Kate Bush

Hounds Of Love

A barnstorming banshee - Kate Bush at her very best

Review Score:

(10/10)
How can one person produce two utter masterpieces on the trot? After Kate's work of dark genius, 'The Dreaming', it seemed that a zenith had been reached. But astonishingly Kate bettered it with 'Hounds of Love', her fifth studio album, recorded mainly at her home studio in deepest Kent.

The album is a two part affair. The first five tracks are stand-alone, the other seven tracks form a single conceptual piece - 'The Ninth Wave'. There is no point trying to identify 'standout' tracks on this album - suffice to say that as a whole it represents Kate's finest work to date.

In 'The Ninth Wave', Kate's sampling and soundscaping skills conspire to produce a piece so breathtaking and atmospheric, it simply defies belief. Macbeth, church bells, whistles, helicopters, fiddles, pipes, narrations, choirs, demons, violins, synthesisers, seagulls, cellos, handclaps, astronauts, Irish jigs, mediaeval riddums, crashing waves, Indian wailing, voice distortions, submarines, poetry, radio static, roaring rowboat men and didjeridoos - all human life contained herein. This piece will leave your heart racing, and your mouth dry as stone.

If all that wasn't enough, the first five tracks on the album are equally astounding, and somewhat cunningly lull the listener into a sense of calm, but with a hint of uneasiness. Then your unsuspecting emotions are completely ripped to shreds by the heartwrenching sonic maelstrom which follows.

Many people call Kate Bush a genius. That word is not to be used lightly, but in this instance it is thoroughly deserved. 'Hounds of Love' was a monumental undertaking. It took over three years to complete, such was its complexity. The end result was an album that is dramatic, ambitious, moving and wildly, unashamedly, beautifully romantic.

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