Hounds of Love

Have you ever got such an intense rush that you found it impossible to sit still? Knowing that you are a mature adult, yet unable to control yourself, with mad urges to swing your arms and run everywhere? You must know this feeling! Imagine being able to sing like Kate Bush. Now imagine letting go all of your emotions through your voice. Remember how satisfying it feels to scream at the top of your voice when your blood is boiling with anger? Imagine being able to channel all this feeling into 12 meaningul focused songs?

The whole feel of this album is of a passion trying to release itself from a box, a voice trying to escape, a constant build-up to the climax, the musical peak. It starts off with Running up that Hill (A Deal with God), and the title track Hounds of Love, two of the greatest pop songs of the 80's. And yes, this is 80's music to the core. The light, echoing drum machines & squeaky clean synths don't make this album though, Kate Bush's personality is too powerful to let that happen.

On Mother Stands for Comfort, Kate Bush talks adoringly of her mother over a sweet beat with typically potent lyrics to match, "She knows that I've been doing something wrong..She thinks that I was with my friends yesterday, but she won't mind". Nothing will ever prepare you for Cloudbusting though. A song that could only ever be performed by Kate Bush, something so unique that it has to be heard to be appreciated. The climax of Cloudbusting gives us beautiful strings and the absolute genius of overdubbing her voice to such an extent that we hear a complete choir of Kate Bush's nurturing the track to it's calm end.

With the piano-cheese of And Dream of Sheep you might be fooled into thinking that the album is adopting quite a soft feel. Your fears are allayed when the absolute madness of Walking the Witch comes your way. I won't pretend to know what effect she has used to chop up her voice to such chilling effect, needless to say I've never heard it used before or since. I can understand why too, like all successful experimental music it simply sounds wrong the first time you hear it, yet with each listen it makes more and more sense. The transformation of her voice into what seems to be the voice of 'the devil' is as insane as it is remarkable as it is confusing as it is awe-inspiring. Once again, this could only be done by Kate Bush.

The Jig of Life is a pleasure for anyone who likes to hear interesting juxtapositions and contrasts. It's a jig in every sense of the word, except that Bush tears it apart (beautifully) with her passionate and powerful voice, the celtic sounds then descend into merry madness as Kate's brother Paddy drops some Irish poetry that sounds powerful and rhythmical, we're talking about the kind of poetry that reinforced my belief that hip-hop has existed for as long as poetry. Hello Earth is too good to talk about. Buy this album. The Morning Fog is too beautiful and soulful to want to describe. It's just a contented teardrop. It's just an exploration of emotion, brave and daring like the rest of this diamond. I want you to buy this album.

The most common phrase I find myself saying when listening to any of my Kate Bush albums is: (whilst laughing very hard) "This bitch is crazy!!!"...No disrespect intended, but this bitch really is crazy. Check it out if you feel up to it. It will take you places.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi