The two collaborated with various producers and writers on the album, including Jake Shears, Calvin Harris, Sebastian Ingrosso and Pascal Gabriel.

The lead single, "All the Lovers", peaked at number three in the United Kingdom and reached the top 10 in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Subsequent singles "Get Outta My Way", "Better than Today", and "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" generally underperformed on the charts, causing Minogue to express disappointment in her label.

In the United States, all four singles released from the album peaked atop the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

[9][10] The initial recording sessions for Aphrodite began in April 2009 when Minogue met with British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot, with whom she wrote the track "Better than Today".

Its live instrumentation, along with the fact that X had been burdened by contributions from too many producers, prompted Minogue's record label Parlophone to decide on a more natural and less convoluted production style for Aphrodite.

Later sessions with Pallot proved to be less successful, as her suggested songs were "rapidly supplemented with tracks from a wide range" of contributors.

"[15] Popjustice commented that every song on the album has "gone through a bit of a Stuart Price filter so that it doesn't sound like some dickhead [sic] A&R has just aimlessly scooped a load of tracks off a shelf.

"All the Lovers", one of the last tracks to be recorded for the album,[17] is a "squiggly" electro-disco song written by Jim Eliot and Mima Stilwell, who had previously collaborated with Minogue on "2 Hearts", the lead single from X.

[24] The song focuses on a "frustrated and furious" Minogue delivering "wispy" vocals in a form of a warning to her uncaring partner, indicating that she may leave him and start "grinding away with another chap".

[22][18][30] "Aphrodite", the title track of the album, features a "foot-stomping" beat and "military drummed" instrumentation, similar to that of a marching band.

[36] Written by Minogue, Jake Shears and Calvin Harris, "Too Much" was described as a "rave monster" and is built on a "fugue of synths and disco-rific sampled strings".

[9][22] "Cupid Boy" drew comparisons to the music of English alternative dance band New Order and features Minogue delivering "lusty" vocals over a "retro, throbbing bass line".

[31][39] The set closes with the electropop track "Can't Beat the Feeling",[22] which is similar to the work of French electronic music duo Daft Punk.

[44] The artwork of the album captures Minogue "transformed into a goddess" as she is dressed in a dark blue, metal-adorned, silk muslin gown, taken from French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier's spring-summer 2010 haute couture collection.

[47] On 11 November 2011, The Goddess Edition of Aphrodite was released exclusively in Australia, containing the standard album and a hardback book featuring pop-up sculptures, costume sketches and never-before-seen photographs;[48][49] it is limited to 1,000 copies.

[50] On 6 July, Minogue celebrated the worldwide release of the album with a performance held at the Pacha Club in Ibiza, Spain.

[69] Following the poor chart performance of "Get Outta My Way" and "Better than Today", Minogue expressed disappointment in her record label Parlophone, saying: "It's confusing.

[32] Tim Sendra from AllMusic commended Minogue's choice of collaborators and producers, commenting that the album is the "work of someone who knows exactly what her skills are and who to hire to help showcase them to perfection".

[16] The Billboard review of the album complimented Price's "ability to create consistent sound without sacrificing each track's individuality", and termed Aphrodite a "journey cohesive, fun and fitting for a goddess".

[37] Ian Wade from BBC Music gave the album a positive review and found it to be an "astonishing return to form" for Minogue.

[34] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly praised the tracks' danceability and concluded that "The diminutive Australian diva is still delivering disco thunder from Down Under.

"[30] Priya Elan from NME felt that Price was the "perfect choice of musical partner" and complimented him for producing Minogue's "most unified work in ages.

"[38] Barry Walters from Spin commended Minogue for returning to her original style of music rather than chasing the "hip-hop or Americanized AOR" sounds.

[80] Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone labelled the album Minogue's "finest work since 1997's underrated Impossible Princess".

[10] James Reed from The Boston Globe gave the album a negative review and criticized it for being too dated, calling it Minogue's "least interesting work she's made in a decade".

[27] Sophia Money-Coutts from The National felt the album lacked new and diverse material from Minogue's previous efforts,[9] while Margaret Wappler from the Los Angeles Times commented on the album's dependency on "old reliable" music and concluded "Our midnight bird (Minogue) has been in the club for a long time, however, and it shows.

[89] It spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart,[89] and by 2011, Aphrodite had been certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 70,000 units.

[92] Minogue was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the female artist with the most consecutive decades with top-five albums in the United Kingdom.

[94] On 1 April 2011, Aphrodite was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 units.