KaTy Lied

[cutter@ghoti.LCS.MIT.EDU (Joe Turner)]

Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa
Subject: KaTy Lied
Summary: first crack at criticism?
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Reply-To: cutter@ghoti.UUCP (Joe Turner)
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Organization: The Restaraunt - Somerville, MA
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Well, we've had it for a few days, and given it many many MANY
listens, so I think I'll take the first real crack at a criticism of
_The Sensual World_.

As someone pointed out in talking about the individual songs, any
criticism of the LP must be taken with the notion that these are
definately eons beyond the scope of most popular music.  Most.

Let's be blunt.

This album is about as cohesive as a tube of ten-year-old glue.

While every album from _Never for Ever_ onward had a unifying theme in
some way or another, _The Sensual World_ feels like a Kate singles LP
(somewhat like _The Whole Story_).  _Hounds of Love_ was much the same
way, but somehow that collection of songs formed a much better LP than
the sum of the parts would indicate; there is a common binding thread,
whether it be in the utilitarian production, or in the themes, or in
the mise-en-scene of the whole shebang.  (Explaining why _Hounds of
Love_ is a cohesive LP is like trying to explain why Factory Records'
or 4AD Records' covers were so cool.)

_The Sensual World_, on the other hand, is a collection of 10
brilliant, dead on BRILLIANT compositions that totally FAIL to hang
together as a cohesive LP.  The songs themselves flow beautifully ---
they just don't flow beautifully from one to the next.  It feels to me
as the running order could be changed and the album would hardly
suffer at all.  Change the running order on _Hounds of Love_ or _The
Dreaming_, and suddenly it's all wrong.  "Cloudbusting" coming before
"Running Up That Hill"?  Unh-unh.  "Suspended in Gaffa" as the opener
to side one?  Wrong.  Doesn't work.  The songs are almost -- dare I
say it? -- interchangeable.  And, what's worse, some of them aren't
even very good.  Here's more in-depth.

"The Sensual World" itself is beginning to wear thin, being just about
a minute too long.  It is hardly as thematically complex as I'd want
the opening song and title track to be, in fact.

"Love and Anger" is definately a better choice for US single release,
and is certainly one of the stronger tracks; the hook-line backing
vocals of "What would we do without you?" has yet to leave my head.

"The Fog" reminds me very much of _The Ninth Wave_, thus I'm going to
be biased and say that I think it's the best track on the album.  This
is the Kate I know and love.

"Reaching Out" is probably the worst track on the LP (or maybe it just
doesn't hold up right after "The Fog"!).  By Katian standards, this is
DRECK.  It sounds more bad-Journey-like than "Not This Time" did.  I
can't judge it lyrically, but the cliche-ridden chorus is getting
painful.

"Heads We're Dancing" redeems the side and closes it perfectly.  The
lyrics so far seem to be about a woman who meets a man in a club, and
then sees his picture on the front pages the next day (famous or
villianous, I'm not sure yet).  Great funny subject matter, and a real
excursion into almost semi-_The Dreaming_-style weirdness.  My
second-fave.

"Deeper Understanding" will be the Hacker's Song of the 90s.  I dunno.
I really really like the production and the chorus, especially the
backing vocals (as usual).  The subject matter isn't -trite- per se as
it is -trendy-.  Look, Kate has a computer and can even misuse the
jargon!  Feels to me almost the same way as reading any Douglas Adams
after he discovered the Mac and decided to write about it.

"Between a Man and a Woman" is back to the slower, second-side-of-_The
Dreaming_ emotional song style, and it works quite well.  The lyrics
seem very powerful with regard to the manner in which the emotions are
stated ("This isn't your problem/You're not needed here/etc") - very
blunt, almost cold and harsh; a manner in which Kate usually doesn't
write.  It's a change, and I like it a lot.

"Never Be Mine" starts abruptly and picks you up right away, but
there's no real hook to it... it's a great song by any standards, but
there's nothing really there to keep you interested.  The melody sort
of wanders around, and there's no real sense of dynamics.  Ultimately
(sorry IED) forgettable.

"Rocket's Tail" is a killer.  No doubt about it.  Bulgarian Voices
singing a capella with Kate turns into arena-rock bombast of the
highest pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, cymbal-crashing, the-show-is-
ending-and-they're-turning-on-ALL-the-Varilights variety.  When and if
she tours, she'd BETTER close the set with this!  I love it.  Dave G's
solos are too much.

"This Woman's Work" we all know and love.  But, you know, I dunno.  As
an album closer, it's OK, but the end is so damned abrupt.

"Walk Straight Down the Middle" sounds like Kate trying to write a
Peter Gabriel tune.  Good b-side/bonus track, definately not an album
track (though, if they had included this and made "Reaching Out" a
b-side, I would have been much happier).

The upshot?  A good album, nay, a GREAT album, but one that just
doesn't flow at all.  There's no rhyme, no reason.  Why are there bird
sounds at the end of "Deeper Understanding"?  Why are there few
thematic links?  Where's the digeridu????

Of course, all this hasn't been stopping me from hearing Kate in my
head whenever there's music playing low in the background -- all I can
hear when I listen is Kate singing....  I'm serious, I was in an IHOP
two days ago and the muzak was really low, and I could have SWORN they
were playing Kate.....

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Joe Turner	   turnerj@gw2.hanscom.af.mil	       cutter@ghoti.lcs.mit.edu
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   "This must be paradise, cause we can't be in heaven yet." --- Anna Domino
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