200. “KOOCACHOO” (2000)
Adorable! Some might say it doesn’t work, but if you’re willing to accept a little self-aware kitsch this song is everything. It truly has a perfect chorus, and her vocal choices sell the whole thing.
199. “LOVE IS THE DRUG” (2007)
For being (yawn) another cover for a compilation, Kylie’s take on the Roxy Music classic is a home run. There is so much conviction in her voice, even in her more subtle moments. The arrangement is perfect, and we love this little flirty bi-vantage.
198. “HIGHER” (2010)
Taio Cruz featuring Kylie Minogue
Taio Cruz featuring Kylie on his next single felt like a way bigger deal in 2010 than it does now (oop.) But this was definitely a hit at the time – even though we’ll never get over this Travie McCoy situation (don’t ask!) – and, c’mon it’s a bop.
197. “LOOKING FOR AN ANGEL” (2010)
I didn’t quite get this song until I saw it live, personally. There’s a definite filler-aura around it, but I feel confident that after a few listens the beauty just appears. Delicate euphoria…a micro-dose, if you will.
196. “IT’S NO SECRET” (1988)
Of all 6 debut-LP singles, “It’s No Secret” is maybe the wea..least strong. Still a total bop, with a genius, soaring chorus. I just maintain that if you lined up all Kylie’s songs in order of greatness, this is where it would fall. And that’s why I put it here.
195. “SENSITIZED” (2007)
A nearly-perfect cut from X that was marred by choices. The “Bonnie & Clyde” sample: incredible. The never-ending, piercing-“woo!” motif: painful. The whole thing sounds a little washed out and just a little unfinished, but great chorus, great sultry vocal delivery. It’s hard to ding the song itself, let alone any of Kylie’s parts, just…choices.
194. “STARSTRUCK”
Years & Years featuring Kylie Minogue
Kylie really christened Olly Alexander as her official Gay of the 2020s with back-to-back collabs, this being the first. A lot of times, adding a feature on an existing song can come across copy and paste, but “Starstruck” really doesn’t. The melody takes a second, but no real complaints otherwise. These two just had a much better offering to follow up with.
193. “CAN’T BEAT THE FEELING” (2010)
It didn’t really click why “Can’t Beat The Feeling” worked so much until it was mashed up with “Love At First Sight” on tour. A-ha. But we stan some LAFS-energy! This really is a fittingly exuberant closer for one of her best, Aphrodite.
192. “IF YOU WERE WITH ME NOW” (1991)
Kylie Minogue and Keith Washington
This sparse little ballad (featuring American R&B singer Keith Washington) went on to become Kylie’s first co-written hit. An interesting choice for a single, but I can see how it made sense at the time. “If You Were With Me Now” isn’t her most memorable song some 30 years later, but it had it’s day in the sun.
191. “NEVER SPOKEN” (2002)
The other of two Australian-only “In Your Eyes” b-sides (see #192), “Never Spoken” is a total hidden gem! Another understandable exclusion from the Fever album, sonically speaking, but this deserved so much better! I think this melody line is gorgeous, and it fits her voice incredibly!
190. “CELEBRATE YOU” (2020)
Think about the fact this is Kylie singing to herself, and thus all of us to ourselves, and try not to cry. WE LOVE YOU, MARY!
189. “WHAT YOU WAITING FOR” (2018)
Sigala featuring Kylie Minogue
The Sigala parts are definitely more focused than Kylie’s (rude), but the song itself is successful on the whole. Her aura is made of euphoria and you totally feel it amidst the club beats.
188. “RENDEZVOUS AT SUNSET” (2001)
I’ll probably be saying this in various ways this whole list, but the Fever b-sides/bonus tracks are so good, they could have been their own album! “Rendezvous At Sunset” would have completely fit on the main album, but what it would have replaced is debatable. (Not really, it’s “Dancefloor.”)
187. “NEW YORK CITY” (2019)
From spitting a few lines of an unreleased song in an interview, to getting a new shot at life in concert, to ending up on her literal #1 greatest hits album, Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection – “New York City” has had quite a journey. The Mylo sample is stunning/iconic/etc!
186. “G-HOUSE PROJECT” (2001)
Gerling featuring Kylie Minogue
This super obscure collaboration with fellow Aussies, Gerling, is the club classic that never was! Sounds current 20 years later, yet it’s everything that was early-2000s indie-club music. There’s a ton of Kylie, just the same parts over and over, which it gets dinged for. Definitely a song worth discovering if Club Kylie is your girl!
185. “WORD IS OUT” (1991)
This is another song I will personally go to bat for, but I understand why “Word Is Out” is not considered to be her best. This attempt at new jack swing-lite just doesn’t stick the landing, but taken out of that context it is one full slay of a track! Amazing chorus, amazing arrangement, and something different for her at the time. Definitely sounds better now than it did then, which is bizarre considering how desperate it was to be on trend 30 years ago.
184. “LIMPIDO” (2013)
Laura Pausini and Kylie Minogue
Released as a duet with legendary Italian artist Laura Pausini, this is a fantastic moment in her catalog. Gorgeous song in every way, but the back and forth between Italian and English feels a tiny bit disjointed. The version released in Spanish-speaking markets, “Limpio,” is far more successful in that respect. Really great vocal moments on both versions, though.
183. “10 OUT OF 10” (2023)
Oliver Heldens and Kylie Minogue
Sometimes Kylie’s in-between/preview/teaser singles are some of her best, and I think “10 Out Of 10” would’ve been a perfect one. It almost would deserve to be cut a little slack in that regard. However, the song ended up taking a slot on Tension – where it does fit, tbh – and I’m not quite sure the moment called for it. We love c*nty Kylie, but this one is only like 75% of the way there.
182. “MUSIC’S TOO SAD WITHOUT YOU” (2018)
Kylie Minogue and Jack Savoretti
There’s a level of predictability in this being the closing track on Golden. A gut-wrenching ballad sung alongside Jack Savoretti that really only suffers from the fact that it doesn’t have anywhere to go. A grander build to an actual climax would have put this in the top half for sure.
181. “OCEAN BLUE” (2000)
It perplexes me why I have the impression this is a big fan-favorite… and I’m open to that all being in my head. This simple lullaby of a ballad is b-side status in every way, but it does tactfully edge towards a massive climax that never fully happens. That kind of restraint always gets some bonus points.
180. “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT” (1988)
Before there was “Love At First Sight” there was “Love At First Sight.” Closing out her debut album in epic fashion, this is an exultant bubblegum pop moment that just simply got lost in time.
179. “BITTERSWEET GOODBYE” (2000)
The meaning behind her writing this song is devastating (don’t want to think about it, will cry), but it’s not entirely successful, musically speaking. Still a stunningly sincere, beautiful track.
178. “GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME” (1991)
Ok yes, Kylie absolutely pulls off this Chairmen of the Board hit with flying colors. It was a hit, but hardly one of her most imaginative works. It also completely did not fit with anything else she was doing at the time.
177. “WHISTLE” (2013)
Kylie Minogue and múm
This is one of the more thought-provoking moments in Kylie’s catalog; I mean that in a good way. Another soundtrack moment from a film featuring Kylie (Jack & Diane), but the song does stand out as a singular moment – hardly a throw-away. This is an example of experimentation gone right, but does it really capture her as artist?
176. “PHYSICAL” (2001)
Kylie Minogue is uniquely sanctioned to take on this cover of fellow Aussie Pop Goddess, Olivia Newton-John’s iconic hit. Premiered live on tour, a studio version was released as a bonus track a re-release of Light Years and, this version absolutely kills. Yes, going super-sexy is super-obvious, but the arrangement is great and this is really her wheelhouse, vocally. The way it turns into a duet with herself?
175. “MR. PRESIDENT” (2014)
This is a banger. Not going to defend it at all, because I shouldn’t have to. Don’t tell me this isn’t on your guilty pleasure list, at least.
174. “THROUGH THE YEARS” (1997)
Acting as the penultimate moment on Impossible Princess, “Through The Years” never seems to be on the radar quite the way it should be. It’s a jazz-leaning pseudo-ballad with great vocal production, which makes it sound way less exciting than it is.
173. “ONE LAST KISS” (2018)
This felt like a very necessary moment on Golden. It really drives the country-lite concept home, but without venturing into any excess. Really beautiful melody that speaks for itself.
172. “LIVE AND LEARN” (1991)
What a good song! A little cheesy, lyrically? Ok, but the production is great and the melody is an effortless burst of euphoria.
171. “GIVE IT TO ME” (2001)
This is a very well-produced song that maybe just overthinks itself. It works brilliantly on Fever – wouldn’t be the same album without it – and yet, it’s not necessarily a stand-alone. It’d be interesting to hear it stripped of all the bleeps and bloops and see how it held up. I honestly think it would.
170. “SILENCE” (2011)
This brilliant little b-side, released in the 11th hour of the Aphrodite project, is such a surprising bop. Maybe it lacks a little of that “this is going on the album” polish, but it’s almost better because of it.
169. “BOY” (2001)
This kind of subtlety suits Kylie flawlessly almost all of the time. You can connect some dots between “Boy” and the likes of the immortal “Slow.” Could it have been album worthy? I vote yes, but it’s not unanimous.
168. “MILLION MILES” (2014)
Let’s call a spade a spade, Kiss Me Once is not a perfect album, but it has a hell of a lot of gusto. “Million Miles” is one of the most straightforward moments on the record, which works to its favor in context. Pure, unadulterated, hands-in-the air pop euphoria – might as well be what she calls her autobiography. This would probably have been a bonus track or b-side on another project, but that’s not a read on it.
167. “NOTHING CAN STOP US” (1994)
Kylie’s cover of Saint Etienne’s 90s dance-classic(ish) “Nothing Can Stop Us” is a success. How much it differs from the original… maybe not the point. For a song that was released just a few short years earlier, it’s probably for the best this was kept as a b-side.
166. “PROMISES” (2003)
Electo-chic was the name of the game (mostly) for 2003’s Body Language, and “Promises” completely owns the theme. It’s not quite upbeat enough to dance, not quite laid back enough to sit still; we stan pop awkwardness. So insanely catchy, yet it kind of stays at the same level the whole time.
165. “HEARTSTRINGS” (2010)
The way this deserved to be so much more than just a Japanese bonus track. It’s got this great ethereal, dance-ballad thing going on with slightly EuroPop vocals…it really works. There were definitely some Aphrodite moments this could have been considered over.
164. “DO IT AGAIN” (2008)
It’s a little chaotic, a little aggressive, but hardly a cacophonic mess. Just enough restraint for it to make sense, and it pops off!
163. “HEART BEAT ROCK” (2007)
It took me years to not skip “Heart Beat Rock,” I’ll be honest with you. It definitely felt like it was trying to be something relevant at that time, but stripped of that context, I get it. Performing it as a cheerleader on the X Tour definitely was the right way to steer it.
162. “RIPPIN’ UP THE DISCO” (2007)
A cutting-edge bonus track concept (lol) – you had to go online to redeem it when you bought the physical X CD. I still think this could have been on the actual album, or at least made more widely available. Maybe it was considered a little to “hard” for the ~concept, but it’s aged phenomenally.
161. “BETTER THAN TODAY” (2010)
Debuted as a special treat for her first North American Tour (we had waited!), “Better Than Today” maybe didn’t need to actually end up on Aphrodite. It also maybe didn’t need to get a single release over some much better options on the album. Still, this is quintessential Kylie on every level, and it will absolutely get lodged in your head.
160. “GOOD LIKE THAT” (2001)
Here we are, another Fever bonus track/b-side that deserved better. This song is pure pop bliss! It goes just slightly harder than it needed to for the status it got, so we’re gonna give it their flowers.
159. “SWEET MUSIC” (2003)
“Sweet Music” is the puzzle piece that allows all the songs on Body Language to coexist. It’s got a perfect groove, filtered through an electro lens. It’s one of the most enjoyable standalone listens from the album.
158. “NO MORE RAIN” (2007)
Kylie’s comeback with new music following her the triumphant conclusion of her Showgirl Tours was expected to be introspective, yet she got right back to business (and we loved it.) This was such a great moment because it gave a nod to that emotion, all the while capturing just why she was so eager to get beyond it.
157. “WHERE DOES THE DJ GO?” (2020)
You have to take this song for the tongue-in-cheek bop that it is. Have some damn fun and don’t overthink it.
156. “LET’S GET TO IT” (1991)
The suggestive title track to her fourth studio album isn’t the most scandalous thing you’ve ever heard, but the song is good. It’s laid back, effortlessly early-90s in every way.
155. “100 DEGREES (STILL DISCO TO ME)” (2016)
Kylie Minogue and Dannii Minogue
We all love a Minogue-sister moment. This slightly tweaked version of “100 Degrees” from Kylie Christmas for the other 11 months of the year is an exuberant celebration disco. As a Christmas song, the campiness comes across with with so much more conviction for some reason, though.
154. “TIME WILL PASS YOU BY” (1994)
The big, epic closer to her 1994 self-titled LP, “Time Will Pass You By” feels like finish the album needed. It’s maybe the most straightforward, dance pop moment on the album, which served a purpose beyond the quality of the song itself.
153. “ONE BOY GIRL” (1990)
“Hey yo, Kylie!” I think to some people this song might come across as a joke, but everything about “One Boy Girl” is right. It was 1990! The rap could have been iconic as “Shocked” if this went to radio, and I completely maintain it could have been.
152. “BURNING UP” (2001)
There’s a brief “wow” effect the first couple of times you hear it, but “Burning Up” is a slightly repetitive, one-trick pony if you’re honest about it. Still, the song is a brilliant closer for the Fever album from a title, content, and sonic perspective. It’s a cool track that plays a critical role on her most iconic album, so it gets some flowers.
151. “YOU STILL GET ME HIGH” (2023)
There’s a brilliant timelessness about “You Still Get Me High” that really conjures her decades of experience in pure pop euphoria. And when she takes off, there’s just an endless wave of melody, but it’s so textbook for her it feels like one of Tension’s safer moments.
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