Kate Bush

The Sensual World

Showcasing some of Kate's most erotic compositions

Review Score:

(8/10)
This, Kate's sixth studio album, I believe, illustrates the problem of releasing a 'greatest hits' compilation too early in your career. Maybe Kate felt that 'The Whole Story' relieved her of the need to write any further catchy numbers in the vein of say, 'Babooshka' or 'Running Up That Hill'.

Kate has experimented with many compositional styles, and by this stage she was using a drum machine very early in the creative process. Why then are the drums so consistently infuriating on this album? They seem to refuse every time to tap out the obvious beat.

The rest of the instrumentation is superb: Nigel Kennedy, Eberhard Weber and Dave Gilmour all put in productive appearances. Eberhard is particularly good on 'Never Be Mine'. (If you like this, try him out on Jan Garbarek's 'I Took Up the Runes' in the jazz section.)

Q magazine interviewed Kate soon after this album's release, and clearly marvelled at how much sexual imagery she had injected into the title track, which was a top 20 hit in the UK. 'Going deep south'? 'His spark took life in my hands'? It seemed to be the fulfilment for the Q journalist of all the fantasies he had dreamt since the very first photos for 'The Kick Inside'. She appeared at about the time on TV to give a brief interview for someone else's 'This Is Your Life'. What was extraordinary was how ordinary and unassuming she was. Here was one of the great female artists of the last century unable to say anything that sparkled. Clearly a very complex woman.

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