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List Price: $27.49 | | Label: Mushroom Records
Salesrank: 375915
Released: September 29, 1998 |
| Our Price: $20.00 |
| Used Price: $4.97 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Impossible Princess Track Listing:
1. Too Far
2. Cowboy Style
3. Some Kind of Bliss
4. Did It Again
5. Breathe
6. Say Hey
7. Drunk
8. I Don't Need Anyone
9. Jump
10. Limbo
11. Through the Years
12. Dreams
Editorial Review:
Kylie's 1997 album featuring the hit singles 'Did It Again' & 'Some Kind Of Bliss'. 12 tracks total. 'Impossible Princess' marks a decidedly different change in her musical direction from mainstream pop to dance-oriented poppy alternative. A Mushroom Records release.
Impossible Princess Reviews:
Impossible is an overstatement 
2009-04-04 - I waited a long time to listen to Impossible Princess. I often find myself listening to Kylie Minogue on days when I'm feeling overly superficial. In fact, superficial is a great way to describe this album.
Whilst there are a few songs that I like (Jump, for example), I get the impression that Ms. Minogue is trying too hard to present herself as a credible, introspective song writer. She isn't! Some of these lyrics seem like they were written by a high-school cheerleader who's kitten died after she broke up with her jock boyfriend. These are the kinds of lyrics you would expect from a cushioned suburbanite who saw a film about beat poets and decided to take a stab at it. A disaster, to say the least.
I recommend you pick and choose the songs you like, and discard the rest. If you want real talent, go for Nina Persson of the Cardigans ---arguably one of the best lyricists in pop music, today.
Definitely the best Kylie album 
2006-07-29 - This was the first (and last, as of now) Kylie album, without any filler, where the best songs were NOT the singles, and where she actually experimented.
This is also one of the few Kylie albums where she didn't create an album for more commercial success ('Body Language', which was an obvious attempt to be successful in the US is a prime example), and thus took some time to experiment. She wrote all the songs, produced some, but every album after this, she only write a couple (i.e. 3-4) songs, and did not produces them, and did not have a lot of creative control at all. She should take some notes out of Dannii's book and at least write all of her music. After all, this is the 'fan-favourite' Kylie album, and, she obviously is a very good songwriter.
And now you have some background information, here is the review.
The album begins with the amazing "Too Far" it is a fantastic song that experiments with drum n bass and works fantastically. It combines so many types of genres, with themes such as sex and going 'too far' (if you know what I mean). The album goes down an accessible route with the next four songs, and "Cowboy Style" works well. As you may have guessed, the album feature some country influences and combines them with Kylie's famous dance/electronic pop. "Some Kind Of Bliss" is an experiment with indie and it works poorly. The song doesn't go anywhere, and it is too simple for its own good, and was the first Kylie single no to enter the UK top 20. "Did It Again" should have been the lead single instead of the last track. It peaked at #14 in the UK and despite being the most 'pop' sounding song on the album, I love it to bits and is just a great pop/dance song. "Breathe" follows and is an acceptable song, but is one the low points - it is kind of average (not that there is anything wrong with being average). It reminds me of a slower, less fun version of the previous track, and the reason I like the previous track so much is because of its energy, and fun-ness.
6 of the next 7 songs are the darkest songs Kylie has ever created (Confide In Me, Too Far and Loving Days can be in this list too), and are all fantastic.
"Say Hey" is an experiment with minimalism, and works excellently. It reminds me of a Bjork song - like a cross between something on her Vespertine album (the minimalism), Homogenic (hard beats and darkness) and Post (pop combined with alternate) - you will probably have to be familiar with Bjork to understand that, but I couldn't think of another way to describe the song. "Drunk" is another good song, that combines the energy of trance, the beats of techno, and some nice strings, and is another song that sounds Bjork influences. "I Don't Need Anyone" really affects the flow of this album. It is such a light, poppy and acoustic song, and tracks 6, 7, 9-12 area all quite the opposite. This is also my least favourite song from the album, and also one of my least favourite Kylie song.
Anyone that can appreciate something completely different and innovative should love "Jump" - one of my top-3 favourite Kylie songs ever, and THE BEST on this album. It is the darkest song Kylie has recorded, and I can just imagine Kylie performing this song with the Pagan Poetry dress (if you know what I mean, and sorry again for the Bjork comparisons - this album is obviously influences by her quite a bit). It is low tempo and very alternative and alienic. "Limbo" works well, and one of the few songs from this album that Kylie sometimes performed on her recent Showgirl tour. "Through The Years" is my equal-second-favourite song from this album, with tracks 1 and 12. Most Kylie fans don't seem to like this track at all, but I appreciate its darkness and originality. "Dreams" is the fan-favourite from this album, simply because there is something for everyone. It is catchy, as well as being dark, experimental and has some very distinctive Kylie lyrics.
(Like Kylie has implied in a way before, this is like a 'better' version of her previous self-titled album. If they were combined, the album would be just perfect, as there are so many great tracks on both, so I made my own tracklisting that flows very very well, combining them both: Too Far / Cowboy Style / Did It Again / Say Hey / Drunk / Jump / Falling / Limbo / Confide In Me / Through The Years / Dreams)
Therefore, an excellent experimental album with a great range of musical styles, just let down by a very small amount of below-par tracks.
9 / 10
The definitive Kylie album 
2006-01-24 - Poor Kylie. This was meant as a more mature Kylie. Co-writing songs and taking a more indie approach to fit in with the times. That's not the Kylie we want say the public. We want fun loveable Kyles. We want the songs all light and fluffy. We want songs that remind us of time when we were little kids glued to our TV sets watching Neighbours to see her as Charlene. We don't want an album full of dark songs.......
Unfortunately, this has been cruelly overlooked and underrated by many critics. Some of her hardcore fans however have given this album a reappraisal and so it should be. It is a great cohesive album much more than the sum of a few songs thrown together to help out the singles. True it's easy to see why this album was a flop and how it lost Kylie a record contract for a few years.....but it was simply trying to fit in with the times and in some cases it was as inventive as anything could be within the pop format. But it didn't sell so it was back to drawing board and back to square one. The sort of stuff that made her in the first place - disposable disco music!
But that's Kylie, every once in a while she seems to get bored with producing the same thing over and over again and wants a change. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's good that she at least has a go at trying to reinvent herself like Madonna. However there is the problem sometimes that not everyone wants to see that change and, as can happen, it can be seen as losing the plot. A shame because this album is much more than that.
Pop princess in power!
2005-07-16 - After signing with the Deconstruction label in 1994, Kylie Mingoue embarked on a creative venture for her second set. Recorded between 1995 and 1997, IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS was her most experimental (if not, ambitious) album, to date! Just listen to the intensity within "Too Far" and "Limbo", the rock flair of "Some Kind of Bliss", and the 60's inspired "I Don't Need Anyone". IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS is an eclectic piece of work. ONE of the Best albums to emerge within the past ten years!
Must-have - fan or not
2005-05-19 - Kylie was already big before releasing this album. She'd sold staggering record sales, made some excellent albums, but this one just proved to be one of her best, if not THE best. This album is dark, interesting, artistic, but still danceable. Despite how under-rated this album actually is, it is still a great album to have in your collection, weather you are a fan or not. The album includes the hits Some Kind Of Bliss, Did It Again and Breathe.
The album's opener, Too Far, takes no prisoners. This is a slab of claustrophobic beat poetry penned solely by Kylie and is set to a striking drum'n'bass arrangment of juddering strings and piano.
In the deceptively mellow Cowboy Style, there is a fusion mirrored in the electic instrumentation, dominated by fiddles and a barrage of polyrhythmic drums building to a soaring crescendo.
Some Kind Of Bliss was recorded in 1997 with The Manic Street Preachers and their long time producer, Dave Eringa. Unfortunately, the involvement of the Manics and the choice of lead single from this album, became the shadow from the true character of the album...
The perfect post modern pop single, Did It Again, my favourite Kylie single ever, sees a snarling Kylie shaking a self-deprecating finger at her own chameleonic style. The single featured an irresistable guitars and sitars and one of Kylie's most catchy hooks of her whole career.
Slowing the pace, Breathe is a seductive electronic groove, with a hypnotic subtlely and timelessness befitting the theme of inward contemplation and resolve. The song was written by Ingo Vauk and Dave Ball.
Brothers In Rhythm produced two of the album's key dance tracks: Say Hey and Drunk, two of the album's best. Say Hey is an intimate midnight soak in electronica, and is honestly the best song from the album along with Did It Again. Drunk is an exhilarating hymn to emotional involvement, set against casades of orchestral techno.
The album's most uplifting and straight-foward pop song comes in the form of I Don't Need Anyone, another song from the album which The Manic Street Preachers produced. This is the theme of emotional self-suffciency, while Jump is a beautiful downbeat collobration with Rob Dougan. The lyrics are set against 'big' beats and epic string arrangement.
Limbo is easily the third best song from the album. This is a tough fusion of rocky guitars and club beats supplied by Ingo Vauk and Dave Ball. It is a gripping narrative of frustration and powerlessness.
Through The Years is a gently smouldering torch-song tale of betrayal, punctuated with a tellingly explosive trumpet solo. The album closes with Dreams, an orcheastral paean to pushing the boundaries of exprience, which relates directly to the album's title.
Overall grade - 5/5
This album is easily, as said before, one of Kylie's best, if not THE best. You must also look out for other great Kylie albums and DVDs/VHS.
