Happy 30th Anniversary to Kylie Minogue’s fourth studio album Let’s Get to It, originally released October 14, 1991.
Australia’s very own “Princess of Pop” has been called many things over the years. But none of these qualifiers have had more substance than legendary. Ok, maybe one other word also encapsulates her artistry: iconic. With a career fast approaching four decades of longevity, a key ingredient to La Minogue’s success has been her ability to never shy away from change. That change has been met with the highest of accolades to the lowest of blows, but through it all, Kylie Minogue reigns supreme.
At the beginning of Minogue’s career, it was abundantly clear that she was part of the pop machine that was intent on churning out hit after hit, something that the masters of that trade—Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman—did with an almost holy grail. SAW’s stable of artists seemed to take turns in hitting the number one spot in the UK and Australia throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, some more successful than others, some we have barely ever heard of again, if at all. The business of show, huh.
Minogue was different. Three albums in and her voice was not only being felt more authentically vocally, but it was also being heard where it really matters: in the writing credits. On the Stock & Waterman produced Let’s Get to It, the singer’s fourth studio album, Minogue casts a firmer hand at writing (a total of six tracks co-written) and it shows. Shaking off the “singing budgie” name tag that blandly and unimaginatively had been applied to her, Minogue emerged less than a year after the success of Rhythm of Love (1990) to again shift gears and experiment with a somewhat different sound on Let’s Get to It.
Early on in Minogue’s career, it didn’t matter which way the singer stepped, criticism was dumped on her and in abundance. She was either too pop/disco, and then when she ventured out of the safety of the pop stratosphere ever so slightly, as she did on Let’s Get to It with genres like New Jack Swing and R&B, many critics were again salivating at the mouth, waiting for the singer to trip and fall. As someone who lived through that period and was already obsessed with her music, in hindsight, much of her criticism was not only unjust, but down and outright cruel.
Spoiler alert: she didn’t fall, not even a trip. Instead, Let’s Get to It, even thirty years later, highlights Minogue’s desire to be embraced as a serious musician and she succeeds.
Four stellar singles were released from the album, including “Word Is Out,” the stunning duet with Keith Washington, “If You Were with Me Now,” the Chairman of the Board cover “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” and “Finer Feelings.” Interestingly, Let’s Get to It didn’t reach the same charting heights as most of the singer’s other albums and whilst two of the aforementioned singles (“If You Were with Me Now” and “Give Me Just a Little More Time”) both entered the top 10, the other two barely cracked the top 20.
Having listened to this album countless times over the last three decades, I have to say that this album, with its enhanced production, more acute personal detail in the writing and broader choice of music genres, really gave way for Minogue to not only experiment, but truly showcase her talents.
The variation of sounds on Let’s Get To It is quite interesting and under most other circumstances may not have worked. With the R&B feel of “Finer Feelings” and the duet with Washington, the first six tracks of the album move between New Jack Swing, R&B and even Hip-Hop on “Too Much of a Good Thing,” with a soulful sound not heard on Minogue’s previous recordings. It was—and still is—beautiful to hear when an artist can tap into something deeper and more challenging, while guiding her vocals into new territories.
Moving past the album’s halfway mark, it almost feels as if Minogue the “serious artist” has proven herself and is now ready to jet off to the club to let off some steam. “Right Here, Right Now” achieves just that: club joy in a thumping house track that epitomizes the early ‘90s club vibe to perfection. On the album closer “I Guess I Like It Like That,” we are taken even deeper into club territory with the sampling of 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready for This” (a monster smash at the time), Freestyle Orchestra’s “Keep on Pumping It Up” and Salt-N-Pepa’s “I Like It Like That.” The two dance tracks are broken up by two co-penned tracks by Minogue, “Live and Learn” and the stunning a cappella “No World Without You.”
Many a critic has said that this album requires a few listens to unleash its charms, but this assessment is a dubious one. The beauty of this album (in hindsight) is that we got to witness “Kylie the Pop Princess” really emerge. Let’s Get to It is where she started to take the reins of her career, experiment and solidify her distinctive musical vision.
Yes, the track listing could be perceived as a little erratic, but this album had months of production and recording time devoted to it, the first time Minogue had been afforded such freedom. The beauty of this album lies in its unabashed ability to experiment with new genres and yet still remain loyal to her fanbase by throwing in a couple of “bangers,” just for the boys.
Let’s Get to It is an underrated gem that deserves much more credit than it ever received. But hey, some of us already knew this, didn’t we?
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