Kate Bush

The Dreaming

A brilliant, innovative album

Review Score:

(8/10)
Amongst diehard Kate Bush fans, "The Dreaming" has long been considered her best work, as opposed to the more commercially successful "Never For Ever" and "The Hounds of Love".

To an extent I would agree with this. Kate certainly deserves credit for breaking out of the mould of "The Kick Inside", "Lionheart" and "Never For Ever". It is obvious that a deliberate attempt to change direction has been made. The song-structures of this album are very complex, containing layers upon layers of beautiful rich music and sampling (prior to this, her albums consisted of drum, bass, guitar, piano and voice, woven together with synthesisers, most evident in "Never For Ever"), as well as darker imagery and concepts.

The complexity of these pieces is seen in "Get out of My House", with its harsh, discordant 'metallic' percussion, interspersed with schreeches, screams, animal noises, loops, dialogue, as well as Kate's trademark vocals. The totality of the piece itself progresses along almost 'symphonic' lines, building tension and depth, before reaching a conclusion which is at once satisfying and unsettling (i.e. the two protagonists meeting on the same level of being - in this case animalistic).

Further to the above, much has been made of the darker aspects of this albums: for example, "Pull out the Pin" (Just as we hit the green/ I've never been so happy to be alive . . . With my silver bullet/ And my silver Buddha/ Just one thing in it/ Me or him/ And I love life), and some of the imagery of "Houdini" (I'd watch you breathe/ Bound and drowned/ And paler than you've ever been).

Nevertheless, the trademark Kate Bush 'magic' is still evident in this album. As usual, there are no 'personal' pieces: Kate explores various concepts and emotions through characters ("There Goes a Tenner" and "Sat in Your Lap"), or through dramas ("Houdini", "Get Out of My House").

It should also be noted that this album doesn't have the intimacy of the previous three albums - it's feel is somewhat distached and impersonal.

However, there are some pieces on this album which simply do not work, these being "Leave It Open" and "All the Love". The two pieces are rather dull, and don't achieve what I think Kate set out to achieve with this album.

At the risk of sounding like a Space Cadet, another aspect of this album is worth mentioning. It has been remarked to me on several occasions that this album ranks alongside Coil's "Love's Secret Domain" and "The Omen" and "The Wicker Man" soundtracks as the most 'haunted' albums. Or, less poetically and more specifically, that this album seems to act as a conduit for various psychic/acausal energies. Since buying this album a few weeks ago, I have experiences such things as strange dreams, discarnate voices, synchronicity, etc. John Balance, of the brilliant English band Coil, stated in an interview with "The Wire" that he and Kate Bush were sharing the same psychic spaces, as well as other interesting comments. http:/brainwashed.com/coil

For me, "Hounds of Love" remains my favourite Kate Bush album, with "The Dreaming" tied with "The Kick Inside" for a close second.

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