Review of the album from the Oct. 18 RAW

[ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi)]

Here's the review of the album from the Oct. 18 RAW (Rock Action 
Worldwide), a British magazine that seems to specialize in heavy
metal.  Despite their focus, this is, once again, a rave review.

KATE BUSH
'The Sensual World'
(EMI EMD 1010)

     A Kate Bush album is unlike anything else.  There are no comparative
works against which it can be judged.  It just *is*.  Kate Bush has 
successfully defined an area of modern Rock music for herself.  She 
herself becomes the only reference point by which her work makes any
sense.  It's a unique situation.
     'The Sensual World' is a 'Russian doll' of a composition, as Ms.
Bush marries music from East and West.  You decipher one level of meaning
only to discover another, equally as perplexing beneath.  But, like a
Chinese puzzle, you know the solution is in there somewhere if only you
can figure it out.
     Initially I perceived that, as usual, Ms. Bush was giving little
away.  But as I unwrapped each underlying 'doll' I began to see that this
album is almost singularly confessional. 'The Fog', 'Reaching Out' and
'This Woman's Work' offer enticingly veiled portraits of this world.
Snapshots from her childhood come shrouded in mystery, blurred 
photographs of her family life enveloped in a soft, warm afterglow of
remembrance.  Both the music and production on this record are uniformly
excellent.  Like a siren, Ms. Bush ensnares her listener.
     'Heads We're Dancing' -- a bizarre tale, like an answer to the
Stones' 'Sypathy For The Devil' -- and 'Rocket's Tail' find guitars pushed
up in the mix, the latter featuring Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour as
Kate dances on the edge of Hard Rock.  But it's still the more introverted
pieces, 'Deeper Understanding' -- a love affair with a computer -- 'Never
Be Mine' and the family snapshots above, which I find most compelling and
intriguing.  Like coded messages I have spent hours wrapped in their
mysteries, unravelling their dark and beautiful secrets.
     'The Sensual World' is an artistic triump and quite possibly Kate
Bush's finest work ever.  ***** [The highest rating]
                                          -- Dave Dickson

I think this review comes quite close to explaining what *I* like about
Kate so much.

Ed (Edward Suranyi)        |     "Bush is an acquired taste worth
Dept. of Applied Science   |              cultivating."
UC Davis/Livermore         |                 -- _People_ magazine
ed@das.llnl.gov            |        (in review of _The Dreaming_)