REVIEW: ‘Disco (Extended Mixes)’ – Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue – “Disco (Extended Mixes)”

Just when you thought Kylie had released enough “Disco“, along comes an extended version of the original, standard twelve track album! The “Disco Extended Mixes” are pretty much that. Extended versions of the first twelve songs with some added beat and new vocals that have previously been unheard. Do we need more “Disco”? The answer is YES, and you can’t say you really love this era in Kylie’s career until you hear this! ‘Throw’ this on and revel in THE ultimate and definitive “Disco” experience.

“Disco Extended” kicks off with the outstanding and reliable “Magic“. The piano fades in as the familiar sounds and sparkles of this almighty Kylie tune lead into an early beat and it keeps going throughout this five and a half minute odyssey with just the right balance of additional instrumental music between verses and choruses to keep you hooked, something that will become apparent as each track seamlessly merges into the next. Perhaps the best way to describe this extended album, it allows each and every track to breathe that much more stylishly and majestically. “Magic” is still, and I am sure will remain, one of Kylie’s very best recordings of all time. The song is just pure magic from beginning to end.

“So do…so do you believe in magic?”

Kylie asks just after the first chorus. YES, oh yes we do! Her vocals that much more lush as she delivers this line.

“Miss A Thing” kicks off without the faded beat and takes us straight into the club and onto the dance floor. This is the first really good example of allowing these longer versions to breathe with gaps between every verse and chorus and the next verse, allowing that true Saturday Night Fever sound to seep in between Kylie’s smooth and often angelic vocal. “Real Groove” follows suit with a keyboard and Kylie’s “real groove, real groove, we got that real groove” to sound in the first verse. Once again, great musical gaps in the build up to the choruses that really make you believe you are back in 1978 and not 2021. “Monday Blues” picks up the pace with its faster, racier beat and disco ‘bleeps’ that much more accentuated and prominent.

Advertisements

The extended “Supernova” is without doubt the strongest and most incredible of all the extended versions of “Disco”. Out of this world! And even before the song opens and builds, you get an entirely different impression and feel for this track. The gaps between each chorus and verse add even more drama than the original album, shorter version does and these prepare for what’s to come in the middle section. Kylie’s vocals already touch the outer stratosphere but here they go way beyond what you have ever heard her take her voice before! It raised all the hair on my arms the first time I heard this extended version and still does with each listen. Without doubt the star of this collection and you will be up with the stars when you hear it!

The extended “Say Something” uses a lot of the live version from Infinite Disco with extended choral verses as well as a double chorus before the mid-section. Kylie’s most gospel sounding song to date also allows you to appreciate the backing sounds and music that are suffocated on the original song with the layers of vocals from Kylie and her choir, thus the majesty of “Say Something” is there to be truly appreciated and respected. “la la la, la la la, la la la”. No, it’s not “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head“, but perhaps Kylie pays a nod to that song as she opens “Last Chance” with a decent intro before we launch into the first verse, something you are given no warning of with the original recording. “Last Chance” is still as infectious as it always has been and more than worthy of commercial release as a single. One can only hope…!

Kylie’s trek into Gloria Estefan territory only makes you want to samba and conga that much more with this five minute long epic extended version of “I Love It”. The horns fade in to announce regally the arrival of Mardia Gras topped up with succulent disco vibes and sounds and rhythms to make you shake and shake and shake like you’ve never partied with Kylie before! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! That ‘extends’ to “Where Does The DJ Go?” as the floor continues to light up c.1977 with this fan favourite, a real heady and faithful journey back in time that would serve as a more than credible cover version, had it not been written by Kylie herself in 2020!

“Would you be, Would you be, Would you be…” faint echoes of Kylie’s question as the sound of the mighty “Dance Floor Darling” fades in to commence where the standard version begins. With over a minute and 20 seconds of additional music and vocals, just bask in the majesty of this album standout and there’s even more of that speeded up surprise towards the end of the tune that still surprises now as “DFD” lifts off mid way and out into disco heaven, where it belongs with the best of them. “Unstoppable” seems to be one of the least discussed or talked about songs on “Disco”, which is a shame as in my opinion, it’s one of the very best songs, and in extended form, the aura and floatiness of this underrated belter are ever more accentuated as the song opens with 70’s magical atmosphere. The bass is killing throughout as are Kylie’s effortless vocals – “reach out your hands, open your heart”, c’mon…show “Unstoppable” the love it truly deserves, and now with nearly five minutes of glory and glam!