Ultimate Kylie - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Ultimate Kylie received a generally positive response from music critics. PopMatters gave it a positive review, as he said "Ultimate Kylie, which seems condensed even at its double-disc length, is one of the best collections of dance music available, even while including her ‘80s pop hits. It is enough to get her MP3s permanently out of my “guilty pleasures” bin" and gave the album an 8 out of 10 rating, which means that the album was of excellent status and "among the best work of the given artist, or among the best in the given genre". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave it a very positive review, awarding it four and a half out of five stars. At first he said "There certainly hasn't been a shortage of Kylie Minogue hits compilations." But he did finish the album with a positive review and ending saying "it nevertheless gives all the hits, both big and small, in one place, which means that this not only makes this ideal for fans for all levels of dedication, it means that Ultimate Kylie lives up to its billing.

Jason Shawahn from About.com gave it a positive review, awarding it four stars out of five. He praised the album for its inclusion of two new songs, which he feels were "among the finest tracks that Kylie has recorded in years" and show her at her best. He later finished saying "but as far as providing the comprehensive Kylie, the folks at EMI have done a pretty good job." In a review for Stylus Magazine, Mark Edwards called the first disc "horribly naff" and full of "squeaky songs". The review also mentioned "every year or two she’ll release another pop gem, sell a squillion more calendars and finally retire as a multi-millionairess with a greatest hits compilation in every household. Because everyone loves Kylie, even if half of this album is terrible." They had given it negative responses through the PWL and Deconstruction days, but praised the Parlophone tracks. Jaime Gill from Yahoo! Music gave it a positive review, saying "But why not accept it as merely the brand for a shiny double CD of brilliant pop tunes? If she disappeared tomorrow few would really care, but if songs like this did we really, really would." In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their "1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list.