NEWSDAY review

[PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu]

               State University of New York at Stony Brook
                       Stony Brook, NY 11794-3725

                                            Peter  Manchester
                                            Religious Studies
                                            632-7312
                                            22-Oct-1989 09:38pm EDT
FROM:  PMANCHESTER

SUBJECT: NEWSDAY review                                               

'The Sensual World'
Kate Bush
(Columbia)
	Kate Bush is one of the great enigmas of the rock world.  
A self-taught musician and composer, she rocketed to fame 12 
years ago, at 17, on her debut single "Wuthering Heights."  Ever 
since, she's attracted a worldwide following despite almost never 
performing live and taking three years between albums.
	"The Sensual World" is Bush's first album since her 1985 
hit "Hounds of Love," and it picks up where the earlier record 
left off (which doesn't mean it is as good a record).  Her music 
is still devoted to love and sexuality, but Bush's writing is 
more stridently personal here, as she carries us through the 
downbeat imagery of the title-track--a semi-sequel to "Running Up 
That Hill"--and the self-explanatory "Love and Anger."  Also 
included is "This Woman's Work," a song of male regret over the 
separation of the sexes, sung wrenchingly by Bush in the first 
person.  
	Bush's lyrics here are even denser and more complex than 
those on "Hounds of Love."  On "Rocket's Tail," she sings about 
being "dressed as a rocket on Waterlook Bridge," which should 
send her fans scrambling by the millions for the old Vivien Leigh 
movie "Waterloo Bridge," the way they did for "Wuthering 
Heights."  The album's production is equally dense, and that is 
the album's major flaw--despite being her own producer, Bush's 
voice is often buried beneath layers of instruments.  Violin 
virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, harpist Alan Stivell and Pink Floyd's 
David Gilmour all guest on the record and their names are 
impressive, but a cleaner mix would've been preferable.
	Still, "The Sensual World," like its predecessor, 
challenges conventional notions of sexuality, sex roles, and 
romance--all of which makes her success and fandom, as a kind of 
anti-Madonna, that much more startling.        --Bruce Eder
(NEWSDAY Sunday 10/22/89, Part II, p. 19)

	[Bruce should get himself a new stereo; I think the mix 
and the whole production are utterly radiant.  Of course I'm a 
fan of the ORIGINAL mix of "Ne T'en Fui Pas".  The fun is to 
go swimming into the sound after her.  Omnidirectional speakers 
are a big plus.]