Kate Bush - The Sensual World (1989)

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Give me that little kiss

The album starts off with some bells in the distance. Knowing that David Gilmour is playing on two of the tracks gives me high hopes that this album will be influenced by his Pink Floyd. It isn’t, instead we get a too heavily produced album, her weakest album so far quite clearly. Have we come to Kate’s “Phil Collins” years maybe? To me, it feels less interesting musically and production-wise than the first five albums at least.

Kate is still drawing inspiration from books and films. The opening track “The Sensual World” is inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses and the last song “This Woman’s Work” is taken from the John Hughes film “She’s Having a Baby”. It’s crazy that such a majestic song has that background. I mean I love John Hughes’ movies, but it feels like belittling for this major piece of music.

“Love and Anger” is an anonymous and somewhat generic song until the end when Gilmour’s guitar solo appears. Two songs, "The Fog" and "Reaching Out", about parents and children and love and longing is followed by a curios little gem “Heads We’re Dancing”.  It’s a darkly comical “what if” scenario where a stranger gets a dance with Kate if he wins a coin flip. I appreciate the levity of the song. And the ending part of the song is rather heavy.

The second side is opened with “Deeper Understanding” that makes me think about Spike Jonze’s movie “Her” from 2013. It is a bittersweet song about a lonely soul that find solace via a computer program.

Many songs on the album reminds me about the sound of late 80’s and 90’s Peter Gabriel.

The penultimate song “Rocket’s Tail” will wake you up in time for the finish. Great lyrics, nice heavy drums, Gilmour’s guitar and the perfect use of the Trio Bulgarka is all there. Kate’s singing on the album is sublime as always, but on this song, she also extends in a funny way on the home stretch.

The final song is “This Woman’s Work” and this is maybe her best song. Ever. It is so beautiful that I sometimes get tears in my eyes listening to it. It is bumping this album up a couple of notches. It’s so good.

However strong “This Woman’s Work” is, I have never fallen for this album. It even had me forgetting about Kate Bush for many moons. It is a tragedy. I have been aware of her newer stuff, of course I have bought them on cd, but I didn’t invest my time in her. The new music was basically uncharted territory to me. I did not give in, or my all. All this changed when I bought the four “Remastered in Vinyl” boxes. It was like a new spring, and thus I began to discover the second part of Kate’s career.

My rating: 5/10

Side A:
1. The Sensual World
2. Love and Anger
3. The Fog
4. Reaching Out
5. Heads We’re Dancing

Side B:
1. Deeper Understanding
2. Between a Man and a Woman
3. Never Be Mine
4. Rocket’s Tail
5. This Woman’s Work

Best song: “This Woman’s Work”

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: October 17, 1989

Media: Remastered 180 gram vinyl, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl II)

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (1985)

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Somewhere in the depth there is a light

“Hounds of Love” is the album by Kate Bush for me. It’s the one I have loved over the years. Her magnum opus. Sadly, I was kind of disappointed by the follow-up album “The sensual world” and I lost track of Kate for many years. Kate’s music was not there any longer, the picture in my mind of her froze in time and in that picture “Hounds of Love” is number one.

The album is a tale of two sides. On side A we get the well-known songs, all the singles. The second side is however to me the more interesting. It’s an one-sided concept album. It should be listened to in one go. Kate calls it “The Ninth Wave”. It is glorious.

But the first side first. Opening with “Running Up That Hill”, a song maybe too well known for some connoisseurs, but I love it immensely. The song was used to perfection in the fourth season of “Stranger Things”, the hit tv show. I was amazed how they used it not only a mood setter but an integral part of the story. Funny how the song come to be number one on the charts some 37 years after it was released! 

“Hounds of Love” and “The Big Sky” are good but not my favourites even though the latter is quite heavy with drums that reminds me of Peter Gabriels sound.

“Mother Stands for Comfort” is oddly comforting. The song’s protagonist is the mother of a murderer, but she still loves and protects him. Like in a Pink Floyd production we have sounds from real life evoking feelings. The sounds of breaking glass are ominous and foretelling perhaps. The melody is outside-in but controlled by Kate’s voice comforting us.

“Cloudbusting” is the one with that music video, you know? You know! This is a damn good song, I must say. It just makes me happy.

“The Ninth wave” should be played on loud volume on your record player! I sat in my favourite chair and listened to it with my headphones. It is soo damned good. The story of a woman drowning after her ship went under. The woman is maybe saved, maybe she dies and is reborn again. As a lifelong sailor this “song” speak to me on multiple levels.

The music flows and builds up to a majestic ending. The last three tracks are the best; the “Jig of Life” with the Irish folk music influences, the dramatic “Hello Earth” with the marvellous singing by Kate, and “The Morning Fog” as a gentle soothing song to round the album off. “Hello Earth” is impossibly beautiful and I always feel like crying when I hear it.

We have a new leader in the club house. This is the best album in her catalogue. Will it keep the lead all the way?

My rating: 10/10

Side A: The Hounds of Love

1. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

2. Hounds of Love

3. The Big Sky

4. Mother Stands for Comfort

5. Cloudbusting

Side B: The Ninth Wave

1. And Dream of Sheep

2. Under Ice

3. Waking the Witch

4. Watching You Without Me

5. Jig of Life

6. Hello Earth

7. The Morning Fog

Best songs: “Running Up That Hill”, “Cloudbusting”, “The Ninth Wave” with highlights “Jig of Life”, “Hello Earth” and “The Morning Fog”.

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: September 16, 1985

Media: Remastered 180 gram vinyl, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl II)

Stranger Things season 4 spoilers: Max's song (full scene)

All my music related reviews and posts are found on the blog within the blog, OneLouder.reviews.

Kate Bush - The Dreaming (1982)

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And though pigs can fly

I really thought that I really liked “The Dreaming” but now I find it quite harsh. She still draws a lot of influences from movies, but the music and the overall feeling of the album is of an experimental nature.

Yes, the album is experimental. Kate took the reins of the production and tried many different unusual instruments and techniques. She also experimented with vocoders for the singing, which I am not exactly sure I think is the best thing. It surely makes the album interesting at least.

“Sat in your Lap” is busy and “There Goes a Tenner” is silly in a not so funny way. For the third song, the anti-war hymn, “Pull Out the Pin”, Kate collaborated with David Gilmour who is singing backing vocals. Kate’s singing is interesting, her voice is breaking again and again in the chorus… I love life.

“Suspended in Gaffa” is totally crazy, but strangely entertaining. It’s vaudeville music in its full glory. “Leave It Open” is truly experimental with the sounds and effects applied on her voice. The ending is powerful. Must have been interesting in the studio, it feels like her creative mind ran amok. Anyway, “Leave It Open” is one of it’s songs that makes this album singular, a piece of art that can’t be dismissed. 

From the first side I like “Pull Out the Pin” and “Suspended in Gaffa” the most. But clearly the second side of the album is the stronger one…

The song “The Dreaming” is more interesting than good, hihihihi hahahaha… To be honest, I scratch my head.

But not to worry, friends, next up is “Night of the Swallow” and this song really picks the album up. I love her mixing it up with the Irish folk music style. The song is a very clear pre-vision of her next album “Hounds of Love”. It’s my favourite song on album clearly.

“All the Love” is a beautiful ballad, filled with feelings of something… lost? Any lyrics starting with The first time I died is something. This song is like a prequel to "Snowed in at Wheeler Street". Curiously, there is an angelic voice joining Kate in the background, and theatrically, we are treated to a Floyd-esque telephone call and a eerie little keyboard tune at the very end. Intriguing indeed.

“Houdini” is summing up the album and its theatrical tonality, flowing moods and strange voices in different corners of my mind. 

The last song “Get Out of My House” could be influenced by a movie like “Alien”. I am engaged, following the girl who is fighting all through the song. The lyrics is strange, at one point as it would be influenced by “The shining”, the next the perspective of a paranoid recluse. Kate sounds very angry. I would not want to be the ghost she shouts at! Get out of my house!

In conclusion this album is experimental and challenging. I love the ambition and balls of Kate. I think the album should be seen as one piece. The album is the unit, not the individual tracks. I also think that the album will benefit from frequent playing, some of the best albums I know were hard in the beginning. I am undecided, swaying between a feeling that it is better than, and that it’s the other. I am stuck in the middle, feeling lost, but then again maybe in the future: this is my favourite album of hers! The ambition level must always be rewarded…

The cover of the album is also spectacular, maybe the best thing with the whole damned thing!

My rating: 8/10

Side A:
1. Sat in Your Lap
2. There Goes a Tenner
3. Pull Out the Pin
4. Suspended in Gaffa
5. Leave It Open

Side B:
1. The Dreaming
2. Night of the Swallow
3. All the Love
4. Houdini
5. Get Out of My House

Best songs: “Night of the Swallow”, “Get Out of My House”, “Pull Out the Pin" and "All the Love"

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: September 13, 1982

Media: Remastered 180 gram vinyl, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl I)

All my music related reviews and posts are found on the blog within the blog, OneLouder.reviews.