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KATE BUSH
HOUNDS OF LOVE |
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| | Reviews: 97 |
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| Average Rating: 9.61 |
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Side 1 - 3 stars, Side 2 - 7 stars
by "erosfortuna" Pasadena, CA USA
Reviewed on January 20th, 2003
It always pains me to talk about this album because I know it is the favorite of many Kate fans, simply because it's the first they ever knew of her. The simple fact of the matter is that side 1 is some of her least inspired work. Compared to the women of the time, compared to art-rock in general, this album is both stellar and a milestone for women in rock. But by comparison to Bush's own body of work, both before and after, only half of this album is up to snuff.Side 1 "Hounds of Love" I just don't get the gushing over "Running up that Hill" and "Hounds of Love" alike. Both are largely one-riff ponies with over-emphasized drums and a surprising shortage of details (compared to what one typically expects of Bush). Good lyrics can't make up for this, or I'd just read the liner notes. "Running up that Hill" is definitely the better of the songs though. The third track, "The Big Sky," is in many ways just a more hyper version of the notion at the heart of the first two songs. However, Bush has upped the drums here, guitar and vocal wails lurk deep in the mix, and in every way there's much more verve. Still, on the Bush Scale from one to ten it�s only a 6.9. Bush's own "Constellation of the Heart" (from the "Red Shoes") acts as a much more interesting reply to this song. "Mother Stands for Comfort" gives us that Bush bliss we've been waiting for. Essentially one of her explorations of drum-piano and bass, with beautiful melodies and artificial percussion, it could have been quite at home as a minor masterpiece of her monumental "The Dreaming". "Cloudbusting", that quirky tale of mad scientists and a rainmaking machine, with a video featuring Bush as a boy and Donald Sutherland, no less, as the father-scientist, is my least favorite Bush song ever. Gorgeous video, though. And how did she ever get Sutherland for it? The song itself, though, is an incredibly bland, repetitious string piece with vocals worthy of just about any mid-range soprano in rock. The vocal chorus at the end might be mind-expanding if you've never heard anything else by her, but even this seems just a self-referential cliché. Side 2 "The Ninth Wave" A very confusing narrative occupies the second half of this album, but the confusion is perfectly acceptable since the singing and music more than compensates for it. "And Dream of Sheep" is a "standard" Bush piano ballad, with exquisitely beautiful vocals and a nice solid handful of sonic flourishes to fill out the song. The whole mood of the album is changed instantaneously from the first few notes of the song. "Under Ice" is an even more striking combination of strings and vocals that switch between a low, almost strangled choral arrangement and Bush�s solo voice. The sample of the submarine while Bush sings, "There's something moving under the ice" is surprisingly eerie, and the wailing cry of "It's me" to end the song, with a didgeridoo moan, is even more effective still. As if simply to display her genius, Bush one-ups herself yet again with "Waking the Witch", that begins with a spectacularly moody piano bit, massively reverbed, accompanied by sampled vocal sentiments from all kinds of friends, critics and parental types. The song then begins in earnest, and is somehow reminiscent of the complexity and paranoia of "Get out of My House"...an unprecedented mélange of twitchy guitars, angular keyboards, treated and exquisitely pure vocals, a Satanically overbearing judge at a witch trial, and even the rush of a helicopter to close out the proceedings. "Watching You Without Me" returns to the simplicity of keyboards, bass and drum--with the bassist (Del Palmer) delivering as always yet another taste-perfect bass performance. At the middle of the song, the vocals suddenly turn somewhat Chinese, while cymbals chime and Bush lets out charmingly quirky whoops deep in the back of the mix. If I'm following the narrative at all, this is essentially the moment of the drowning woman's dying. The weirdly broken vocals at the end are the mother of the "witch", calling to her drowning daughter--the vocals being broken because of the intervening water. "Jig of Life" is aptly named, and is a simply full-bore romp that includes a completely traditional section of utterly rampant Irish music. It's energy is reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's "Kiss of Life". This song, following the drowning of the witch, is a particularly powerful assertion of the irrepressibility of life. "Hello Earth" is an especially gorgeous, almost lunarly grand piece. The way it shifts from Bush's vocals to the Gregorian male moodiness of the "chorus" is especially effective. Someone refers to "Cloudbusting" as New Age classical, but it is really with this song, and its gorgeous choral arrangements toward the end, that one should use the word classical to describe it. The ending of the song is positively gorgeous and eerie, with Bush whispering in German something like "Deeper, deeper, give us a light." then in English, "Go to sleep little earth". "The Morning Fog", as a casual bit of genius tossed off to dispel the mood of the last song (like "Jig of Life", another statement of rebirth by the theme of dawn, I think), is a solid piece of drum, piano and bass composition.
More "Hounds Of Love" reviews:
[2004-11-19] Top 5 Of All Time (10)
[2004-03-04] An incredible piece of work from an original songstress (10)
[2003-12-24] Most Insightful Album Ever Recorded? (10)
[2003-12-23] Undeniable masterpiece (10)
[2003-09-19] Best British record of the 80's (10)
[2003-09-07] What can you say? (10)
[2003-06-08] A Masterpiece that grows and grows... (10)
[2003-05-22] Classic! (10)
[2003-04-22] Excellent (10)
[2003-04-05] Classic! (10)
[2003-03-16] Moments of pleasure. (10)
[2003-03-09] What's she mean? (10)
[2003-01-20] Side 1 - 3 stars, Side 2 - 7 stars (10)
[2002-12-20] This woman's work leads you into the sensual world. (10)
[2002-11-23] A Kick "Butt" Album (10)
[2002-08-08] Sensual and gorgeous! (10)
[2002-05-04] A remarkable concept by an erratic genius at her best (10)
[2002-04-21] Matures With Age (10)
[2002-04-09] A Truly Magical CD (10)
[2002-03-21] Hounds and ninth waves (10)
[2002-01-18] Not a masterpiece at all... (4)
[2002-01-07] Kate Bush at Her Artistic and Commercial Apex (10)
[2001-12-28] Unforgettable!! (10)
[2001-09-27] Hounds of Love is Kate's best studio album. Arf! (10)
[2001-08-28] Totally Amazing (10)
[2001-08-14] A voice unlike anything or any human being could duplicate. (8)
[2001-08-05] If you only buy one of hers, make it this one (10)
[2001-07-20] This CD changed the way I listen to music (10)
[2001-07-19] Kate Bush's Grand Masterpiece (10)
[2001-07-01] A Great Half-Album, But Still Worth Five Stars (10)
[2001-05-01] I wish I could give this higher than 5 stars (10)
[2001-04-01] THE Kate album.... (10)
[2001-03-28] One of the 10 best Albums of all time. (10)
[2001-03-23] A REAL GROUNDBREAKER (10)
[2001-03-16] Kate Bush RULESSSS!!!! (10)
[2001-01-26] Her otherworldly masterpiece (10)
[2001-01-09] Like a spell... (10)
[2000-11-27] THE LITTLE QUENNIE FROM ENGLAND (10)
[2000-11-20] This Woman's Work (10)
[2000-11-01] something of a classic (8)
[2000-10-25] wild, visionary, spectral (10)
[2000-10-12] my all time favourite album (10)
[2000-10-11] Not Lionheart (4)
[2000-09-03] Up From The Water (10)
[2000-08-31] Holds Up Remarkably Well (10)
[2000-07-05] Amazing use of technology... (10)
[2000-06-26] LOVE! Hounds of Love (10)
[2000-06-08] and i'm not even remotely a KB fan (10)
[2000-05-22] This is music! (10)
[2000-04-25] Kate saves us from drowning (10)
[2000-04-18] Tanx, Kate (10)
[2000-03-26] The Big Sky (10)
[2000-03-17] WOW! (10)
[2000-03-14] Good work from Kate Bush. (10)
[2000-03-08] Yes, Kate Bush is God (10)
[2000-03-03] Labor of Love (10)
[2000-02-01] wave after wave, each one stonger than the last (10)
[2000-01-05] How can you rate the music of God Herself? (10)
[1999-12-16] A barnstorming banshee - Kate Bush at her very best (10)
[1999-10-24] 6 stars out of 5 stars (10)
[1999-10-21] Absolutely first class (10)
[1999-10-08] A Work of Genius (10)
[1999-10-01] I can't really rate this in stars. (10)
[1999-09-30] Kate's world (10)
[1999-09-19] One of the best in my collection (10)
[1999-09-15] A very good album! (10)
[1999-09-10] The Best Album You're Ever Likely To Hear! (10)
[1999-08-28] Best album ever written, produced, sung, completed . . . . (10)
[1999-08-26] Life-altering (no exaggeration) (10)
[1999-08-26] Simply Kate's best (8)
[1999-08-23] Simply the greatest album ever (10)
[1999-08-20] There is only one KATE BUSH (10)
[1999-07-22] Brain Dancing!!! (10)
[1999-07-21] A Beautiful, Unforgettable Recording (10)
[1999-07-15] Overrated (6)
[1999-07-07] Not her best by a long shot (4)
[1999-06-23] Amazing.... (10)
[1999-06-10] The definition of brilliance...Kate Bush (10)
[1999-06-09] Strong (10)
[1999-06-09] I must humbly disagree with the other reviews (2)
[1999-05-02] Good, but Not Spectacular (8)
[1999-04-29] This CD has been with me before and after the war in Bosnia (10)
[1999-04-16] Music to make you float above the clouds! (10)
[1999-04-12] Beautiful and deep (10)
[1999-03-28] What the hell, another five stars can't hurt! (10)
[1999-01-30] one of the best soul moving album by Kate Bush (10)
[1998-11-10] The kind of album that changes people's lives (10)
[1998-10-14] A delicious "cartoon-abstract world" in a record (10)
[1998-10-13] There's a reason why everyone's 5-starring this album... (10)
[1998-09-28] Kate Bush's master piece!! (10)
[1998-09-22] A wonderful CD (10)
[1998-07-15] Probably her best album (10)
[1998-07-04] The Best (10)
[1998-06-25] Kate!!! (10)
[1998-06-12] The Best of KT (10)
[1998-05-27] My favorite KB album (10)
[1997-10-07] Visionary Kate Bush at her inspired best (10)
Displaying reviews from 1 to 97
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