Light Years
Encyclopedia
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue
. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone
and Mushroom Records
. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes".
Light Years received mixed to favourable reviews from music critics, with some appreciating her fresh new pop roots and dance music. Two weeks after debuting at number two on the Australian Albums Chart
, the album reached the top position, making it Minogue's first number-one album in her native Australia. It was later certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA).
had ended, due in part to the relatively unsuccessful commercial turnout of the album Impossible Princess
. The last single from that album "Cowboy Style
" was released only in Australia by Mushroom Records
to coincide with the Intimate and Live Tour. By 1999, Kylie Minogue had signed herself to the label Parlophone
. She began recording songs for her seventh album Light Years, most notably the lead single "Spinning Around
", which became a number one hit and was considered her 'comeback' single.
sound with elements of disco and house music. The opening track and lead single "Spinning Around
" was composed around a disco foundation. It was co-written by American singer Paula Abdul
, who planned on it being her own comeback single. However, Abdul's album never came to fruition so Parlophone attained the song and gave it to Minogue. The lyrics bore a resemblance to Minogue's own career, quite coincidentally considering she had not written the song, nor was it written specifically for her. "On a Night Like This
" was noted for its house and europop sound. Released as the second single, Minogue also performed the song at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. "So Now Goodbye" was written by Minogue and Steve Anderson. It contained a mixture of disco and house music styles.
"Disco Down" showcased a modern dance-pop/house sound, while also embodying synthpop and electronic styles, as did the title track "Light Years". Both songs were considered highlights of the album and were praised as being futuristic.
"Koocachoo" marked a change in the album with its psychedelic pop layout, similar to the tracks "I'm So High" and b-side song "Cover Me With Kisses".
"Loveboat" and "Your Disco Needs You
" were written by Minogue in collaboration with Robbie Williams
and Guy Chambers
. Both songs were composed as a homage to disco music, with the latter single being regarded as a gay anthem
. Williams and Chambers also wrote the pop/rock track "Kids" initially as a solo single for Minogue, however Robbie Williams became quite fond of the song that he instead altered it to be a duet. "Kids" was released in October, 2000 as the second single from Williams' album Sing When You're Winning
and as the third single from Minogue's Light Years.
While the majority of the album's songs were original recordings, Minogue did cover the Barry White
disco song "Under the Influence of Love". Other tracks ranged in sound from the fourth single release "Please Stay
", which differed from the rest of the album as it contained a latin music style, to "Bittersweet Goodbye" which was notable for being the only ballad on the album. "Butterfly
" was also acknowledged as a standout of the album, due to its strong house and techno influences. In the US, the song was remixed and issued to clubs around the country, thus allowing it to peak on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart at number fourteen.
Island. It was reported that Peter's was selected because he wore tight T-shirts and jeans halfway down his Calvin
's and his most extraordinary photographs. His images were told as a "instant iconic piece of art".The cover features a glamorous backdrop of the sky and the sea, with the glimpse of a golden sunset filtering through like a supernatural halo. Kylie then gazed towards some 'heaven'. While in a interview, Peter's had stated;
The album was later released after the single "Spinning Around", and just before On A Night Like This
.
kitsch." He concluded, "Arguably one of the best disco records since the '70s, Light Years is Minogue comfortable with who she is and what she's good at." In a 2011 retrospective review for Digital Spy
, Nick Levine gave the album five out of five stars, describing its sound as "camptastic
", while praising the album itself as "a shiny, sparkly early noughties disco record complete with a Village People
pastiche ('Your Disco Needs You'), a Donna Summer
homage ('Light Years') and even a Barry White
cover ('Under The Influence Of Love'). Along the way there's plenty of catchy dance-pop ('Spinning Around', 'On A Night Like This', 'Butterfly'), a couple of groovy '60s tunes ('Koocachoo', 'I'm So High') and just the one ballad, but it's a lovely one ('Bittersweet Goodbye')."
The NME
rated the album six out of ten and noted that it sees Minogue "dropping her considerable concern for cool and bouncing back to her disco-pop roots", adding that "Light Years is all you need to know about Kylie in less than an hour: fun, perfectly-formed, not too taxing and occasionally annoying." Yahoo! Music
's Gary Crossing, giving Light Years five out of ten stars, referred to the album as "a polished, well-produced yet largely undemanding collection of disco, Hi-NRG
, Ibizan trance
, funk
, Sixties film and TV themes and Latin-flavoured tunes which like the Minogue minx's attire leaves very little to the imagination." He also opined that "[y]ou just get the feeling that if those concerned put as much effort into the songwriting as they did into the glossy album sleeve photo shoot things might have been a whole lot better." Andrew Lynch of entertainment.ie
viewed the album as "inconsequential stuff and as with all Kylie's albums the quality is disappointingly uneven. But the best tracks have an engagingly bouncy quality and taken as a whole this is a much better record than most critics would like to admit."
on 2 August 2000. Three weeks later, the album rose to number one, becoming Minogue's first number-one album in her home country. It spent forty-one weeks in the top fifty, and subsequently received a quadruple platinum accredition from the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for sales in excess of 280,000 copies. In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number eight on the RIANZ Albums Chart
, where it stayed for five weeks altogether. It debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart
for the issue dated 1 October 2000, remaining in the top seventy-five for thirty-one non-consecutive weeks. On 9 February 2001, it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 units. The album charted moderately elsewhere, reaching number sixteen in Hungary, number twenty-four in Finland, number twenty-six in Sweden, number twenty-eight in Switzerland and number thirty-five in Germany. Light Years has sold over three million copies worldwide to date.
" was released in June 2000 as the album's lead single. It marked Minogue's return to mainstream pop music, debuting at number one in Australia and the UK. The video saw Minogue dancing in a packed nightclub and started the tabloids' obsession with her.
"On a Night Like This
" was released in September 2000 and debuted at number one on the Australian and at number two in the UK. The single's release coincided with Minogue's performance at the 2000 Summer Olympics
where she performed the song. The following week, having already dropped from the top spot, the song returned to number one in Australia.
In October 2000, "Kids", a duet with Robbie Williams
, was released from his fourth studio album, Sing When You're Winning
. The song, written by Williams and Guy Chambers
, reached number two in the UK and number five in Australia. A different version of the song with a spoken fadeout rap by Williams appeared on his album.
"Please Stay
" was released in December 2000 and reached number ten in the UK and number fifteen in Australia. The single's B-side "Santa Baby
" was released to UK radio as a promo single during the Christmas period. Minogue performed "Please Stay" on the British music show Top of the Pops
.
"Your Disco Needs You
"—another song written by Williams and Chambers for the album—became an underground hit when it was released as a single in Germany and Australia. In Australia it was the first of a number of subsequent limited edition single releases, with only 10,000 copies pressed, which allowed the single to debut at number twenty, before dropping to number forty-five and eventually falling out of the chart completely.
The promotional single "Butterfly
" proved popular in the nightclubs. After a remix in 2001, the track was issued in the US where it was a hit on the Billboard
Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song also appears as a bonus track on the US edition of Minogue's subsequent studio album Fever
.
" tour, a special Tour Package was released, with a second CD featuring various remixes. The special edition album was released on 5 March 2001. For the Australian edition, Minogue's remake of Olivia Newton-John
's "Physical" was included on the second CD, following popular performances of the song on the tour.
Australian Tour Package bonus CD
Note: The German, Spanish and Japanese versions of the album contain the track "Your Disco Needs You" with the French interval translated into their respective languages. On some versions (including the UK, German, Canadian and Spanish versions), the hidden track
"Password" is included in the pregap
portion of the CD, accessible by either rewinding past the beginning of the CD, or continuing past the end.
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
and Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes".
Light Years received mixed to favourable reviews from music critics, with some appreciating her fresh new pop roots and dance music. Two weeks after debuting at number two on the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, the album reached the top position, making it Minogue's first number-one album in her native Australia. It was later certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA).
Background
In 1998, Minogue's contract with DeconstructionDeconstruction Records
Deconstruction Records is a record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst in the United Kingdom. Distribution was via label deals with Parlophone Records, for acts such as K-Klass and Bassheads), and RCA Records for everybody else....
had ended, due in part to the relatively unsuccessful commercial turnout of the album Impossible Princess
Impossible Princess
Impossible Princess is the sixth studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released in Japan on 1 November 1997 by BMG Records, Australia on 12 January 1998 by Mushroom Records and 23 March 1998 in Europe by Deconstruction Records to mixed reviews. The album was produced by...
. The last single from that album "Cowboy Style
Cowboy Style
"Cowboy Style" is a song by Kylie Minogue, from her 1997 album Impossible Princess, released as a single in August 1998. The song was released by Mushroom only in Australia because the record deal with Deconstruction for the UK and Europe ended after her previous single "Breathe".The song was...
" was released only in Australia by Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
to coincide with the Intimate and Live Tour. By 1999, Kylie Minogue had signed herself to the label Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
. She began recording songs for her seventh album Light Years, most notably the lead single "Spinning Around
Spinning Around
"Spinning Around" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi, and Paula Abdul, and produced by Mike Spencer. It was originally intended for Paula Abdul's "comeback" album. However, as the album never came into fruition, it...
", which became a number one hit and was considered her 'comeback' single.
Composition
The album combined a fresh dance-popDance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
sound with elements of disco and house music. The opening track and lead single "Spinning Around
Spinning Around
"Spinning Around" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi, and Paula Abdul, and produced by Mike Spencer. It was originally intended for Paula Abdul's "comeback" album. However, as the album never came into fruition, it...
" was composed around a disco foundation. It was co-written by American singer Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
, who planned on it being her own comeback single. However, Abdul's album never came to fruition so Parlophone attained the song and gave it to Minogue. The lyrics bore a resemblance to Minogue's own career, quite coincidentally considering she had not written the song, nor was it written specifically for her. "On a Night Like This
On a Night like This
"On a Night Like This" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue, taken from her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was released as a CD Single on 25 September 2000, and was released digitally after the physical release date...
" was noted for its house and europop sound. Released as the second single, Minogue also performed the song at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. "So Now Goodbye" was written by Minogue and Steve Anderson. It contained a mixture of disco and house music styles.
"Disco Down" showcased a modern dance-pop/house sound, while also embodying synthpop and electronic styles, as did the title track "Light Years". Both songs were considered highlights of the album and were praised as being futuristic.
"Koocachoo" marked a change in the album with its psychedelic pop layout, similar to the tracks "I'm So High" and b-side song "Cover Me With Kisses".
"Loveboat" and "Your Disco Needs You
Your Disco Needs You
"Your Disco Needs You" is a disco song written by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams for Minogue's seventh album Light Years...
" were written by Minogue in collaboration with Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
and Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
. Both songs were composed as a homage to disco music, with the latter single being regarded as a gay anthem
Gay anthem
A gay anthem is a song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the LGBT community; usually with gay men. The lyrics of gay anthems are often marked with hope against the odds, pride, unity, or defiance...
. Williams and Chambers also wrote the pop/rock track "Kids" initially as a solo single for Minogue, however Robbie Williams became quite fond of the song that he instead altered it to be a duet. "Kids" was released in October, 2000 as the second single from Williams' album Sing When You're Winning
Sing When You're Winning
Sing When You're Winning is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams.-Background:Following the release of his last album, I've Been Expecting You in 1998, and in the middle of promotion and touring in 1999, Robbie found time to start the work on what would be his third...
and as the third single from Minogue's Light Years.
While the majority of the album's songs were original recordings, Minogue did cover the Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
disco song "Under the Influence of Love". Other tracks ranged in sound from the fourth single release "Please Stay
Please Stay
"Please Stay" is a song by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, for her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was written by Minogue, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher and John Themis, while it was produced by Stannard and Gallagher. The song was chosen as the fourth single off...
", which differed from the rest of the album as it contained a latin music style, to "Bittersweet Goodbye" which was notable for being the only ballad on the album. "Butterfly
Butterfly (Kylie Minogue song)
"Butterfly" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was written by Minogue and Steven Anderson and was produced by DJ Mark Picchiotti...
" was also acknowledged as a standout of the album, due to its strong house and techno influences. In the US, the song was remixed and issued to clubs around the country, thus allowing it to peak on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart at number fourteen.
Title and artwork
Vincent Peters, out of other designers and photographers, was selected to photograph Minogue for the cover of Light Years. The shoot was taken place out side a villa at the far north of IbizaIbiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
Island. It was reported that Peter's was selected because he wore tight T-shirts and jeans halfway down his Calvin
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
's and his most extraordinary photographs. His images were told as a "instant iconic piece of art".The cover features a glamorous backdrop of the sky and the sea, with the glimpse of a golden sunset filtering through like a supernatural halo. Kylie then gazed towards some 'heaven'. While in a interview, Peter's had stated;
The great thing about Kylie is that she differs from other celebrities. There is a separation between how celebrities perceive themselves and what the public wants to see. Most are concerned with reproducing a certain logo or caricature of themselves. They want to cling on to an image developed years ago which makes things difficult because there is no room to take a picture, you aren't really forced to improvise which is when the best things happen. Every photographer has their own very personal vision of her, and she lets them have it. That is the big difference with Kylie, that she walks in and says 'This is me, what are you going to do with it.'
The album was later released after the single "Spinning Around", and just before On A Night Like This
On a Night like This
"On a Night Like This" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue, taken from her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was released as a CD Single on 25 September 2000, and was released digitally after the physical release date...
.
Critical reception
Light Years received positive to mixed reviews from music critics. Chris True of Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars and commented that it is "not just another Minogue dance-pop record, but a great collection of disco stylings and EuropopEuropop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
kitsch." He concluded, "Arguably one of the best disco records since the '70s, Light Years is Minogue comfortable with who she is and what she's good at." In a 2011 retrospective review for Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, Nick Levine gave the album five out of five stars, describing its sound as "camptastic
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
", while praising the album itself as "a shiny, sparkly early noughties disco record complete with a Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
pastiche ('Your Disco Needs You'), a Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
homage ('Light Years') and even a Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
cover ('Under The Influence Of Love'). Along the way there's plenty of catchy dance-pop ('Spinning Around', 'On A Night Like This', 'Butterfly'), a couple of groovy '60s tunes ('Koocachoo', 'I'm So High') and just the one ballad, but it's a lovely one ('Bittersweet Goodbye')."
The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
rated the album six out of ten and noted that it sees Minogue "dropping her considerable concern for cool and bouncing back to her disco-pop roots", adding that "Light Years is all you need to know about Kylie in less than an hour: fun, perfectly-formed, not too taxing and occasionally annoying." Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's Gary Crossing, giving Light Years five out of ten stars, referred to the album as "a polished, well-produced yet largely undemanding collection of disco, Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
, Ibizan trance
Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat or either Balearic House and Balearic Trance is an eclectic blend of DJed dance music that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music that was popular into the mid-1990s...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, Sixties film and TV themes and Latin-flavoured tunes which like the Minogue minx's attire leaves very little to the imagination." He also opined that "[y]ou just get the feeling that if those concerned put as much effort into the songwriting as they did into the glossy album sleeve photo shoot things might have been a whole lot better." Andrew Lynch of entertainment.ie
Entertainment.ie
entertainment.ie is a Dublin-based Irish website which provides extensive cinema, TV, live music, theatre, comedy, exhibition and festival listings for free, as well as celebrity gossip, music and movie news, movie and DVD reviews, CD reviews and up-to-date lottery results.The site was developed in...
viewed the album as "inconsequential stuff and as with all Kylie's albums the quality is disappointingly uneven. But the best tracks have an engagingly bouncy quality and taken as a whole this is a much better record than most critics would like to admit."
Chart performance
In Australia, Light Years debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums ChartARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
on 2 August 2000. Three weeks later, the album rose to number one, becoming Minogue's first number-one album in her home country. It spent forty-one weeks in the top fifty, and subsequently received a quadruple platinum accredition from the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) for sales in excess of 280,000 copies. In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number eight on the RIANZ Albums Chart
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
, where it stayed for five weeks altogether. It debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
for the issue dated 1 October 2000, remaining in the top seventy-five for thirty-one non-consecutive weeks. On 9 February 2001, it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 units. The album charted moderately elsewhere, reaching number sixteen in Hungary, number twenty-four in Finland, number twenty-six in Sweden, number twenty-eight in Switzerland and number thirty-five in Germany. Light Years has sold over three million copies worldwide to date.
Singles
"Spinning AroundSpinning Around
"Spinning Around" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was written by Ira Shickman, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi, and Paula Abdul, and produced by Mike Spencer. It was originally intended for Paula Abdul's "comeback" album. However, as the album never came into fruition, it...
" was released in June 2000 as the album's lead single. It marked Minogue's return to mainstream pop music, debuting at number one in Australia and the UK. The video saw Minogue dancing in a packed nightclub and started the tabloids' obsession with her.
"On a Night Like This
On a Night like This
"On a Night Like This" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue, taken from her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was released as a CD Single on 25 September 2000, and was released digitally after the physical release date...
" was released in September 2000 and debuted at number one on the Australian and at number two in the UK. The single's release coincided with Minogue's performance at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
where she performed the song. The following week, having already dropped from the top spot, the song returned to number one in Australia.
In October 2000, "Kids", a duet with Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, was released from his fourth studio album, Sing When You're Winning
Sing When You're Winning
Sing When You're Winning is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams.-Background:Following the release of his last album, I've Been Expecting You in 1998, and in the middle of promotion and touring in 1999, Robbie found time to start the work on what would be his third...
. The song, written by Williams and Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
, reached number two in the UK and number five in Australia. A different version of the song with a spoken fadeout rap by Williams appeared on his album.
"Please Stay
Please Stay
"Please Stay" is a song by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, for her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was written by Minogue, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher and John Themis, while it was produced by Stannard and Gallagher. The song was chosen as the fourth single off...
" was released in December 2000 and reached number ten in the UK and number fifteen in Australia. The single's B-side "Santa Baby
Santa Baby
"Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a...
" was released to UK radio as a promo single during the Christmas period. Minogue performed "Please Stay" on the British music show Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
.
"Your Disco Needs You
Your Disco Needs You
"Your Disco Needs You" is a disco song written by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams for Minogue's seventh album Light Years...
"—another song written by Williams and Chambers for the album—became an underground hit when it was released as a single in Germany and Australia. In Australia it was the first of a number of subsequent limited edition single releases, with only 10,000 copies pressed, which allowed the single to debut at number twenty, before dropping to number forty-five and eventually falling out of the chart completely.
The promotional single "Butterfly
Butterfly (Kylie Minogue song)
"Butterfly" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her seventh studio album Light Years . The song was written by Minogue and Steven Anderson and was produced by DJ Mark Picchiotti...
" proved popular in the nightclubs. After a remix in 2001, the track was issued in the US where it was a hit on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song also appears as a bonus track on the US edition of Minogue's subsequent studio album Fever
Fever (Kylie Minogue album)
Fever is the eighth album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released 1 October 2001 by Parlophone Mushroom Records, and 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...
.
Reissue/Tour edition
Due to the success of the album and the "On A Night Like ThisOn A Night Like This Tour
On a Night Like This Tour is a Kylie Minogue concert tour in support of her seventh studio album Light Years that began in March 2001. Having hit the headlines around the globe for her hugely successful performance at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and having subsequently performed again at the...
" tour, a special Tour Package was released, with a second CD featuring various remixes. The special edition album was released on 5 March 2001. For the Australian edition, Minogue's remake of Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
's "Physical" was included on the second CD, following popular performances of the song on the tour.
Track listing
Reissue/Tour edition bonus CD- "On a Night Like This" (Rob Searle Mix)
- "On a Night Like This" (Bini & MartiniBini & MartiniBini & Martini is a duo composed of house music producers and DJs Gianni Bini and Paolo Martini, from Italy. They are known under a variety of pseudonyms, including House of Glass, Eclipse, The Goodfellas and The Groovelines.-Career:...
Club Mix) - "On a Night Like This" (Bini & Martini Dub Mix)
- "Please Stay" (Hatiras Dreamy Dub)
- "Please Stay" (7th District Radio Mix)
- "Please Stay" (Metro Mix)
- "Please Stay" (7th District Club Flava Mix)
- "Butterfly" (Sandstorm Dub)
- "Your Disco Needs You" (Casino Radio Mix)
Australian Tour Package bonus CD
- "Spinning Around" (Club Mental Mix)
- "Spinning Around" (Sharp Vocal)
- "On a Night Like This" (Rob Searle Mix)
- "On a Night Like This" (Bini & Martini Club Mix)
- "On a Night Like This" (Bini & Martini Dub Mix)
- "Please Stay" (Hatiras Dreamy Dub)
- "Please Stay" (Metro Mix)
- "Please Stay" (7th District Club Flava Mix)
- "Butterfly" (Sandstorm Dub)
- "Your Disco Needs You" (Casino Radio Mix)
- "PhysicalPhysical (Olivia Newton-John song)"Physical" is a song by Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John, released in September 1981. The song was an immediate success, shipping 2 million copies in the United States, being certified Platinum, and spending 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately becoming Newton-John's...
" (Australia only)
Note: The German, Spanish and Japanese versions of the album contain the track "Your Disco Needs You" with the French interval translated into their respective languages. On some versions (including the UK, German, Canadian and Spanish versions), the hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
"Password" is included in the pregap
Pregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
portion of the CD, accessible by either rewinding past the beginning of the CD, or continuing past the end.
Personnel
- Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
– lead vocals, backing vocals - Tracie Ackerman – backing vocals
- William Baker – stylist
- Big G. – guitar, producer, engineer, mixing
- Adam Brown – engineer, mixing
- Winston Blissett – bass
- Jim Brumby – digital editing
- Andy Caine – backing vocals
- Tom Carlisle – engineer, mixing
- Guy ChambersGuy ChambersGuy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
– guitar, producer - Dave Clews – keyboards, programming
- Pete Davis – digital editing
- Johnny Douglas – producer, beats
- Rick Driscoll – backing vocals
- Andy Duncan – percussion, drum programming
- Lance Ellington – backing vocals
- Richard Flack – digital editing
- Sergio Flores – re-production
- Julian GallagherJulian GallagherJulian Gallagher is a British songwriter and record producer, known for helping Kylie Minogue on her 2001 album, Fever. He also co-wrote songs with Gabrielle on her 2007 album, Always.-External links:**Paul Nash, , Sound on Sound, December 2001...
– producer - Clive Griffith – backing vocals
- Simon HaleSimon Hale-Life:Hale was born in Birmingham, England in 1964, being dually raised there and in South Manchester before moving to London, where he studied performance and composition at Goldsmiths College, University of London between 1982-85...
– keyboards, conductor, string arrangements - Pete Howarth – backing vocals
- Ash Howes – mixing, recording
- Sylvia Mason James – backing vocals
- Katie Kissoon – backing vocals
- Steve Lewinson – bass
- Savvas Lossifidis – engineer
- Will Malone – arranger, conductor
- Dave McCracken – digital editing
- Steve McNichol – programming
- Paul Mertens – flute
- Mick Mullins – backing vocals
- Sharon Murphy – backing vocals
- David Naughton – assistant engineer
- Tessa NilesTessa NilesTessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of artists.-Early life and career:Born in Kent, Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979...
– backing vocals - Gary Nuttall – backing vocals
- Vincent Peters – photographer
- Mark PicchiottiMark PicchiottiMark Picchiotti is a club DJ, producer and songwriter based out of Chicago, Illinois.Picchiotti has been active in the dance music scene for over 20 years, establishing his reputation as a house, electronica and pop music DJ at Chicago clubs such as Shelter and Crobar. He has remixed songs by a...
– producer, mixing - Steve Power – keyboards, producer, engineer, mixing
- Alan Ross – guitar
- Resin Rubbers – strings
- Dan Russell – backing vocals
- Jonn Savannah – backing vocals
- Dave Sears – arranger
- Craig J. Snider – keyboards
- Phil SpaldingPhil SpaldingPhilip Spalding also known as Phil Spalding, is an English bass player. He is best known as a session musician and player of Fender Precision Bass guitars...
– bass, fuzz bass - Mike SpencerMike SpencerMike Spencer is an English record producer.Mike Spencer is primarily known for his production work with successful commercial pop acts such as Jamiroquai, Kylie Minogue and Newton Faulkner....
– production concept - Graham Stack – producer, mixing
- Richard Stannard – producer
- Miriam StockleyMiriam StockleyMiriam Stockley is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music in her home country. Her unique vocalese style gained international acclaim when Karl Jenkins' launched the "Adiemus" project with "Songs of Sanctuary", featuring...
– backing vocals - Ren Swan – engineer, mixing
- Alvin Sweeney – assistant
- Mark Taylor – producer, mixing
- Neil Taylor – guitar
- John Themis – guitar
- Paul Turner – guitar, bass
- Tony Walthers – backing vocals
- Carl WayneCarl WayneCarl Wayne was a British singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead vocalist of Birmingham rock group The Move during the 1960s.-Early days:...
– backing vocals - Paul "Tubbs" Williams – backing vocals
- Richard Woodcraft – engineer
- Claire Worrall – backing vocals
- Gavyn WrightGavyn WrightGavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra, best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions as well as numerous TV and movie soundtracks Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London...
– conductor
Weekly charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders) |
44 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
71 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 24 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
50 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
35 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
16 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
13 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
8 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
25 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
28 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
4× Platinum |
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 17 |
| Chart (2001) | Position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 17 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–09) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 69 |