It's no secret that the gays hold a special place in their hearts for the pint-sized pop princess, one Kylie Minogue. Her shamelessly effervescent pop disco beats are practically tailor made for us. Kylie herself is well aware of this and has no problem with angling her music toward us either. Whether she's putting out the campest dance tune of the last decade in the form of Your Disco Needs You, or filling her video for Slow with a kaleidoscope of speedo clad men. Many feel that her last album, and her first post-breast cancer crisis, X was a bit of a letdown. Kylie herself has admitted it wasn't what the fans wanted, and she is right, but in saying that, it wasn't a bad album at all (Body Language was far far worse in my opinion). Those that were less than satisfied in her last couple of offerings though will be pleased to know that her eleventh studio album Aphrodite is a true to form, quintessential Kylie album. Everything here is tailored to Kylie's strengths and is a nostalgic reminder of why we fell in love with her in the first place without sounding stale or a simple rehash of her earlier works. First single, All The Lovers kicks off the affair, and indeed the opening line, "Dance, it's all I wanna do so won't you dance" is a suitable introduction for the album as a whole. This album is made for the dancefloors, never dropping below a mid-tempo. All The Lovers has garnered almost universal praise and quite rightly so, it's aural euphoria. Elsewhere on the album Kylie treats us to a multitude of fantastic songs with nary a Lady Gaga-esque moment to be heard (a rarity from pop singers over the last eighteen months). The theme of the album, if you hadn't guessed from the title, is love. Kylie wants nothing more on this album than to get everyone up, moving and feeling good, and she more than succeeds. The chorus to Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) would sound cliche and hackneyed in less capable hands, but Kylie pulls it off with an innocent charm. Get Outta My Way bubbles along with the same fizzy intensity that Love At First Sight did back on Fever. Better Than Today wouldn't sound out of place on a Scissor Sisters album, and in fact Jake Shears did lend his hand to Cupid Boy along with Calvin Harris which is a perfect meeting of minds. Kylie has been entertaining us with pop perfection for over twenty years now and despite the odd mis-step, she has overall delivered us some of the finest pop hits on record. Aphrodite is a perfect summation of everything we adore about Kylie. It's the perfect example of someone who knows how to deliver something modern and fitting with the sounds of 2010 while still giving nod to some of her earlier work and being entirely original as well. The line "i'm a golden girl I'm an aphrodite" rings true, right at this moment, Kylie truly is our goddess of love. Andrew Grear - 7th July 2010