Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow (2011)

Melting in my hand

Kate Bush is evolving, slowly but still evolving. Her most recent album is breaking new ground. She has previously done concept albums, “The Hounds of Love” and “Aerial”, and now she has somewhat surprising given us a concept album about snow. Seven songs "set against a background of falling snow". The album title is inspired by the Eskimo people who have 50 words for snow.

This feels like such a mature album. Gone are the 4-minute pop songs from her earliest phase. Albeit high class, they are still “only” pop songs, you know. An evolution of the format was maybe not needed, but welcomed.

“50 words for snow” includes influences from experimental jazz and classical music like renaissance choir music. It has long complex songs that make me think about the seventies progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and Genesis. How exciting!

The songs have haunting lyrics about snow and cold things. Those of us that are engaged and listen with full awareness are rewarded with a wonderful experience. The album is a marvel on the turntable. I listened to it with my head phones. It was like walking into a snowy meadow together with Kate. The mood of the album putted me into something like a trance.

The album has only seven songs, but with a total run time of 65 minutes there are songs running longer than ten minutes and the remaining are all at least six minutes each. Many songs are stripped bare, with voices only accompanied by a piano. We also get some jazz settings with voice, piano, bass and the jazz drum.

After some soul searching I am struck by the realisation that this album reminds me of Bowie’s “Blackstar”. Both give me a strange and eerie feeling, but in a slightly different way. David’s album is full of dread and death, Kate’s is more of longing.

Kate’s voice is mature, and I love the evolution. It is similar to the journey of David’s, from brisk and high singing voices to deeper and mellower matured. Their older voices are both more comforting to my ears.

The duet with Elton John on “Snowed in at Wheeler Street” is stellar. What a discovery! It has a great story about two souls that belong together on a journey through history. The song makes me sad and happy. A jumble of emotions as if from the movie “Brief encounter”. Damn it, it may be her best song yet. Easily in the top five at least!

The song “50 words for snow” is so funny and a testament to Kate’s humour. Kate and the best Stephen Fry give us 50 words for snow for the Eskimo, some real and many made up and silly. Hilarious.

The last song “Among angels” gives us Kate and a piano. Very nice indeed, it’s almost as if you were among them.

My rating: 8/10

Side A:
1. Snowflake
2. Lake Tahoe

Side B:
1. Misty

Side C:
1. Wild man
2. Snowed in at Wheeler Street

Side D:
1. 50 words for snow
2. Among angels

Best songs: “Snowed in at Wheeler Street” and “Misty”

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: Released 21, 2011

Media: Remastered 180 gram 2 X Vinyl, gatefold, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl III)

Kate Bush - Director's Cut (2011)

I can’t stop thinking

A whole album with remixed or re-recorded songs from two previous albums? Well, I guess it could have been great, but this album is somewhat disappointing to me in the end anyway. As it is a re-mix album with no new material, it doesn’t feel like a “full” album to me.

The songs aren’t any of the strongest to begin with, with some notable exceptions. All the vocals are re-recorded as well as the drums as I understand it. Some songs are even completely re-recorded and in fresh versions. The new production or “sound” is sometimes an improvement, but not always.

I do however love the more mature voice of Kate, especially when she is going all in with her singing. It’s like she is acting the songs out in her performance, with added colour.

We do find one new title in “Flower of the mountain”. But this is actually “The sensual world” with updated lyrics. Kate wanted to use lines from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and now in 2011 she finally got the necessary permissions. It is a slight improvement, mostly due to Kate’s voice.

“Song of Solomon” is quite good, I just like the singing. 

“Deeper understanding” is updated with a horrible result. The use of vocoder and modulation of the singing make this version unlistenable. It’s a pity really. Mercifully enough it is placed as the first track on one side, so I can skip it easily when playing the album (on vinyl).

One of Kate’s very best songs “This woman’s work” is a completely new re-recording and the song is now very different. The song is sung in a lower tone and slower with a dreamy ambient feeling. I like it, but I don’t love it 3000. Perfection is hard to improve upon, you know. It’s like a truly great song is hidden beneath the surface and it’s trying to get out. That great song is found on “The sensual world”.

“Moments of pleasure” has been re-recorded as a beautiful ballad with Kate and a grand piano. To me this version is even better than the original version on “The Red Shoes”. I really like the chorus humming instead of singing.

“Never be mine” is offered in a heavily remixed version. It’s stripped down, has jazzy drums and is more dramatic. The singing is in a lower and deeper tone, as on most of the versions on “Director’s Cut”. Quite a nice update.

“And so is love” has not been changed a lot in the re-mix but some of the lyrics have been updated which is exciting. In the original version she sings that life is sad, in the new one the lyrics are changed to “life is sweet”. One hopes that Kate was in a better place. The guitar play from Eric Clapton is still there thankfully.

The last song “Rubberband girl” is re-recorded in a new version. This version is whacky, and I like it as I found the original version to be too boring and sounding like generic radio-pop.

Compared to an original studio album this is not up to par, but it should maybe not be viewed as such. We get three re-recorded songs, all new vocals from Kate and some updated lyrics which all is great. But “Director’s cut” is still “minor Kate Bush” in my book. An album only for the connoisseur.

My rating: 5/10

Side A:

1. Flower of the mountain

2. Song of Solomon

3. Lily

Side B:

1. Deeper understanding

2. The red shoes

3. This woman’s work

Side C:

1. Moment of pleasure

2. Never be mine

Side D:

1. Top of the city

2. And so is love

3. Rubberband girl

Songs improved; “Flower of the mountain”, “Moments of pleasure”, “Never be mine” and “Rubberband girl”

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: May 16, 2011

Media: Remastered 180 gram 2 X vinyl, gatefold, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl III)

Kate Bush - Aerial (2005)

A Sea of Honey

Damn, what a relief! Already the first song and I feel calm. The opening song “King of the mountain” is majestic, and I feel it in my bones that this album is superior to the last two efforts. The overall feeling is totally different. Twelve years of waiting, the previous studio album “The red shoes” came out in 1993, but now Kate is back in more ways than one.

“Pi” gives me large smile on my face, maybe because I’m a mathematician. And the third song “Bertie” continues to amaze me. It is so beautiful, and the love heard in Kate’s voice is so sweet. However “Mrs. Bartolozzi” doesn’t do it for me at all. It has somewhat bizarre lyrics. I do love the piano play though. 

The second side of the first LP is dominated by “How to be invisible”, a song about Kate’s need for privacy, one would guess, and if so Kate's favourite past time hobby. You can hear Kate herself in her voice singing the song, it seems to me to be a very personal song and the performance mirrors that. Kate is as we all know very careful with her personal life. She's actually almost invisible to the fans, tabloids and tv shows.

"I found a book on how to be invisible
Take a pinch of keyhole
And fold yourself up
You cut along a dotted line
You think inside out
And you're invisible"

Isn't this a damned great song or what?

A Sky of Honey

Now to the even more interesting stuff. The album “Aerial” is the first double studio album to date from Kate. It has a structure like “Hounds of Love” but doubled up. The first record has the stand-alone songs, some great, some passable. The second LP is like a full concept album hidden within “Aerial”. It’s called “A sky of honey”. For the classic album “Hounds of love” from 1985 it was one side each, here we get one LP each. The concept album tells the story of two lovers who spend one day and night out in nature. It is very, very good.

Kate’s music covers many styles, and it is often close to classical music. This is especially true for this album with renaissance-influenced songs like “A coral room” and “Bertie”. And like with classical music the listener gets rewarded for listening to a full album. The music is like the ocean that comes in waves. Some slower or softer parts, some bridges or intermezzos, and when we finally get to the musical “pay off” it’s all out glorious.

Pink Floyd is well known to master the concept album perfectly, and many other progressive rock bands from the 70’s and 80’s have also done it. Some favourites of mine are old Genesis and old Marillion. Kate brings her own sensitivity and style to the table. Her concept albums are more about the emotions, the singing and the lyrics. For the bands mentioned above, the long instrumental parts and the performances of playing the instruments are more important, even though the personal touch of the lyrics from Roger Waters and Fish cannot be overstated.

“Sunset” is a fascinating song where she mix a piano ballad with modern jazz and Spanish guitars. It builds and builds and builds. Getting better end better until the glorious end. Fantastic, mature Kate of the highest standard. "In a sea of honey. A sky of honey." 

Feel free to listen to the song all the way through.

"Oh, sing of summer and a sunset
And sing for us, so that we may remember
The day writes the words right across the sky
They go all the way up to the top of the night"

“Nocturn” is majestical, the ocean swells are flowing with rhythms and breaks. Again a song showing us a mature Kate, her voice is hypnotic. 

"In a sea of honey, a sky of honey
A sea of honey, a sky of honey

Look at the light
At all the time it's a changing
Look at the light
Climbing up the aerial

Bright, white coming alive jumping off the aerial
All the time it's a changing like now
All the time it's a changing like then again
All the time it's a changing
And all the dreamers are waking"

The song is simple yet complex, I find no words to describe it. And it may be a candidate for her best song ever! Haha, well, ok, but almost!

Kate Bush’s first double album is stellar. One of her best work clearly.

My rating: 9/10

Side A:
1. King of the mountain
2. Pi
3. Bertie
4. Bartolozzi

Side B:
1. How to be invisible
2. Joanni
3. A coral room

Side C:
1. Prelude
2. Prologue
3. An architect’s dream
4. The painter’s link
5. Sunset
6. Areial Tal

Side D:
1. Somewhere in between
2. Nocturn
3. Aerial

Best songs: “King of the mountain”, “How to be invisible”, “A sky of honey” with the highlights “Sunset” and “Nocturn”.

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: November 7, 2005

Media: Remastered 180 gram 2 X Vinyl, gatefold, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl III)

Kate Bush - The Red Shoes (1993)

Don’t want your bullshit

Inspired by the movie “The red shoes” by British masters Powell & Pressburger this album was the last in many years to come. After this album Kate took a 12 years long siesta. She also raised her son Bertie during this break. 

So, was "The red shoes" big enough to fill the long hiatus for us fans? Well, I think the album is quite nice, sort of “okeyish”, but it lack her distinct signature mark from the first five albums. 

Instead I unfortunately get the same feeling from this album as from “The sensual world”, something that is over-produced like many albums were in the eighties. Sure, Kate is playing with different types of instruments and vocals, and that may be fun for some, but it feels too stuffed to me.

Considering what she actually did with the “Director’s cut” album eighteen years later (in 2011) when she re-recorded and updated song from this one and the previous “The sensual world”, I am obviously not alone in thinking that these two albums are burdened by an overly eager production. “The red shoes” is better overall than its predecessor at least.

“Moment of pleasure” is one of the songs that are graciously stripped down with focus on Kate’s voice and a piano. Unfortunately, it is padded with strings, which I think is unnecessary.

“The song of Solomon” is also great, a slow and dreamy song where Kate’s voice is outstanding. The backing vocals by Trio Bulgarka is ok I guess. The structure of the music in the song is interesting. I prefer complex songs over simpler songs that try to compensate with an overstuffed production. I also like "Lily", a song that really grew into a great intro-song at her live shows in 2014.

“Top of the city” is great and kind of interesting. Kate is giving her all with the singing. Is the song about suicide? If so, it is a dark song. I can hear both despair and sorrow in her voice, but also something else. I guess she decided to live in the end.

“Constellation of the Heart” is a very odd song coming from Kate Bush. It is not a great production. It’s boring mainstream radio, borrowed from the worst sides of Peter Gabriel, Level 42 or Phil Collins. I guess there are fans of the song out there somewhere.

Of course the song “Why should I love you?” is remarkable. She worked with Prince on the song, the arrangement. Prince is playing instruments, most notably the guitar and singing in the chorus. The song has a perfectly fine “Prince” feel. Almost a little touch of R&B. It’s not my favourite, but it is memorable. Kate's demo before Prince's additions via the link above.

On the subject of collaborations Eric Clapton’s guitar work on the second song “And so is love” is also worth mentioning.

And just when you thought that this album is a little boring Kate surprises you with a power ballad of broken hearts! The closing song “You’re the one” is beautiful, a picture-perfect description of a break up. Been there, done that.

My rating: 6/10

Side A:
1. Rubberband girl
2. And so is love
3. Eat the music

Side B;
1. Moments of pleasure
2. The song of Solomon
3. Lily

Side 2:
1. The red shoes
2. Top of the city
3. Constellation of the heart

Side D:
1. Big stripey lie
2. Why should I love you?
3. You’re the one

Best songs: “Moment of pleasure”, “The song of Solomon”, “Top of the city”, “Lily” and “You’re the one”.

Produced by: Kate Bush

Released: November 2, 1993

Media: Remastered 180 gram 2 X Vinyl LP, gatefold, reissued in 2018 (part of Remastered In Vinyl II)

Kate Bush - The Sensual World (1989)

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: 4/10

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)

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: 9/10

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)

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: 7/10

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.

Kate Bush – Never for ever (1980)

I’m coming honey

The cover of the album “Never for ever” shows us Kate in a dress standing on a small hill. Cascades of magical beings are shot out from under her skirt. There is a swan, a goblin, an angry bat, monkeys, a toad, a cat and many more fantastical creatures. Where do they come from? How long have they been there? Why did they leave?

Her third album is her darkest yet. Any record ending with such a dark song as “Breathing” is not a very light album. As taken pointers from Roger Waters, “Breathing” is an angry cry from a little child inside her mother’s womb for clean air to breath. It’s about the fallout from nuclear bombs, but the song may have a new meaning today with the pollution all around us, in the oceans and on the lands.

By this record Kate has taken over the main responsibility as the producer and she hasn’t left it since. I think it is glorious that she owns all important steps in the creation of her world.

The lyrics are dark and often inspired by films. The fantastic “The infant kiss” is inspired by the 1961 film “The innocents”. A governess suspects that the boy child in her care is possessed by a dead man. A fan-made film of shots from the film to the song was appreciated by Kate who said it was exactly those scenes she thought of when she wrote the song.

Almost as great, “The wedding list” is inspired by Truffaut’s 1968 film “The bride wore black” about a bride that avenge the murder of her dead groom. It’s a sad and dark song. It’s chilling.

“Delius (song of summer)” is inspired by the 1968 tv movie “Song of summer”. Sadly the song is not the strongest on the album.

The single “Babooshka” is a nice intro to the album. I love the singing, and the story is ironic and dark. The wife is sad and afraid that her husband is unfaithful. She sends him letters to prove he is in the wrong. He is attracted by the anonymous woman sending him letters, as she is reminding him of his wife before she got sad. In the end the relationship is destroyed by the paranoia.

“Blow away (for Bill)” and “All we ever look for” are also dark. “Egypt” is dreamy and a nice tune, one of the better songs on side A.

The first side of the LP is eerie and gloomy, but it is the second side of the LP that makes this album one of her greatest; four favourites “The wedding list”, “The infant kiss”, “Army dreamers” and “Breathing”.

I am not a big fan of the rocker “Violin”, I am not sure what she was thinking there. The sixth track is a short instrumental that prepare us for the majestic ending of the album. A nice touch.

The two last songs are very strong, “Army dreamers”, a sad lament over a dead son and the nightmarish “Breathing”.  Strong indeed.

Through the record Kate mostly sings with her early career high tones. I like them a lot, but you can hear her voice slowly maturing and I do love her older matured voice later in her life… Anyway, it narrowly beats out her debut album. Could it be Kate’s best album, ever for ever? Only time will tell…

My rating: 8/10

Side A:
1. Babooshka
2. Delius (song of summer)
3. Blow away (for Bill)
4. All we ever look for
5. Egypt

Side B:
1. The wedding list
2. Violin
3. The infant kiss
4. Night scented stock
5. Army dreamers
6. Breathing

Best songs: “Babooshka”, “Egypt”, “Breathing”, “The infant kiss”, “The wedding list” and “Army dreamers”

Produced by: Kate Bush, Jon Kelly

Released: September 8, 1980

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

Kate Bush - Lionheart (1978)

The anonymous second album

Only a measly nine months after the stellar debut was released, the second album was pushed out to the audience. Why the rush? I am sure the record company men wanted to make more money, but I can’t help but think that it was a tad too rushed. This note’s for you, Record Company Man. Bad!

Kate’s music is singular. This album is theatrical, autobiographical and even in one song quite erotic. I have a hard time to compare her to any other well-known artist. I may not have played this album that often, but it is such a delight to listen to it from start to finish at the time for this review.

Maybe it’s not so anonymous at all? Maybe it’s me, but I haven’t gotten a clear feeling for the record yet. The most important element is still here though. Kate’s voice is very much in the front of the mix and I do love her voice. We enjoy the high tone when she sings and get enthralled with her deeper throatier voice when she speaks (in the songs).

Themes and style from the first album “The kick inside” remain. The lyrics are influenced by literature and movies. And the lyrics are perhaps somewhat unexpected rather witty! 

The music is some sort of her own variant of vaudeville with songs that goes up and down in colour; sounds, tempo and different instruments. The quite funny song “Coffee homeground” is a very good example of the complex song structure Kate seems to prefer. The song is about a paranoid cab driver Kate met, who thought someone was trying to poison him. It’s crazy how Kate sings the song. She is enjoying herself!

The second song is “In search for Peter Pan”. Peter Pan in a song, that’s something! The picture of an astronaut searching for Peter Pan is dreamy and Bowie-esque. I love the piano, and as always, her voice.  The drums are also quite nice.

The third song, “Wow”, is the one I know best as it is on “The whole story” that I got before I truly understood Kate’s position as an artist. The singing on “Wow” is of course remarkable and well recognized.

I don’t love the fourth track “Don’t push your foot on the heartbrake” but I really like the drums. And I can appreciate how she goes for it with the singing. Powerful.

The ballad “Oh England my lionheart” is a nostalgic song about the old times. Music played only on the piano and the harpsichord. Baroque pop! Such an unusual mix of genres for a pop record. Listen on it with your headphones on.

The album cover is exciting! Kate as a lioness on a wooden box in an attic. And a lion’s head on the floor. I am not quite sure what to make out of it. A dream, a wish or just a mystery…

Turn over the LP, now it’s time for the second side. “Fullhouse” opens it up. A complex song that seems to tell an interesting story about paranoia and self-doubt. The feeling of the song is eerie, the piano in the background is making sound as out of a horror movie. Does Kate often meet herself in the rainy nights?

“In the warm room” is a simple ballad with Kate alone on the piano. The lyrics is grown up and as written to her male fans. It’s rather bewildering actually.

“Kashka from Baghdad” is a bittersweet song about two men in love. Written in 1976, before the debut album, as many songs from this album.

“Hammer horror” rounds off the album. It’s an interesting song about an actor that replaces his actor friend in the lead role on the Hunchback of Notre Dame after the friend has died on set. The friend comes back and haunt the actor. Yet another very cinematic lyric.

This is of course not an anonymous album! Nevertheless it still feels like “minor Kate” to me. Seven of the ten songs were “old” songs, written before the debut album. They were leftovers, as a matter of fact. After “Lionheart” Kate got almost two years to make her third album, an album she also co-produced. This one is a part of her work, and as such it has its place in history, but there will come stronger albums down the road…

My rating: 6/10

Side A:

1. Symphony in blue

2. In search of Peter Pan

3. Wow

4. Don’t push your foot on the heartbrake

5. Oh England my lionheart

Side B:

1. Fullhouse

2. In the warm room

3. Kashka from Baghdad

4. Coffee homeground

5. Hammer horror

Best songs: “Wow”, “Oh England my lionheart”, “Coffee homeground”

Produced by: Andrew Powell

Released: November 13, 1978

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

David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)

Floating in a most peculiar way

David Bowie was a trend setter, he was a true influencer. Yes. He saw trends early and adapted fast, but I don’t think he invented them. But all that came later, at the earliest stages of his career he was almost rudderless. From the crazy vaudeville and music hall theatrics of the debut album in 1967 to his second self-titled album in 1969 he was a follower. Quite talented, but still a follower. 

The 1969 debut album “David Bowie”, that later was called “Space oddity” on many re-releases, is a mix of different moods and styles. Many of the songs are in the folk music tradition of the sixties. Overall the LP lacks the consistency of his works in the seventies, so this would be “minor” Bowie.

Without the monumental “Space oddity” the album would have been weak even. Now it is passable at least. “Space oddity” is one of his songs that are so well known, so “important” and so often played that I feel some fatigue from it. As a part of the LP it pops out and it is great, but as part of numerous “best of” albums and playlists it may have run its course and burnt out, just a little. The song was used to perfection in the long introduction scene in Luc Besson’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”. It may have been the best part of the whole movie! When it pops up unannounced like that I realize, again, how great it is.

However, I have never been a fan of the LP, it is too straggly. As a “Bowieian” I feel a little embarrassed, but here it is. I am not a fan of this album. At closer review there are some nice tracks, but still “the whole” is not greater than “the sum of its parts” in this case. Some notable later albums will be quite the opposite.

The opening track “Space oddity”. What do we have on it? I like the intro, the music is faded in like a mystery, the acoustic guitar, the militaristic drums, and then David’s voice. That voice was lighter and in a higher pitch early in his life. It is good. I like the counting, the themes, the space travels, the dreams. Major Tom is a friend. He has always been there watching from the sky.

The next song is “Unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed”, what a jaunty name of a song! It has a nice electric guitar and a somewhat slightly boring harmonica. The song grows on you though.

Jumping to the last song on the first side we are faced with the elusive “Cygnet committee”. Is it about very small swans? I like swans, they are one of the most beautiful animals I know. The song is an early progressive rock song, it’s long and flowing, and it has separate distinct parts. I like the middle part, and I like the ending with the repeated lines “I want to live”. What killed the hippy movement? I love the melancholy in the text and singing. David is doing a great job expressing himself.

“We’d speak of a Swedish room…”... Smiles, fun to hear! Is it the room in my childhood home in Skövde? Which room is it? Is it big?

Tony Visconti, David’s old friend and producer, is producing this album together with someone called Gus. Visconti is also playing the bass. Other notable musicians are Rick Wakeman of YES fame on the keyboards, and guitarist Tim Renwick that later would play with Pink Floyd in the eighties.

On “God knows I’m good” I almost don’t recognize David’s voice. It is like from another century even. It is part of many Bowie songs that are dealing with dystopia and scary future worlds. This theme of his is something that is popping up here and there in his music.

The last song on the LP is the sing-along “Memory of a free festival”. It’s like Bowie’s “Hey Jude” but, well you know, not quite as good. I think you all can agree. It was a favourite of mine when I was younger but nowadays I think it is too simpleton, too naïve… and we’re gonna have a party.

My rating: 4/10

Side A:
1. Space oddity
2. Unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed
3. Letter to Hermione
4. Cygnet committee

Side B:
1. Janine
2. An occasional dream
3. Wild eyed boy from Freecloud
4. God knows I’m good
5. Memory of a free festival

Best songs: "Space oddity”

Released on November 14, 1969

Produced by: Tony Visconti

Media: Remastered 180 gram vinyl, reissued in 2015 as part of the "Five Years (1969-1973)" super deluxe box.

David Bowie - "Heroes" (1977)

My first Bowie album

I am fairly sure that “Heroes” was the first album by Bowie I ever owned. It must have been around 1981 when I was working in a record shop two weeks as part of an assignment for school. All kids got to work as interns at real work places. I choose a record store in my small home town Skövde. My friend worked at a bakery and got home every day with a bag full of still warm sweet pastries. I got to pick one record “for free” after my two weeks of work. The decision felt monumental… it was “Heroes”…

At that time I didn’t like it that much, I might have been too young. I had “Alladin sane” and “Diamond dogs” on a TDK audio tape and those records were much easier to fall in love with. A couple of years later when “Let’s dance” came out, the album “Heroes” almost was forgotten. But not so much anymore. This is a sneaky good record.

Just as “Low” we get one side of the album with songs with singing and a second side with mostly instrumental songs. The album is a piece best listened to as a whole entity. It is mature music, not easy listening. The album opens with the pulsating and almost frantic “Beauty and the beast”. You really can’t say no to the beauty and the beast. Liebling… It is a great first song.

“Joe the lion” is not my favourite on the album. The inspiration to the song was the performance artist Chris Burden who got his 15 minutes of fame by having himself nailed to the top of a Volkswagen in 1974. Bowie’s vocals are impressive though.

“Heroes” is the third song. Is it too famous? How can you even start to assess a song that you have heard so many times? Is it boring? Is it great? As a part of the experience listening to the album it is great! Bowie may have written it about the stolen kisses his producer Tony Visconti and Antonia Maas got beneath the Berlin wall during the recording sessions. Legend has it that produced Tony Visconti put three microphones with different distances to Bowie in the room. They got activated at different sound levels and due to their respective distance to the singer a slight delay was introduced for each mic. When Bowie puts in more and more power he sings in chorus with himself.

“Sons of the silent age” is a slow song with a heavy saxophone and a showcase for David singing. What is he thinking of here? In “Blackout” he is either signing of an actual blackout in New York City or his mental breakdown before he moved to Berlin.

Now we come to the very exciting second side of the album. It’s an atmospheric ambient music that is all about feelings. The songs are written by Bowie with a lot of help by Brian Eno who also introduced the oblique strategies where he would distribute random “strategy” cards to the band to follow. Eno said nein to rehearsals, to induce a creative environment built on chaos and uncertainties.

“V-2 Schneider” is an almost instrumental powerful song with military undertones. Funny note, Bowie’s sax is played in the wrong key, but it works anyway. 

The subsequent three instrumental songs make up a mighty section. “Sense of doubt” feels like a space ship taking off and travelling to unseen places, “Moss garden” takes us to Japan. “Neuköln” is a melancholic lament for the Turkish immigrants in the Berlin district Neukölln (Bowie may intentionally have named the song misspelled). The lonely saxophone is crying! The song could easily been used in the classic movie Blade runner.

The album is rounded off with an almost disco-esque dance romp, “The secret life of Arabia”. It’s one of the hidden treasures of the album, even though one could argue that it’s actually misplaced on the album. It should not have been the last song. But, hand claps! Catchy!

My rating: 7/10

Side A:
1. Beauty and the beast
2. Joe the Lion
3. “Heroes”
4. Sons of the silent age
5. Blackout

Side B:
1. V-2 Schneider
2. Sense of doubt
3. Moss garden
4. Neuköln
5. The secret life of Arabia

Best songs: “Heroes”, “The secret life of Arabia”

Produced by: David Bowie and Tony Visconti

Media: Remastered 180 gram vinyl, reissued in 2018, part of the box "A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)"

Released: October 14, 1977

Kate Bush – The kick inside (1978)

Kate’s stellar debut album

Kate Bush is one of the most impressive artists out there. Her voice is her most magnificent instrument, there is talk about four-octave range which would be very impressive indeed. She may not be able to go all the way with her voice anymore, and yet I love it more and more the older she gets. But singing aside, it’s her personality I really love, or is it maybe her artist persona? To me I see a powerful will with a strong individual self. She’s like a witch, but the good kind. I get the feeling that she will only have it her way, and I admire that. Her story started in the seventies…

Legend has it that David Gilmour discovered Kate Bush at a very young age, around fourteen years old. It was around 1973 and her first album was still to be released five years later. In 1975 Gilmour produced two songs that also ended up on the debut, “The man with the child in his eyes” and “The saxophone song”.

The debut album is great. It’s unique and Kate can’t be compared to anyone. The music is theatrical and complex, true art pop with influences from baroque music as well as progressive rock from the seventies. Even though she has released several singles from each album I don’t see her music as focused on hit singles. The music is part of a bigger unit – the album, and it should be enjoyed in that format.

The remastered vinyl from 2018 is quite nice. I hear some background noise in a few places, most notably between songs on the second side. But the overall quality is great, and the music is clear and separated.

The artwork, an excellent replica of the original LP cover from the seventies, is glossy and colourful. It is more interesting than beautiful. It’s like a picture from a dream.

“Moving” is a perfect first song with focus on Kates quite soft voice with clear drums and some interesting turns musically. It gets you in the mood for the album, one of many songs that are very theatrical. The album starts with sounds of whales similar to what Crosby, Stills & Nash used to use.

The second song “The saxophone song” is the first one Gilmour produced and sure enough it starts off with pigs grunting. Also, the forceful saxophone gets us Pink Floyd fans to feel at home. Thinking about Us and them or why not Shine on?

“Strange phenomena” is straight forward but very nice. The production is really good where you hear the voice, drums, piano and bass clearly.

“The man with child in his eyes” is beautiful. It starts out simple, Kate’s voice and an orchestra with piano and flutes in the forefront. Very, very nice indeed.

The albums magnus opus is of course “Wuthering heights”. It is sung in a high tone, a youngster’s voice. It starts with the iconic first lines, but when the drums kick in I got goose bumps running up my arms. Clearly influenced by the book or the movies, the song is about what you would expect. It is nearly perfect, even though the guitar solo in the end doesn’t do that much for me. Kate, privately called Cathy, has stated that she identifies with Cathy in the song. I think that feeling is clearly communicated.

“Them heavy people” is quite fun with the male backing vocals. The song makes me think about “circus music” or maybe it’s a little vaudeville. “James and the cold gun” is a wonderful up-tempo song. “Feel it” seems very sincere. Well, all songs on the second side is fun to listen to.

As a first album this is great. It may not be my favourite of hers, but it has such an unique identity that makes it not only beautiful but also important… Yes!

My rating: 8/10

Side A:

1. Moving
2. The saxophone song
3. Strange phenomena
4. Kite
5. The man with the child in his eyes
6. Wuthering heights

Side B:

1. James and the cold gun
2. Feel it
3. Oh to be in love
4. L’amour looks something like you
5. Them heavy people
6. Room for the life
7. The kick inside

Best songs: “Wuthering heights”, “Moving”

Produced by: Andrew Powell and David Gilmour (two songs)

Released: February 17, 1978

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