Fever is the eighth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 1 October 2001, by Parlophone. Minogue worked with writers and producers such as Cathy Dennis, Rob Davis, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, TommyD, Tom Nichols, Pascal Gabriel and others to create a disco and Europop-influenced dance-pop and nu-disco record. Other musical influences of the album range from synth-pop to club music.

Fever was well received by critics upon its release, many of whom praised its production and commercial appeal. Over the years the album has received widespread critical acclaim and has been retrospectively declared the greatest album of Minogue's career by publications such as NME. A global commercial success, it peaked at number one in Australia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Russia, and the UK. In the US, the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming Minogue's best-selling album in the country; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was also certified septuple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and quintuple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). At the 2002 Brit Awards, it won International Album.

Fever produced four singles. The lead single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" peaked atop the charts of 40 countries. Often recognised as Minogue's signature song, it is her best-selling single with five million units sold worldwide. "In Your Eyes" and "Love at First Sight" also became international hits, while "Come into My World" won Minogue her first Grammy Award, for Best Dance Recording, in 2004. To further promote the album, Minogue embarked on her seventh concert tour, KylieFever2002. Fever has sold six million copies worldwide as of 2012

.

Background and production

In 1998, Minogue was dropped from her label Deconstruction following the poor commercial performance of her sixth studio album Impossible Princess. She instead signed on to Parlophone and released her seventh studio album Light Years. The disco and Europop-inspired album was a critical and commercial success, and platinum in the UK for shipment of 300,000 units. "Spinning Around" was released as the lead single off the album and was a commercial success, attaining a platinum certification in Australia for shipment of 70,000 units, and a silver certification in the United Kingdom for shipment of 200,000 units. In the vein of Light Years, Fever is a disco and dance-pop album that contains elements of adult contemporary and club music. The album was recorded at studios such as the Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Hutch Studios in Chicago, Olympic Studios in London and Stella Studios. Needham saw Fever as an "update" from the "frothy disco" of Light Years. while the latter was described as a "slow burn" disco song. and the "aggressive" "Give It to Me".

The lead single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a "robotic" midtempo dance and disco song. Many critics felt that various songs on the album, particularly "Come into My World", are similar to "Can't Get You Out of My Head". The title track and "Dancefloor" draw influences from synthpop and club music, respectively. Minogue is seen "bound by a microphone cord, literally tied to her craft" and dressed in white leotard designed by Fee Doran, under the label of Mrs Jones, and shoes made by Manolo Blahnik. In her 2012 fashion retrospective book Kylie / Fashion, Minogue commented on the album's theme, saying: "The whole campaign was so strong, sure, ice cool. Willie's [William's] styling was incredible and [Peters'] photography made for a second amazing album cover with him."

Fever was released by Parlophone on 1 October 2001, in Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. In the United States, the album was released by Capitol Records on 26 February 2002, and was Minogue's first album to be released in the country since her second studio album Enjoy Yourself (1989), but that project failed to chart there.

Promotion

Tour

Minogue launched the KylieFever2002 concert tour to promote the album. The tour was split in seven acts and "Can't Get You Out of My Head", "Come into My World", "Fever", "In Your Eyes", "Love at First Sight" and "Burning Up" were the songs from the album to be included on the setlist. For the performances, Minogue wore "skimpy" and skin-tight outfits, and was often seen wearing a glittering silver bikini and skirt coupled with silver boots. The outfits were designed by Italian luxury industry fashion house Dolce and Gabbana, and Minogue went through a total of eight costume changes during the tour. The performances that took place at the Manchester Evening News Arena, England, were filmed for inclusion in the live DVD for the concert tour entitled KylieFever2002: Live in Manchester, which was released on 18 November 2002. The DVD was certified platinum in Canada for sales of 10,000 units, gold in Germany for sales of 25,000 units, and double-platinum in the United Kingdom for shipments of 100,000 units. The song was well received by music critics, many of whom complimented its vibe and danceability. Commercially, the single was a massive success and peaked at number one on the charts of every European country (except Finland) and Australia. The song was released in the United States on 18 February 2002 and managed to peak at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Minogue's best selling single in the region since "The Locomotion". platinum in the United Kingdom for shipment of 600,000 units, An accompanying music video for the single was directed by Dawn Shadforth and features Minogue and a number of backup dancers dancing in various futuristic backdrops.

"In Your Eyes" was released as the second single of the album on 21 January 2002, but in Europe, the release was delayed to 18 February due to the success of "Can't Get You Out of My Head". It received generally positive reviews from music critics and was praised for its house influences. It became the second consecutive single from the album to peak atop the Australian Singles Chart. The song was also commercially successful internationally and peaked in the top ten of charts in countries like Italy, Finland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It was certified gold in Australia for sales of 35,000 units, and silver in the United Kingdom for sales of 200,000 units.

"Love at First Sight" was released as the third single from the album on 3 June 2002. It received positive reviews from music critics, with many favouring its production. The song was a commercial success and peaked in the top ten of charts in countries like Australia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand and United Kingdom. The song was remixed by Ruff and Jam and this version was released in the United States, where it managed to chart at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was certified gold in Australia for sales of 35,000 units An accompanying music video for the single was directed by Johan Renck and features Minogue dancing in a futuristic environment sporting cargo pants and teal eyeshadow. The song was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2003.

"Come into My World" was released as the fourth and final single off the album on 4 November 2002. Slightly remixed, the single version featured new vocals in the verses and chorus. It generated a favourable response from music critics, who enjoyed its lyrical content. Commercially, the single performed fairly well and peaked in the top 10 in Australia, Belgium (French-speaking Wallonia region), and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song peaked at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was later honoured with a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording during the 2004 ceremony.

Critical reception

Fever received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Fever received an average score of 68 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Jason Thompson from PopMatters gave the album an extremely positive review and praised the conception and production of the album, calling it a "perfect album of gorgeous dance music" and claiming that "there probably won't be a better album like it all year long". Jacqueline Hodges favoured the album's consistency and complimented its commercial prospect, predicting that the album is "going to sell bucket loads". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine gave the album a negative review, criticizing Minogue's "painfully precise" vocals and the album's monotony. At the same ceremony, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" won the awards for Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single, and Minogue won the Outstanding Achievement Award. At the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony, the album was nominated for Best Album; Minogue was nominated for Best Female Act, Best Dance Act, and Best Pop Act, winning the latter two.

Minogue earned her first Grammy Award nomination when "Love at First Sight" was nominated in the category of Best Dance Recording at the 2003 award ceremony, although it lost to British electronic band Dirty Vegas's song "Days Go By". She eventually won a Grammy Award when "Come into My World" was nominated in the same category at the 2004 award ceremony. It marked the first time an Australian music artist had won at the Grammy Awards show since Australian rock band Men at Work won the award for Best New Artist in 1982, In 2015, Fever was ranked 34th on "The 99 Greatest Dance Albums of All Time" by Vice magazine. In December 2021, the album was listed at no. 10 in Rolling Stone Australia's ‘200 Greatest Albums of All Time’ countdown.

Commercial performance

In Minogue's native country Australia, Fever entered at number one on the Australian Albums Chart on the week of 21 October 2001, and spent a total of five weeks in the position. The success of the album in Australia was such that it was listed in the top-ten highest selling albums of the country in both 2001 and 2002, appearing at numbers five and 2002. In the United Kingdom, Fever entered at number one on the UK Albums Chart on the week of 13 October 2001 with sales of 139,000 units, and spent a total of two weeks in the position. The album spent 20 weeks inside the top ten and over 50 weeks inside the top forty of the chart. In this territory, it was certified platinum for sales of 15,000 units by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In Denmark, the album entered and peaked at number four on the Danish Albums Chart and spent one week at this position. In this region, it was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In France, the album entered the French Albums Chart at number 51 and peaked at number 21, spending a total of three weeks at this position. In this region, the album was certified platinum for sales of 100,000 units by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. In Germany, the album peaked at number one on the German Albums Chart for two weeks. In this region, it was certified platinum by the Federal Association of Music Industry for shipments of 200,000 units. and peaked at number one, spending a total of one week on this position. In New Zealand, the album entered and peaked at number three on the New Zealand Albums Chart, spending a total of one week at this position. In this region, the album was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for shipments of 30,000 units. In Switzerland, the album entered the Swiss Albums Chart at number 12 and peaked at number three, spending a total of one week in the position. In this territory, the album was certified double-platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales of 40,000 units.

In the United States, the album sold 115,000 copies in its first-week and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming Minogue's highest-charting album in the region to date. In this region, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 1,000,000 units. In this region, the album was certified double-platinum for shipments of 200,000 units by Music Canada. According to the IFPI, Fever was the thirtieth-best-selling album globally in the year 2002. Fever has sold over 6 million copies worldwide, becoming Minogue's highest selling album.

Legacy

thumbnail|left|Minogue performing "[[Love at First Sight (Kylie Minogue song)|Love at First Sight", during her Kiss Me Once Tour (2014).]]

Fever is considered to be a prominent example of Minogue's constant "reinventions". The image she adopted during this period was described by Baker as "slick, minimalist and postmodern", and it was seen as a step forward from the "camp-infused" tone of Light Years. Larissa Dubecki from The Age used the term "nu-disco diva" to describe Minogue during this period. He further remarked that the singer's "hygienic coo summoned a cool sort of cyborg soul, and her videos showed her gliding through sleek futurescapes, tonguing the sweet-and-sour tang of a techno kiss". Robbie Daw from Idolator pointed out that Britney Spears's recording of her 2004 hit "Toxic", Madonna's comeback album Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), Paris Hilton's musical debut Paris (2006), and radio stations' shift towards playing "more groove-oriented sounds" all followed the release of Fever, although he mentioned that "we have no way of knowing whether [Fever] was directly responsible for these pop happenings".

Chris True from AllMusic, in his biography of Minogue, commented that the release of the album and lead single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" cemented her position as an international music icon, saying "Her place in pop music history would be consolidated in 2001, and she would be reintroduced to America after more than a decade as well". and sold more than six million copies worldwide, becoming Minogue's highest selling single to date It is also considered to be Minogue's signature song. Due to the single's commercial impact, the album enjoyed similar success in the United States and earned Minogue her only platinum album certification in the region.

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Notes

  • "Come Into My World" is replaced by the radio edit version on all album pressings post-2002, including the "Special edition" and all digital and streaming formats.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Fever.

Musicians

  • Kylie Minogue – lead vocals ; backing vocals
  • Ash Howes – programming ; keyboards
  • Alvin Sweeney – programming
  • Martin Harrington – programming, guitars ; keyboards
  • Julian Gallagher – Rhodes ; keyboards
  • Rob Davis – keyboards, drum programming ; electric guitar ; guitars
  • Greg Fitzgerald – keyboards, programming, guitar
  • Phil Larsen – additional programming
  • Bruce Elliott-Smith – additional programming
  • Anders Kallmark – additional programming
  • Cathy Dennis – additional keyboards ; backing vocals
  • Steve Lewinson – bass
  • Steve Anderson – arrangement, programming, keyboards
  • John Thirkell – flute, trumpet
  • Gavyn Wright – strings lead
  • Richard "Biff" Stannard – guitars ; backing vocals
  • Billie Godfrey – backing vocals
  • Nat' B. – backing vocals

Technical

  • TommyD – production, mixing
  • Adrian Bushby – mixing
  • Richard "Biff" Stannard – production
  • Julian Gallagher – production
  • Ash Howes – recording, mixing
  • Alvin Sweeney – recording
  • Martin Harrington – recording
  • Cathy Dennis – production ; mixing
  • Rob Davis – production ; mixing, engineering
  • Tim Orford – mix engineering
  • Greg Fitzgerald – production
  • Mark Picchiotti – production, mix engineering
  • Tom Carlisle – mix engineering
  • Phil Larsen – mixing, engineering
  • Bruce Elliott-Smith – mixing
  • Anders Kallmark – engineering
  • Steve Anderson – production
  • Paul Wright – engineering, mixing
  • Pascal Gabriel – production, mixing
  • Paul Statham – production
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing
  • Tom Nichols – production
  • Geoff Pesche – mastering at The Town House, London

Artwork

  • Vincent Peters – photography
  • Adjective Noun – design
  • Wendy Dougan – US design

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2001–2002 weekly chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)

| 1

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Greek International Albums (IFPI)

| 2

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

| 10

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)<br />Special edition

| 17

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 1

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Singaporean Albums (RIAS)

| 10

|-

! scope="row"| Slovak Albums (IFPI)

| 8

|-

! scope="row"| South African Albums (RISA)

| 3

|-

! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)

| 9

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2017&ndash;2021 weekly chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 6

|-

! scope="row"| Croatian Albums (HDU)

| 18

|-

|-

! scope="row" | Swiss Albums (Les charts Romandy)

| 31

|-

|-

! scope="row"| UK Vinyl Albums (OCC)

| 4

|}

Monthly charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2003 monthly chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Russian Albums (NFPF)

| 10

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2001 year-end chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 5

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 1

|-

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 24

|-

! scope="row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)

| 61

|-

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 62

|-

! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)

| 21

|-

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 143

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 26

|-

! scope="row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| 92

|-

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 18

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 10

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2002 year-end chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 4

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 1

|-

! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)

| 71

|-

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)

| 67

|-

! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)

| 64

|-

! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 24

|-

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 47

|-

! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)

| 15

|-

! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)

| 55

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 50

|-

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 30

|-

! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)

| 41

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 15

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 82

|-

! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)

| 30

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2003 year-end chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 57

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 2

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 196

|}

Decade-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2000s decade-end chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 13

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 43

|}

Centurial charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 21st century chart performance for Fever

! scope="col"| Chart

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Female Albums (OCC)

| 25

|}

Certifications

|-

! scope="col" colspan="3"| Summaries

|-

|-

! scope="row"| France

| 3 October 2001

| rowspan="2"| CD

|

|-

! scope="row"| Australia

| 8 October 2001

|

| Festival Mushroom

|

|-

! scope="row"| Japan

| 11 October 2001

| CD

| Toshiba EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| United States

| 26 February 2002

|

|

| Capitol

|

|-

! scope="row"| Japan

| 9 May 2002

| rowspan="3"| Special

| Enhanced CD

| Toshiba EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| Australia

| rowspan="2"| 18 November 2002

| rowspan="3"| Double CD

| Festival Mushroom

|

|-

! scope="row"| Germany

| EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| Japan

| 16 January 2003

| Complete

| Toshiba EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| Australia

| rowspan="2"| 15 October 2021

| rowspan="6"| 20th anniversary

| rowspan="2"| Cassette

| Warner Music Australia

|

|-

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| Rough Trade

|

|-

! scope="row"| France

| 3 June 2022

| rowspan="4"| Vinyl

| rowspan="2"| Warner Music

|

|-

! scope="row"| Germany

| rowspan="2"| 10 June 2022

|

|-

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

| Rough Trade

|

|}

See also

  • List of number-one hits of 2001 (Germany)
  • List of European number-one hits of 2001
  • List of number-one albums of 2001 in Australia
  • List of top 25 albums for 2001 in Australia
  • List of top 25 albums for 2002 in Australia
  • List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2000s
  • List of best-selling albums of the 2000s in Australia
  • List of artists who have achieved simultaneous number-one UK Single and Album
  • List of UK top-ten albums in 2002
  • List of UK top-ten albums in 2001

References

  • Fever at Kylie.com (archived from 2004)