'm a HUGE Kylie fan- but this album is truely incredible. If you are a passing fan or someone who really enjoys and understands music from the soul- Impossible Princess is a group of songs you shouldn't miss out on. Songs like 'Breathe' and 'Too Far' will shock you when you finally understand the woman they're coming from. Kylie's best and most personal album yet.


Sometimes techno, sometimes pop, simply grand.   January 28, 2000
Adam Carroll
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Kylie Minogue's latest album admittedly goes in a few more directions than most albums do. Some people have criticized this, but frankly I didn't notice all that much when I listened - I was too busy grooving to care!

There are some incredible tracks on this CD. The starter, 'Too Far', hits you straight off with a barrage of desperate words and cries for help. Yes, folks, Kylie Minogue is baring her lyrical fangs on this album. She mostly dispenses with rhyme scheme and instead goes for the words with the most meaning. This works well most of the time, with only a few real misses. Aside from 'Too Far', though, songs like 'Did It Again', 'Breathe', and the final closing smash, 'Dreams', are gems in every sense of the word.

The music is a clever brand of electronic pop, sometimes sounding like any dance hall you've ever heard, and sometimes sounding like the Cardigans in its more acoustic moments. It'll suit your mood, whether you feel like dancing or simply nodding your head to the beat. Overall, this is an album well worth the money (and I paid the import price, being a US fan). C'mon people, listen to me when I'm tellin' you - the Impossible Princess has done it again!


Kylie's best and most underrated album   May 13, 2002
Mark Fletcher (Australia)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have been a Kylie fan since I was 7 years old. While I have always liked her music I accepted it was pop music and nothing more. However when Impossible Princess was released I found it lyrically and musically superior to anything she had released in the past, and is still in my opinion the album of her career.
Stand out tracks for me were DID IT AGAIN where she writes about her failures ("Clever Girl, think you are but you think too much"), LIMBO which is a hard edged rock/techno combination, and DRUNK which a house style song combined with amazing piano riffs and layered vocal effects.

The album also features 2 tracks with for the first time were both lyrically and muscially composed by Kylie, the haunting and bizzare track TOO FAR (piano riffs reminicint of the original Halloween score) and SAY HEY the techno ballad featuring cut up vocal samples layered for effect.

Even if you are not a Kylie fan this album will surprise you. Do yourself a favour.