Kate Bush

The Sensual World

Needs a few listens...

Review Score:

(8/10)
The first I had EVER heard of Kate Bush (being the right age group to have just missed her glory days and living in the US where she doesn't get the airplay she deserves) was on MTV when the "Love and Anger" video was in regular rotation. I instantly loved the song, but who was "Kate Bush"?!? I had no idea. Then I realized she did that great duet with Peter Gabriel on "So". Now things started to make sense.

I bought "The Sensual World" and, at first listen, I was not impressed. With the exception of "Love and Anger" it bored me. I listened a few more times and gave up, sold the album, and forgot completely about it.

Then, a few years later, I discovered "The Whole Story" which is a great introduction to her music and voice. I found myself listening and listening and finding more in the music than I at first thought was there. Then I remembered "Love and Anger" which was too recent to have been included on "The Whole Story." I remembered hating the album as a whole, but bought it anyway after a small windfall came my way.

I don't know what happened the first time, but this is now a CD I pick up almost every day and listen to. I can't get enough of it. Maybe I judged the entire CD based on "Love and Anger" alone? I don't know, but this album is incredibly beautiful and rewards repeated listenings. It's contemplative, calming in places, and reflective. It is music to listen to, not simply have on in the background.

The title track is an erotic piece that will have you wondering what was going on in the studio when it was recorded. How does one evoke these titillating moods with headphones on? (we could resort to a Randy Newman-ism: "You Can Leave Your Headphones On") "Deeper Understanding" is probably the prettiest song on the album. It's about lonliness and making "friends" through computer programs. It's interesting to hear today since such situations are probably more commonplace than they were back in 1989. I don't think she was singing about the internet, but she may as well have been.

The addition of Trio Bulgarka as background vocalists adds stunning texture to the songs in which they appear. It's hard to imagine the songs without them.

Kate Bush's voice is unbelievably unique. She is not afraid to growl, scream, howl, whisper, or hit notes lower than you think she should be able to. Her diversity of vocal stylings makes her unlike any female vocalist in the United States that I know of (maybe this is not uncommon in her home country of Britain? I don't know). I've often wondered if this is why she hasn't "made it" in the States. In general, American women in pop music are extremely stereotyped as shallow and unchallenging - their voices are usually homogeneous in tone and style, reflecting the mindset of the marketer behind the music. Kate Bush shatters these conventions without a second thought. Though there is more of this in some of her earlier work, "The Sensual World" highlights Kate Bush's vocal range and pyrotechnics pretty well. I could listen to her screech forever.

So, caveat emptor, you may hate it when you first hear it, but give it time. The best things in life rarely come from instant gratification.

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