Golden
| Kylie MinogueGolden
Golden is the fourteenth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 6 April 2018 by BMG Rights Management. A large portion of the record was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, where she found new inspiration with its music, and also recorded some material in London and Los Angeles, California. The album was co-produced by Minogue alongside a variety of producers including Ash Howes, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Sky Adams, Alex Smith, and Mark Taylor, among others. Each track was co-written by Minogue, making it her first album since Impossible Princess (1997) in which this was the case. Musically, Golden is a pop record that is heavily influenced by country and dance music. Described by Minogue as one of her most personal efforts, the lyrics encompass a wide range of themes including failed relationships, death, dancing and having fun. Upon its release, Golden received generally positive reviews from music critics, a majority of whom commended Minogue's honesty and personality through her songwriting skills, as well as its catchiness. However, critics were divided by the composition and her experimentation with country music. Commercially, the album entered the top twenty in several markets, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; it became the singer's first album to peak at number one in both her native Australia and the United Kingdom since Fever in 2001. - WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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Pop Matters
If they follow that muse awhile, who knows what they’ll come back with next time. Oh, who am I kidding, they haven't run out of high-school clichés yet.
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American Songwriter
Golden is ultimately a shining example of what Lady Antebellum does best. With its seamless mingling of poignant ballads and upbeat tunes, It’s a stone cold winner from country music’s top trio.
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Taste of Country
There's a new maturity on this record that, if allowed to progress, promises something even bigger with the next album. In the meantime, one is left with a project with few -- if any -- skip-ahead tracks and more than a handful that could make a 'Greatest Hits' CD.
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All Music
You could call this hubris but mostly it's just baffling, considering that Lady Antebellum go out of their way to not make waves; they may represent the safeness of their time but they're in no way paving the way toward the future, and the suggestion that they see themselves this way goes a long way toward explaining the tricks celebrity can play on a mind.
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NY Daily News
The songs fulfill every meaning of the word "Golden." They're sun-kissed, expensively constructed, and bound to reap a mint.
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Under the Gun Review
It is simple and elegant enough to allure most listeners, but coloured with enough sincerity and heart to make it meaningful.
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Roughstock
These performers could just have easily thrown together an album filled with light ‘n fluffy country-pop music. Instead, though, they put together a satisfying album filled with substantial songs. The result is an album that is truly golden, and really difficult to hate.
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Uproxx
Part of Lady Antebellum”s broad appeal is that the trio rocks just enough to be embraced by mainstream pop fans and yet the group is country enough, with the obligatory mandolins and banjo, to fit solidly into the country format. The co-ed ban balances the two adroitly again on “Golden,” its fourth studio album.
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the AU review
It hasn’t broken any new ground, and it certainly won’t convert the non-believers but Golden is a comfortably strong release from a band that knows where they stand.
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4,000 Miles To Nashville
It’s an album that needs more variety and spirit, no matter who they want as their audience.
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News Day
Lady A seems to be coming to terms with that on "Golden," picking approaches that suit the songs best, rather than what keeps all the talented folks occupied most.
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Spectrum Pulse
Lady Antebellum, if you want to be Fleetwood Mac, you might need to 'go your own way', because right now, I don't see much reason why I shouldn't 'never go back again'.
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Muxic Beats
The fourth studio album from this great country music group is simply amazing. Any Golden by Lady Antebellum album review would resonate how the trio has successfully carried over the victory from its recent album ‘Own the Night.’
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Montreal Gazette
Let’s just be happy that this disc is a smooth, pleasant-enough improvement over the last one.
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Female First
Lady Antebellum are back with a bang as they have delivered another infectious album that is packed with great track after great track -this is one of the albums of the year so far!!
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The Star
It is, however, a touch less prissy and overdressed than the high-gloss wallpaper that has come before, and occasionally takes a stab at rockin’ out in restrained fashion without embarrassing itself at all.
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Daily Star
THE country trio - who Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole covered to serenade The Queen at her Jubilee - have mastered this harmony lark on their fourth album.
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Minnesotas New Country
'Golden' is everything Lady Antebellum promised it would be. It provokes a mixture of emotions--happiness, sadness and heartbreak.
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Pitchfork
Her star will doubtlessly endure this awkward release, but let’s hope country Kylie is short-lived.
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NME
For better or worse, Kylie embraces country on her fourteenth album.
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AMNPLIFY
Once again, Kylie Minogue has truly executed one banger of an album.
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The Line of Best Fit
Ultimately, there is a place for this kind of music, but it feels horribly dated, like the parts you have to sit through at a gig before she plays the hits.
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The Guardian
Golden feels like the first time the window dressing is a distraction from a flawed yet deeply admirable album.
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musicOHM
Golden stands alongside her classic records; in a world of disposable music, Kylie’s return is welcome and shows how slick, smart pop music should be done.
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ALL MUSIC
it's pretty darn bold, though, and proves that she's still game for just about anything and able to make whatever she does sound exactly like herself.
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SLANT
Golden further bolsters Minogue’s reputation for taking risks—and artfully sets the stage for a disco comeback.
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The Telegraph
Apart from the smattering of country inflections, there are no great surprises in store.
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INDEPENDENT
Though the Nashville experiment is finally too half-hearted for the desired transformation, “Shelby ’68” mines Melbourne memories for a more personalised rural makeover.
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exclaim
Golden is bereft of relative stinkers, but there's little to bring listeners back.
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Albumism
Golden is unequivocally something that Minogue can be proud of.
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sputnik music
Golden is actually quite a good album - Kylie's voice is as strong as ever, her lyricism is the most personal it's been in a long time and all of the songs are full of energy.
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The Spectator
Kylie's latest album is truly appalling.
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Renowned for Sound
Golden is an easy listen album in which Kylie Minogue experiments with country and dance music.
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The DiamondBack
Golden is the perfect album for a day spent lounging with friends and eating ice cream.
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Gulf News Entertainment
Golden feels like the first time the window dressing is a distraction from a flawed yet deeply admirable album.
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The Irish Times
it's like Dolly Parton does full disco.
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MUUMUSE
This is the musical escape Kylie wanted – or needed, really – for the sake of her own heart and healing.
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Album Confessions
The songs have a realistic, narrative touch that critics complained was missing from her previous album release.
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QT
She also sounds like she's having genuine fun trying something new on for size. And in pop music, that's Golden.
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beat
This is a solid record and a welcome shift in focus that unfortunately lacks real heart, but then, that’s never been what we come to Kylie for.
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nzherald.co.nz
It just very much sounds like her heart's not in the reinvention.
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The Atlantic
Kylie Minogue’s Golden uses Nashville to spruce up her light and fun sound, which is a better approach than some of her peers took.
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star2
She’s earned the right to dabble in anything she wants, and she does it very well here.
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popfection
Unlike many of the albums that ‘Golden‘ was compared to, it effortlessly blended both a cohesive amount of solid pop, disco, and country.
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Daily Bruin
The album is by no means a bad one – but it certainly is not going to go down as Minogue’s magnum opus.
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God is in the TV
Golden is mostly pop-country of the Miley/Taylor variety, all hoedown techno beats, banjos and the dreaded Millennial Whoop.
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the arts desk
Oh this is annoying.
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Style & Life by Susanna
This album is pure, Golden (pun intended).
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Entertainment Focus
it’s not really a heartbreak album, quite the opposite really, Kylie is feeling fantastic and embracing that she’s about to turn 50 and is single.
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San Francisco Chronicle
kicks up the feels in country-leaning ‘Golden".
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ATTITUDE
for the most part boot-scootin' CountryKylie has found a nice new niche - and she's a lot of fun to hang around with.
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Bernard Zuel
Kylie’s country album? Shoot me now.
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grapevine
It’s stripped down, catchy, and filled with insightful and honest lyrics.
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SPECTRUM CULTURE
A pleasant, if occasionally confusing, listening experience.
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The Kelly Alexander Show
She’s flipped on her cowgirl hat and boots for a little something new, all while still delivering great Kylie-esque bops that we will continue to dance to for the foreseeable future.
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pressplayok
Golden is certainly one of her better albums in recent times, but that’s not saying much.
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Talk About Pop Music
Simply put, it’s awesome!
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The Times
An unconvincing ‘country’ album froths with empty romantic clichés before settling into Identikit pop.
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earbuddy
Do I just look for opportunities to torture myself? I don’t know. But I saw a golden opportunity with Kylie Minogue‘s new album, and I just thought live a little. That is, if this album doesn’t kill me first.
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FLOOD Magazine
This is a refreshingly honest pop record—and whether you’re a casual Kylie fan or a devoted one, it will undoubtedly make you feel much closer to her.
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Thomas Bleach
it does have its moments of classic Kylie along with some emotional favourites that showcase some of her most honest and impressive songwriting yet.
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As I Was Saying
The country pop element is actually a very clever and fun route Kylie has taken for her new ‘era’, with many songs you can clap and stamp your feet along to.
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Belfast Telegraph
Kylie proves she still has the Midas touch with an album packed with heart, and soul and glitter on its cowboy boots.
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USAToday
“I have to say, it’s pretty profound. Honestly, I think Golden will be with me forever.”
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