Kate Bush

Hounds Of Love

Top 5 Of All Time

Review Score:

(10/10)
I jumped on the Kate Bush bandwagon relatively late, after a chance run-in with "Wuthering Heights". That song is great, but, comparatively, the rest of the album it comes from (The Kick Inside) doesn't measure up. Nonetheless, I'd heard good things about Hounds of Love and decided to give it a chance. It is easily the best album that I have picked up in the past few years, and probably in my top five CDs of all time.

Before I get into the particulars of Hounds of Love, though, I should the inevitable comparison with Tori Amos. I'm not particularly fond of Tori, but I can see how much Kate Bush has influenced her, and, to be honest, several songs MUSICALLY seem similar to some of Tori's stuff. The real differentiation comes with the lyrics. Tori is a kook, writing songs using the first stream of consciousness idea that pops into her head. This ends up making the listener completely apathetic to songs like "Silent All These Years" or "Hey Jupiter," which surfacely sound very pretty and emotional. On the other hand, Kate Bush has the ability to write universal lyrics that are genuinely emotive and touching, without seeming overdone or trite. It is this unparalleled talent that makes Hounds of Love so good.

Anyway, Hounds of Love is rife with spirituality and well-rounded ruminations on love and relationships. Sounds like typical fare, but it's so much more. From "Running Up That Hill," an angry yet reticent song about the singer's inability to change her problems, to "Mother Stands to Comfort," the first half beautifully represents a cross-section of the speaker's analysis of how messed up her life is. Then the second half of the album comes, which chronicles the speaker's near death by drowning. The album ends with two incredibly beautiful songs ("Hello Earth" and "The Morning Fog") which convey the idea that, though we may not accept all of our problems all of the time, you may become more aware of how valuable life is whenever it's nearly stripped from you.

The beauty of Hounds of Love is such a simple idea stands behind it--it's something we've all thought about. Kate Bush just puts it together so elegantly and beautifully, and I think this is the reason why, as a concept album, it is one of the few I've ever found to be generally moving and thought-provoking. All in all, you cannot go wrong buying this album--it's pretty much flawless. (I say "nearly" because I know tons of people who think "Jig of Life" is one of the stupidest songs ever recorded. While I like it, it is quite ambitious and the Celtic thing doesn't really fit on the album thematically, so I can kind of see their point.)

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