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At some point, the difference in the charts today and in the past needs to be addressed:
Nevertheless, the album was Minogue’s biggest commercial failure. Originally scheduled for September, it was hastily repackaged with the title Kylie Minogue following the death of Princess Diana in August—which made it, oddly, Minogue’s second consecutive self-titled album—and trickled into stores around the world that fall, before finally making its way to Australia in January 1998 and the UK in March. It stalled at No. 4 in Minogue’s home country and at No. 10 in the UK, but has since become a fan favorite: A 2022 vinyl reissue restored the album’s original title and charted higher in both countries.
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from:
pitchfork.com

Kylie Minogue: Impossible Princess

Read Owen Myers’ review of the album.
pitchfork.com pitchfork.com

It went platinum in Australia in 98. It placed higher in the 2022 charts, but it had already moved 70,000 plus units before doing that.

Kind of like it used to be denoted that milestones had been reached presoundscan. Maybe we can have a post spotify denotation or something.
 
I have a confession: I never really liked the sex pistols. I enjoy a few of their tunes -- anarchy in the uk and problems are fun -- but the laurels that they got were beyond me. John Lydon has always seemed to me to be ...just an asshole, really. Obnoxious, contrarian for the sake of it, just a real prick. Smart, but still: an asshole.

His post-bollocks career did not do a great deal to change my view on this, although I did enjoy Hardware song ("this is what you want/this is what you get") and PIL. Jah Wobble basslines and Martin Atkins falling on drums like fucking doomsday are always a plus even if the Steve Vai spot was a bit weird, it all worked out, and Lydon's assholishness aside, as a vocalist I've heard worse. I mean, I've got Wesley Willis in my collection, on purpose. But the idea of PIL being in the eurovision contest, and Lydon being just...heart on sleeve romantic with his tribute to his wife with Alzheimers, "Hawai'i" was unexpected. It made me stop a second and just blink twice and then I listened to the song and I can't believe this fucking guy is pulling on my heartstrings this hard.

 
Lee Newman said:
Alright, I need some schooling, the allmusic review states that the lyrics to She's Always a Woman are latently misogynistic.

"
She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes
And she can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she's always a woman to me
She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free
Yeah, she steals like a thief
But she's always a woman to me
Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind
And she'll promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
'Cause she's always a woman to me
Oh, she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
Oh, and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind
She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
And she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she's always a woman to me"

I don't see it. But then I'm a dumb guy... explain it to me.
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I can take a stab at it. It’s somewhat dehumanizing because he’s really leaning hard into the idea of the feminine mystique. She’s this creature beyond logic that does what she wants. It puts her on a pedestal as something other than human.

I love Billy, but this is not my favorite song. As a woman, it’s a bit too much to live up to.
 
This was the Sunday Pitchfork Review:


I'm listening for the first time. It's pretty awesome, it's like some weird bridge between Mary J Blige's hip hop soul and the neo-soul that followed.
 


I'm not a big fan of hero worship. I never got the baited breath for the guy talking, or being cajoled into identifying with pop culture stuff. It felt crass and manipulative in a way it's hard to really put my finger on. I thought it was weird watching people do it to Dylan or the Beatles in old media and it just didn't make sense to me. It's one reason I didn't really like TV shows like "my so-called life" or paid much attention to interviews of musicians outside of musician-oriented media (I'll listen to j mascis talk about guitar or Mike d talk about old reggae, I don't want to hear either taking about politics tbh. Even if it's likely I'll agree with them).

So while I loved Nirvana, i learned to play all their stuff and saw them in 94, I never considered Kurt someone who spoke for me or kids in my social sphere. But seeing the skateboard with Eddie drawn in is the first time I really considered him a sort of kindred spirit. For sure he was a hesher trying to play along to "piece of mind" on cassette on a fucked up boombox. I relate to that a lot more than a cranky dude on TV with a baby and Courtney.
 
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