The Kate Bush thread

[Progatron]

First five are amazing. Next two have their moments, and I never really got into the more recent ones.

[TheH]

Love the first 6, I'm not to much into the following ones

Something funny

[Halmyre]

Oh hot damn, the naughty boys

Dammit, we need better punishments.

Go and sit with Rufus.

[PhilIsLife]

Dammit, we need better punishments.

Go and sit with Rufus.

I think that would be very beneficial for Rufus ;-)

[ProgArtist]

I can't let a Kate Bush thread die so quickly, so here are my album rankings:

The Dreaming
The Ninth Wave
The Kick Inside (A teenager made this!?!)
Never For Ever
Lionheart
Hounds of Love (side 1)
This Woman's Work Vol. 1

The Sensual World
Aerial Disc 1
The Red Shoes
50 Words For Snow
This Woman's Work Vol. 2

<<Gap>>

Aerial Disc 2

I'm not including "Director's Cut" as those are reworkings of previously released songs, although the same could be said for most of "This Woman's Work Vol. 2".

[Stevie B]

My top 3 are Hounds of Love, Never For Ever and Aerial...but there's plenty to love in every Kate Bush album

[loosefish]

She's (a) god.

The Dreaming
The Kick Inside
Never For Ever
Hounds Of Love (mainly for the Ninth Wave)
The Sensual World (underrated. At least half of it's superb)
Aerial (good on headphones and late night walks)
Lionheart
50 Words For Snow (skipping that one Elton John ruins)
Directors Cut

I've never heard The Red Shoes, but apparently i'm not missing much (Moments Of Pleasure aside)

[kitaj]

the best ones are probably The Dreaming and Hounds of Love, but my fav ones are The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. the former is possibly the deepest-felt Kate, while the latter especially has gone up in my estimation exponentially over the years. it is an all-eras Kate display wrapped in one album with beautiful songs, extremely catchy pop next to darkly experimental ones, sung with heartfelt voice(s) at all ranges.
TRS was received as a 'boring'/sell-out middle-age album at the time and this stigma unfairly goes on, when it may prove to be her most satisfying overall. David Sylvian's Dead Bees on a Cake is a very similar kind of album for me - a reviled Sylvian-lite paraphernalia in my younger years, it has totally come to its own in my current middle-ish age. both are very positive, effusing, refreshing albums, gently taking chances in avenues not readily associated with their respective creators' perceived main interests. I say, give The Red Shoes a chance!
the analogue remastered Red Shoes I like enough for its differences (there are also some minor mix-related ones), but I prefer the livelier, brighter original digital master.

of the later ones, I love 50 Words, have somehow never warmed up to Aerial, and deem Director's Cut a mostly irrelevant curio, but interesting enough to hear for a fan's investigation of its differences to the originals.

[Stevie B]

She's (a) god.

The Dreaming
The Kick Inside
Never For Ever
Hounds Of Love (mainly for the Ninth Wave)
The Sensual World (underrated. At least half of it's superb)
Aerial (good on headphones and late night walks)
Lionheart
50 Words For Snow (skipping that one Elton John ruins)
Directors Cut

I've never heard The Red Shoes, but apparently i'm not missing much (Moments Of Pleasure aside)

If you've got Director's Cut you've got half of The Red Shoes (albeit different versions), but you're missing a lot of good songs (Why Should I Love You, You're the One, Eat the Music)...The Red Shoes is a very good album although I'm not a huge fan of the production.

[Halmyre]

She's (a) god.

The Dreaming
The Kick Inside
Never For Ever
Hounds Of Love (mainly for the Ninth Wave)
The Sensual World (underrated. At least half of it's superb)
Aerial (good on headphones and late night walks)
Lionheart
50 Words For Snow (skipping that one Elton John ruins)
Directors Cut

I've never heard The Red Shoes, but apparently i'm not missing much (Moments Of Pleasure aside)

There are quite a few decent tracks, but also quite a lot of meh - Song of Solomon, Lily, Eat The Music, Top of the City. However, she chose two of those tracks for her concerts and ignored all the good stuff, so what do I know!

[ProgArtist]

Nice to hear some love for "The Red Shoes". The first time I heard it I had checked it out from the library and got nothing out of it. Years later my sister-in-law, knowing I'm a Kate fan, mentioned she had just bought it and how great it was. I was a bit surprised that she had found anything positive to say about it. Eventually I bought a very cheap, used CD and was surprised at how good it was. Sure, there are 3 or 4 duds on it, but that still leaves 8 or 9 really good tracks. If you've dismissed the album, go give "Lily", "The Red Shoes" and "Top of the City" a listen.

Having said all this, it's still number 10 on my full album list above.

There are quite a few decent tracks, but also quite a lot of meh - Song of Solomon, Lily, Eat The Music, Top of the City. However, she chose two of those tracks for her concerts and ignored all the good stuff, so what do I know!

Wait, are those the "meh" tracks? Funny, two of those are the ones I just listed as the good ones! I think most of the "meh" tracks are saved for the end of the album, although as I look at the track listing, I guess I even like most of those nowadays, too. (Which isn't to say they're on par with her better work!)

[Halmyre]

Nice to hear some love for "The Red Shoes". The first time I heard it I had checked it out from the library and got nothing out of it. Years later my sister-in-law, knowing I'm a Kate fan, mentioned she had just bought it and how great it was. I was a bit surprised that she had found anything positive to say about it. Eventually I bought a very cheap, used CD and was surprised at how good it was. Sure, there are 3 or 4 duds on it, but that still leaves 8 or 9 really good tracks. If you've dismissed the album, go give "Lily", "The Red Shoes" and "Top of the City" a listen.

Having said all this, it's still number 10 on my full album list above.



Wait, are those the "meh" tracks? Funny, two of those are the ones I just listed as the good ones! I think most of the "meh" tracks are saved for the end of the album, although as I look at the track listing, I guess I even like most of those nowadays, too. (Which isn't to say they're on par with her better work!)

To be honest, I haven't listened to it in some time, so I might be confusing Top of the City with something else, but I definitely don't like Eat the Music or Song of Solomon.

[Progbear]

[JKL2000]

I like Constellation of the Heart from Red Shoes. No one's mentioned it, is that one people consider "meh?"

[kitaj]

possibly yes. I love it. love the whole album, really.

[Progbear]

I would say that the quality drop comes with Red Shoes. Hounds of Love is #1.

I thought that The Sensual World was significantly less inspired than what came before. Apart from “Love & Anger,” “Reaching Out” and the title track, I can’t remember a thing about it. I know the Trio Bulgarka are in there once or twice, but they can’t make up for the general suckiness of the material.

[Halmyre]

I thought that The Sensual World was significantly less inspired than what came before. Apart from “Love & Anger,” “Reaching Out” and the title track, I can’t remember a thing about it. I know the Trio Bulgarka are in there once or twice, but they can’t make up for the general suckiness of the material.

I can forgive that any time I watch the video for The Sensual World.

[Stevie B]

I thought that The Sensual World was significantly less inspired than what came before. Apart from “Love & Anger,” “Reaching Out” and the title track, I can’t remember a thing about it. I know the Trio Bulgarka are in there once or twice, but they can’t make up for the general suckiness of the material.

Well apart from those you mention it also has one of her absolute greatest songs...This Woman's Work

[spacefreak]

--essential--
Hounds Of Love (her masterpiece and one of the best albums of the 80s)

--recommended--
The Dreaming
The Kick Inside
Lionheart
Aerial
Never For Ever

--never cared for--
The Sensual World
The Red Shoes
50 Words For Snow

[kitaj]

Well apart from those you mention it also has one of her absolute greatest songs...This Woman's Work

it's also got The Fog, Never Be Mine, Deeper Understanding and Rocket's Tail, all of them among Kate's absolute best IME (E = estimation).

I understand that unlike Dreaming and Hounds it's not an album that may wow you with special effects so to say, but for me it goes deeper that either of them - which is not to say it's a 'boring' one.

[brianh]

I thought that The Sensual World was significantly less inspired than what came before. Apart from “Love & Anger,” “Reaching Out” and the title track, I can’t remember a thing about it. I know the Trio Bulgarka are in there once or twice, but they can’t make up for the general suckiness of the material.

tell ya what. Let's flip for it and...errr....Heads We're Dancing?

[yesstiles]

I can't let a Kate Bush thread die so quickly, so here are my album rankings:

The Dreaming
The Ninth Wave
The Kick Inside (A teenager made this!?!)
Never For Ever
Lionheart
Hounds of Love (side 1)
This Woman's Work Vol. 1

The Sensual World
Aerial Disc 1
The Red Shoes
50 Words For Snow
This Woman's Work Vol. 2

<<Gap>>

Aerial Disc 2

I'm almost in complete agreement with you, with one glaring exception. I rank Aerial Disc 2 as one of her best - probably #5 on the list.

[ProgArtist]

I'm almost in complete agreement with you, with one glaring exception. I rank Aerial Disc 2 as one of her best - probably #5 on the list.

I realize a lot of people rate Aerial Disc 2 very highly, and I remain completely perplexed. Clearly Kate thinks highly of it as well as she performed it in its entirety at her concert. I think it has potential but falls flat- really flat. Meant to celebrate the beauty of life and nature, the music fails to capture what the lyrics all too simplistically state. My favorite of her albums, "The Dreaming", is almost the antithesis of Aerial II: It's jagged, bizarre, unique, and incredibly creative. I think there's more intensity in the three and a half minutes of "Sat in Your Lap" than all of "A Sky of Honey" combined! Those last few rather long songs, for instance, just keep repeating the same chords and rhythm over and over for an incredibly long time.

Lyrically, I find the work she did as a teenager deeper and more compelling than this "mature" work. "It was beautiful, it was just so beautiful", for example, is almost a-poetic. I'd rather some sort of dreamy metaphor than a simple statement of "it was really pretty". As a visual artist, one might think I'd appreciate two songs devoted to painting, but instead they annoy me. Once again, we get lyrics like "And it's my favourite piece- It's just great". And the male voice in "The Painter's Link" is horrible.

Did I mention I really don't like "A Sky of Honey"? That said, there are a few good moments, particularly in the first two tracks, and most notably the flamenco section of a later song. I LOVE that part. As I often do when this album comes up, I'll probably attempt to give it another listen with open ears to see if I come around to it, but after so many failed attempts it's hard to have much hope.

[JKL2000]

^^ <<That said, there are a few good moments, particularly in the first two tracks, and most notably the flamenco section of a later song>>

You're probably referring to the song "Sunset." I love that song! Her voice on it, while "safe," has never sounded more beautiful, IMO.

[marblesmike]

Sunset is my favorite song of hers post-Sensual World. The live version I saw was great too.