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Kate BushAlbums ReviewedThe Kick Inside (1978)Lionheart (1978) The Dreaming (1982) The Hounds of Love (1985) The Whole Story (1986) The Sensual World (1988) The Kick Inside(1978)Kate Bush was discovered by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour as a teenager, and placed into a unique training scheme by her record label EMI, where she was taken out of school and studied dance, mime and music. Her debut was released when she was a mere 19 years old, and a couple of the strongest tracks were recorded when she was only 16. Bush went on to make more ambitious and creative albums, but The Kick Inside is a stunningly assured debut. It's homogenous in texture, with sophisticated pop tunes inflected with theatrical and jazzy touches, but it's nicely performed and arranged, and Bush is a unique enough frontwoman to stop The Kick Inside from ever becoming generic. It's difficult to find too many direct influences on Bush's style, even from this early stage she's doggedly following her own path. Most of the song structures are relatively straightforward, but the lyrics are often on the point of controversy. The title track takes on incest, while there's plenty of sexual imagery scattered among the lyrics; Bush obviously made use of the new boundaries set in the wake of The Sex Pistols and other punk bands in the late seventies, even if her music itself owes more to Peter Gabriel or even Gilbert and Sullivan. The tour de force here, and the song that launched Bush's career, is 'Wuthering Heights'. Making full use of Bush's theatrical instincts and soaring vocals, the song places Bush in the role of Cathy from Bronte's work; it's approaching progressive rock in its ambition and scope, and ends with a Gilmouresque guitar solo. It's certainly a whole lot more entertaining than reading the book. 'Wuthering Heights' is far and away the best song, but everything else is entertaining in a more modest fashion. 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' is an incredible song for a sixteen year old to write; the classy passing G chord during the "Ooh" makes the song, while the impressionist beauty of the voice, music and lyrics is breath-taking. The lyrics in general aren't too impressive on paper; unlike the music they betray Kate's young age ("that feeling of sticky love inside"), but the musical elements of The Kick Inside are so classy and assured that the occasional piece of sophomorism is irrelevant. Even lines like "We were built tough/Because we're women" are rendered tolerable with Bush's sense of elegance. Bush has a talent for this pop-oriented material; her chord structures are interesting without ever losing listeners, while she's gifted at writing catchy choruses. Her natural inclinations may be towards eccentricity and artiness, but she still has the musical faculty to reach a mass pop audience whenever she chooses. Still, this is arguably the most perfect album Bush could make in this vein and it's no surprise that she never tried to top it, veering off in a different and more characteristic direction with her next record. 
 Lionheart(1978)While The Kick Inside was an excellent album, Bush reshaped the direction of her career with Lionheart. This time the focus is more on atmosphere and texture, and the material is far less commercial than previously. At least it sounds like a completely new approach; in actual fact, Kate was pressured by her record company to come up with a new album, and only had time to write three new songs, and had to use earlier leftovers to fill up the album. Either way, this is easily the worst Kate Bush album that I've heard; although to be fair other acts from the era, including The Jam and XTC, also produced sub par albums in similar circumstances. Her singing is often grating and unpleasant, while the material lacks the memorable melodies and hooks that Bush displayed in abundance on her previous album. None of the songs here rank among Kate's best, while several are downright boring ('In The Warm Room') or almost unlistenable ('Fullhouse'). On the positive side, her lyrics are less generic, even though it's still often apparent that a twenty year old wrote them. Lionheart is not devoid of interest, but it goes off the deep end in the second half, and even Bush herself dismisses it as sub par. It also has one of the dumbest album covers in the history of popular music, with Kate posing in a lion suit. The catchiest, and on this unwieldy album catchiest really does equate with best, songs are 'Wow' and 'Hammer Horror'. The former mostly functions as a showcase for Bush's vocals, drawing the title word through her impressive range, although the piano-based verses are also pretty. 'Hammer Horror' is too bizarre for radio, but it's memorable enough with Bush's vocal histrionics. There's also a couple of pretty ballads; 'Symphony in Blue' gets the album off to a nice start, while 'Oh England My Lionheart' is humble and likeable. 'Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake' and 'Coffee Homeground' both have potential, but are weighed down by a mixture of annoying vocals, overarching cuteness and lack of melodic power. All in all, Lionheart does give an indication of the more unique sides of Bush's talent that weren't as apparent on The Kick Inside, and it's a pointer to the direction her career would take. Despite being difficult, it will still interest established fans as it is hardly lacking in personality or creativity; just don't start with it unless you're a masochist.
The Dreaming(1982)There's an album in between (1980's Never For Ever), but even so the progression from Lionheart to this album is astonishing. While she was moving into more idiosyncratic territory with Lionheart she had difficulty making her material accessible, her voice was often used awkwardly, and the material often betrayed her young age. Here, she's far more assured; while Peter Gabriel acted as a mentor to her during this phase of her career and she's following a similar path to his albums from the same era, she's developed her own unique style and vision at this point. What's most striking is the way that most of these songs function as mini-films; they're mostly theatrical in nature and uniquely structured, with carefully planned textures, so that the end results are highly evocative, ranging from the music hall flavour of 'There Goes A Tenner' to the tenseness of 'Get Out Of My House'. Bush's flexible voice is the key ingredient that allows her to switch betweeen so many voices. The subject matter is mostly obscure and literate, reflecting some eclectic choices in reading material and a vivid imagination. There's the story of a Viet Cong guerilla in 'Pull Out The Pin' and the Australian setting of the title track, but the only way to work out what most of these songs are about is to ask Kate herself. The end result isn't particularly coherent, and it hasn't dated particularly gracefully, but overall The Dreaming contains some of the most creative music of its era. Bush takes more risks and covers more stylistic territory than some bands do in their entire careers, and it's not surprising that there are a few rough edges. First single and lead off track 'Sat In Your Lap' is arguably the boldest step here; almost devoid of commercial appeal and full of jarring rhythms and awkward chants, it sets the adventurous tone for the album right from the get go. Geoff Downes guests on synth horns, while David Gilmour undertakes the weirdest guest spot of his career with the war drama 'Pull Out The Pin', with his spoken vocals providing the counterpoint to Bush's impassioned "Just one thing in it/Me or him/And I love life." Perhaps the central point of the album is 'Night of The Swallow' where Bush rasps out the verse, before a plethora of traditional Irish instruments provide impetus for the soaring chorus. The angry 'Get Out Of My House' is a dark album closer, with a unique coda where Kate and her brother Paddy engage in a bizarre folklore reference duel; "I will not let you in/I face toward the wind/I change into the mule/Hee-haw, Hee-haw." The more conventional piano balladry of 'All The Love' would have slotted in fine onto The Kick Inside, but most of this material is utterly unique. Most of these songs are ends to themselves and they're only united in their weirdness and obscurity, diminishing the impact of the album as a whole, but The Dreaming is still surprisingly enjoyable and accessible for an album with such an exploratory spirit.
The Hounds of Love(1985)Kate Bush is fairly close to being a mad genius, but for The Hounds of Love she manages to rein in her more extreme tendencies to create a record that is accessible and beautiful, yet startlingly original, idiosyncratic and texturally diverse. While Kate's piano and Fairlight synthesiser are often dominant, she borrows Pink Floyd's helicopter and introduces a didgeridu, her brother reading poetry, orchestration and folk instrumentation into an intoxicating mix. Kate's vocal performance on The Hounds of Love is also incredible; it is difficult to imagine many singers capable of her technical prowess, let alone expressing all the emotion and personality that her vocals convey. The 1998 remaster adds six bonus tracks, allowing The Hounds of Love to be divided into three distinct segments. The single laden first segment, the first side of the original album, is perhaps the least interesting. The dog noises that Kate indulges in in the title track are probably the best example of her imagination overcoming her common sense, while the entire side is more steeped in eighties production values than the remainder of the album. However the string driven 'Cloudbursting' is absolutely stunning, and 'Running Up That Hill' and 'The Big Sky' bristle with creative impetuosity ("That cloud, that cloud looks like Ireland/Come on blow it a kiss now."). The second segment of The Hounds of Love is a mini concept album about a woman drowning, and is much more introspective. Kate's imagination is still working overtime, creating a sackful of evocative moments. 'Waking the Witch' is genuinely creepy, while the climax of 'Morning Fog' is beautiful. Interestingly the title 'Morning Fog' is derived from The Bible (James 4:14: "For your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone."). All the songs detail Kate's reaction to her drowning fantasy; 'Hello Earth' casts her in an afterlife where she can hold the world in the palm of her hand, while 'Morning Fog' is her final farewell to her family. The third segment appends worthwhile dance mixes of 'The Big Sky' and 'Running Up That Hill', as well as the beautiful 'Under The Ivy' and the breathtaking a capella of 'My Lagaan Love'. While The Hounds of Love is far from flawless, you just have to accept that Bush thrives on taking artistic risks and even though they don't all come off, she's at least creating something unique and heartfelt. Kate Bush has let her creative muse roam freely over The Hounds of Love, and the results are breathtaking far more often than they are dated or boring.
The Whole Story(1986)English pianist/singer/song-writer Kate Bush plays her three trump cards at the beginning of The Whole Story. 'Wuthering Heights', based on the book of the same name, starts with a lovely tinkly piano, goes to incredibly weird and high places, then ends with a distinctive guitar solo. 'Cloudbursting' soars among rhythmic strings, while 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' is a lovely ballad that Kate recorded when she was seventeen, after being discovered by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. While Bush's early records are sparse and often haunting, such as 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' and 'Wow', her later material incorporates more diverse elements. These sometimes work well, such as the strings in 'Cloudbursting', but more often the result reeks of tasteless eighties production values. Most bizarre of all is the material from 1982's The Dreaming, which is inaccessible and unsuited to a compilation. One can't help but think that The Whole Story would be far more satisfying if Kate Bush had come of age in a more tasteful decade; 'Running Up That Hill' and the otherwise unavailable 'Experiment IV' are excellent, but are less stylistically appealing when placed against her earlier work. While The Whole Story's unordered trawl through Kate's catalogue unearths some excellent songs, it doesn't exhibit the full array of her talents. In any case she's more of an album based artist, although hardcore fans will still need to hear 'Experiment IV' and the newly recorded vocal to 'Wuthering Heights'.
The Sensual World(1989)Kate Bush spent four years constructing a follow up to The Hounds of Love. Regrettably The Sensual World loses some of the charm of its predecessor, swapping spirituality for sensuality and veering closer to mainstream pop. Kate's muse is far more constrained than on The Hounds of Love, making The Sensual World a smoother but less scenic ride. Kate is still prepared to paint with some unusual musical elements; the folk textures are wisely recycled from The Hounds of Love, while a stunning new addition to her palette is The Trio Bulgarka. The three female Bulgarian singers even bring life to the 'Deeper Understanding', a dated tribute to Kate's computer; "I was loading a new programme/I had ordered from a magazine/"Are you lonely, are you lost?/This voice console is a must"/I press Execute...[beeping noises]..." Instead of borrowing Pink Floyd's helicopter, Kate borrows guitarist David Gilmour, who contributes surprisingly energetic performances to 'Love and Anger' and 'Rocket's Tail'. Highlights include the rollicking and melodic 'Love and Anger', the beautiful piano ballad 'This Woman's Work', and 'Rocket's Tail' which launches into a full band arrangement after a lengthy a capella prelude. These are countered by a number of nondescript songs that lack any distinctive hooks or musical ideas. The Sensual World loses the unpredictable peaks and troughs that made Kate's earlier work appealing, but retains enough of her distinctive artistic voice to make it a worthwhile addition to her canon.
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
