Re: Disappointed with _TSW_ ?

[mit-eddie!eddie.mit.edu!henrik@gatech.edu (Larry DeLuca)]

Thank you, James!  I was about to make exactly the same point when
I got finished reading my backlog.

I think _The Sensual World_ is her most mature work to date (and I
also think that _Hounds of Love_ is much more mature than _The Dreaming_,
but that _Never For Ever_ has a lot to recommend over both of them).

I find _The Dreaming_ to be a challenging, stimulating, intensely
exploratory work of a brilliant but immature artist.  She's managing
all the pieces, but she's still so busy screaming new ideas at the
listener she's not quite able to make them work in concert yet.

A lot of people like this sort of approach.  Because of it, I listen
to _The Dreaming_ a lot less than my other Kate Bush albums.  For
example, _Lionheart_ is chock-full in much the way _The Dreaming_
is, but Powell manages to keep it [just barely] under control in a
way that _The Dreaming_ spills over now and then with.

Another good example of this problem is _Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation
1814_.  There are a number of songs which are so "thick" the album
is tiring to listen to.  I find after a play of _The Dreaming_ my
ears are worn out from the sheer gymnastics of listening to it.

_Hounds of Love_ and _The Sensual World_ have incredibly dynamic
elements about them, but the pieces in each successive album fit
together more smoothly.  Each technique is different and has its 
own merits, but _The Sensual World_ is much more succession-based
than opposition-based. 

One of the really nice things for me about _The Sensual World_ is
that so much of it is about Kate Bush the songwriter and less
about Kate Bush the producer.  Her unmistakable touches are 
definitely there, but it's definitely the songs that are in the
driver's seat this time.  _Waking the Witch_ has a power and fury
that may never be matched, but _Never Be Mine_ can be as moving
a capella as with all the studio trappings.  Have you ever tried
to sing any song from _The Dreaming_ by itself?  Find it disappointing?
(Actually, my favorite example is "Never Be Mine" - I was listening
to it on my Walkman, and I am one of those annoying people who
sings along with his Walkman on the train sometimes, and I was 
singing along with it, and then I stopped when the song ended, and
I noticed the woman across from me was now crying - she had been
merely placid before - it's a very moving song, and even someone
just singing along with their Walkman can convey that to someone
else).

This is not to say that I don't approve of creating complete works
where production is an important leg of the triangle (certainly 
some of the work I've done depends on the production as much as
anything else).  It's just that _The Sensual World_ encompasses
some truly great writing, and much more subtlety.  Kate Bush doesn't
have to shout through reverse-reverb-digitally-delayed-gated-overdrives-
through-a-qantec - she can sit there at the piano and make us all
stand in awe just by playing "Under The Ivy".

I think she's grown up.

					larry...