Kate Bush

Hounds of Love
$15.49
For my definition of 'classic' albums please refer to my review of 'Heaven Or Las Vegas' by the Cocteau Twins.
I am not ashamed to say that until the early 90's I knew nothing about Kate but her hit single Wuthering Heights that would be included in most anthologies of female's artists. Neither am I ashamed to say I do not know why I suddenly became interested in Kate's discography. At that time I did not have yet a computer to make researches at internet and for that matter I do not remember whether there was any type of music research at internet in those days. But I was the first guy in the neighborhood to buy the now obsolete Laser Disc Player and a small collection of big and hard silver LPs. It was in a trip to Miami that I found the LD The Whole Story. A perfect collection of some of Kate's best songs and video clips. Who would have the guts to skip any of those tracks?
1. Wuthering Heights
2. Cloudbusting
3. The Man with the Child in His Eyes
4. Breathing
5. Wow
6. Hounds of Love
7. Running Up That Hill
8. Army Dreamers
9. Sat in Your Lap
10. Experiment IV
11. The Dreaming
12. Babooshka
Mine still had the bonus 13. The Big Sky! And who would be so crazy as to not have Kate's complete collection of albums after getting to know a little bit of her whole story? I had been but not too long. And on a very sunshiny and happy day, at the dawn of my spirituality, before the brotherhood of fraternity gathered for the Tuesday's lunch, I dropped by that galleria where a used vinyl of Hounds of Love was on sale for not a too Philadelphian price. But that one was meant to be mine: original black vinyl and sleeve.
1. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
I did make a deal with God then but I never honored my part of that deal and when I listen to this song I always see myself running up that hill in all my lifetime and reaching out for God only to find that his patience is never-ending and he usually gives us much more than a second chance.
2. Hounds Of Love
A song of eerie pleasure, hope and elegancy. It contains all the grace of Cynder Lauper's only two good songs, Time After Time and True Colors.
3. The Big Sky
The sky is not big enough for this great song. Heaven is neither. Therefore God's voice shouted it down and made it a down to earth track with many nations' flags, including the Brazilian one, after all, as people here in the 5th of all Hells say, God is Brazilian!
4. Mother Stands For Comfort
Every great album must have a sad song, a somewhat sad and weird track, like an Eleanor Rigby, like a Day In The Life.
5. Cloudbusting
This sounds like Adam and Eve after breaking the deal with God, and trying to reconciliate with him by making something for both God and Man alike. The drumming and chanting at the last part is Human at his/her best and that is why God loves music.
6. And Dream Of Sheep
A beautiful ballad that works like a demo dreaming of being Hello Earth.
7. Under Ice
A haunting bridge to the more weird songs that will follow.
8. Waking The Witch.
You may want to skip this track and make this album less than a classic but this is a Number 9. Would you ever take Number 9 off The White Album?
9. Watching You Without Me
Charmful, spell casting, really witching, rhythmic and mesmerizing. It is the work of a witch. It is a woman's work and it is the prototype of The Sensual World.
10. Jig Of Life
A mixture of scary and Celtic sound. Unpaired!
11. Hello Earth
A duet by God and Human with God letting Human sing all the way and making sure she will not sing out of tune. And angels add dark chants to give the song a god-like nuance. Fantastic.
12. The Morning Fog
Tuesday lunch is over and I am already missing it but Kate sings joyfully and I find enough strength to go through the rest of the week.
I do not have the extra tracks therefore I cannot make any comment about them. I am sure God will give me another chance to cover them.
By the way, do you remember I told you that a guy I met laughed at me when I told him I was very fond of the Cocteau Twins? Well, when Aerial was launched here in Brazil, a journalist writing for a famous newspaper in my city, made a very bad review of this last Kate's album, and reduced her to that boring girl with a boring child-like voice that made her a one hit wonder with Wuthering Heights. That's all he knows. Well, he is right when he says that Aerial is poor but that is Kate's hell. He's never been to Kate's heavenly days and most certainly he never listened to this masterpiece or Kate's other great albums.
As I said, I never honored my part in my deal with God and I hope someday I will and meantime this album has given me more than spirituality. It has given me something far beyond spirituality and which eventually led me to write Berry Tree Valley which should be printed not longer than a couple of years or so from today.
Thank you for all the dreams, Kate!

Alceu Natali, January 20th, 2009

This Woman's Work (Album Version)
$0.99
Everytime I have heard this song , it was playing as a song in the background of a movie or television show when someone has just given birth to a baby. From when I heard it from the very first time i thought it was the great Cyndi Lauper. Kate Bush I must commend you on such a touching song to my heart. Its beautiful and breathtaking.

Hounds of Love
$19.95
Full disclosure: I'm not a Kate Bush fan. Her music is just not my type of music. Except for Hounds of Love. It's phenomenal. If you're a major fan of her work, well versed in the trivia and minutiae of her career, this DVD may not have anything for you. Its most notable flaw is a lack of participation from Bush herself. But if you're a casual fan, or a fan of this particular album, you may enjoy the presentation.

I love the "sausage-making" aspects of music documentaries - all the creative decisions, the happy accidents, the fights that changed music history - and the DVD brings them out, track by track. Even without Kate Bush herself present (there's a barely-audible tape interview in the extras) there's plenty of insight from the other musicians.

The Sensual World
$6.99
I avoided this album for years. I finally listened to it and I "got" it. What a smooth, sensual and complex album. Sonically amazing, with its bagpipes, American Indian flutes, penny whistles, church bells, electronic washes and spooky lyrics. I really love it. This Woman's Work is one of the best songs ever written. This is a Kate Bush album for people who would be terrified by any of other other stuff. Mature, mellow and something that needs to be listen to as a whole album. Just let yourself absorb this album on a cold autumn night.