TSW = 2 * HoL - NW? I think not.

[Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu>]

	From: Doug Alan <nessus@mit.edu>
	
	> You know all those people who were so disappointed with _The Sensual
	> World_?  Well, I've finally been able to look at the love-hounds
	> archives.  Guess what.  _Hounds of Love_ produced much the same sort
	> of reaction initially!  Even I didn't like it that much the first
	> time I heard it.  But now I think every song on that album is
	> perfect, with the possible exception of "The Big Sky", which is only
	> excellent.  So draw your own conclusions about rushing to judgment.
	
	Except that no one ever criticized "The Ninth Wave".  The only
	negative comments were that the first side is two commercial.  Even
	those who were hesitant about the first side, agreed that "The Ninth
	Wave" is every bit as good as *The Dreaming*.  The problem with *The
	Sensual World* is that it does not have a "Ninth Wave" on it -- it's
	only as good as if both sides of *Hounds of Love* had been like the
	"Hounds of Love" side.  This still is damn good, of course -- it just
	doesn't reach the orgasmic peaks of *The Dreaming*.

Um, right.  I beg to differ, |>oug.  This equation may be correct, say,
within the same order of magnitude.  But I actually would prefer 2 sides
of the first side of HoL to TSW (except, maybe, for RUtH and C, which
don't do as much for me as the middle three tracks).  It's hard to put
a finger on it, but when I listen to HoL, TBS, and MSfC, I get that
magic Kate Bushy feeling all over, whereas most of the songs on TSW
(after many, many listenings) still don't do that for me.  The ones
that come closest are DU, NBM, and WSDTM.  An album full of those would
be real nice too.

Not that such equation making has a whole lot of value, though.

-mjm