The success of her debut single, "Locomotion", resulted in her working with Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced the album and wrote nine of its ten tracks.

[3] In 1985, Kylie used her earnings from The Henderson Kids to record three songs with producer Greg Petherick at Young Talent Time, a weekly Australian music programme which already featured Dannii as a regular performer.

[6] During her time in Neighbours, Minogue joined a band along with cast members Guy Pearce, Peter O'Brien and Alan Dale, which Petherick arranged.

[7] He later suggested Minogue cover the song "The Loco-Motion" with the band during a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert at the Festival Hall in 1986, where she also sang a duet of "I Got You Babe".

[11] Critics and employees of Mushroom Records gave polarised opinions; many thought it would be the end of the company and dubbed Minogue as "The Singing Budgie.

"[7] In June 1987, Mushroom Records had Mike Duffy, an audio engineer for Stock Aitken Waterman producers, over for a three-month residency at Platinum Studios in South Yarra.

[18] Pete Waterman, the only member of the trio aware of Minogue's trip, was unavailable; he was busy making The Hitman and Her and had not told Mike Stock she was in London.

"[24] He wrote the lyrics in response to what he had learned about Minogue: although she was an attractive successful soap star, he thought there had to be something wrong with her and figured she must be unlucky in love.

[32] Mike Duffy, the original producer, instead blamed the decision to re-record on Waterman's alleged wish to claim the royalties from the track's placement on the soundtrack of the 1988 film Arthur 2: On the Rocks.

[43] For the album's version of "The Loco-Motion", the producers re-recorded the backing track from Duffy's demo, featuring railway sound effects and less spontaneous vocals.

[44] The slow-tempo "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" reminiscent of Waterman's earlier work in the 1960s at the Mecca Dance Hall, and the reggae-infused "It's No Secret" features cascading synth and a jaunty melody.

[35] It is reflected in the album's artwork, shot by photographer Lawrence Lawry, which shows Minogue grinning and wearing a hat of hair with curls cascading out of the top.

[59] Ernie Long of The Morning Call noted similarities between the release of Kylie and the 1988 eponymous debut albums of Tracie Spencer and Rachele Cappelli: all three shows close-up shots of the singer on the front cover, while making silly facial expressions on the back.

[78] In October 1989, more than a year after the album was released, Minogue launched her first concert tour, Disco in Dream performing several songs from both Kylie and Enjoy Yourself.

[85] Released as the first single from Kylie in late December 1987, "I Should Be So Lucky" topped the charts in the United Kingdom and Australia, the first time this had been achieved by any artist.

[92] Its music video shows Minogue doing a fashion photo shoot, singing on top of the KPMG Tower and alongside the Yarra River.

[96] The music video for "The Loco-Motion" was re-edited from footage of the original Australian release, which was shot at Essendon Airport and the ABC Studios in Melbourne.

[98] Originally planned as a double A-side with new track "Made in Heaven", "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" was released as the fourth single on 17 October 1988.

[103] A still from the music video, which shows Minogue walking through to the beach and to a pool at the Mirage Resort, was used as the front cover of the Australian single release.

[113] Tim Nicholson of Record Mirror wrote that besides the cover of "The Loco-Motion", the album is full of "rattling, Hi-NRG based perfect pop [songs]" that has hit-single potential.

[110] In the Recommended section, the writers of Billboard applauded the cover of "The Loco-Motion" but found the "mechanical production and assembly-line writing... may lack the warm necessary for a U.S.

[114] Chris Heath of Smash Hits praised the simple disco tracks,[112] while Shaun Carney of The Age criticised its calculated and commercialised nature.

[115] Barbra Jaeger of The Record panned the overuse of drum machines and echo vocals by the SAW producers, finding their music is "just a variation of the same beat".

"[108] Jim Zebora of American newspaper Record-Journal panned her nasal vocals and her lack of input on the songwriting and producing process, referring to the singer as another Madonna wannabe.

[111] Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times and Ernie Long, on the other hand, felt her fragile voice sounds comfortable and natural with the dance-pop material.

[119] In their retrospect reviews, Chris True from AllMusic, Nick Levine of Digital Spy, and Sweeney panned the dated production but felt Minogue's upbeat personality and well-crafted melodies compensated for its weaknesses.

[121] Rolling Stone suggested the songs are as "cheesily and identically redolent of the late 80s' as a pair of stone-washed jean shorts", while Sheridan called the album a "masterclass in classic British pop".

[123] Cinquemani, however, ranked Kylie as Minogue's worst studio album in 2018, criticizing the lightweight content and her vocals as if "she was forced to suck down a lungful of helium".

[149] Writing for Official Charts Company, Justin Myers opined "If 1988 was anyone's year it was Kylie Minogue's... She was the most exciting thing to happen to pop for quite a long time.

"[150] Jim Schembri of The Guardian wrote the success of Kylie and its singles, her popular concerts in Britain and Japan, as well as her public appearances have quickly "turned [Minogue] into a pop cultural icon—as well as a multi-millionare".