_THE RED SHOES_, a review

[josh@phoenix.lehman.com (Josh Whitehouse)]

Picked up a complimentary copy of "REQUEST, the new music magazine" in
a Sam Goody's record store while shopping today.  In the November 1993 issue they included a review of "The Red Shoes", which I include in this post w/o permission.

KATE BUSH
_THE RED SHOES_
(COLUMBIA)

Over her 15-year career, Kate Bush has maintained a high level of artistry in an increasingly rugged music world.  An extraordinary vocal range and grand songwriting ambition are her trademarks, and she's combined them with a passion for dance and drama to become a serious filmmaker as well.

Although she's widely admired, Bush has not always been well-liked or understood outside her native England.  Her success at creating a surreal artistic refuge means she could thrive indefinitely as a precious cult figure.  But to attain a stature in line with her estimable range and talent, she needs to break out of her own world and enter ours.

On _The Red Shoes_, she crashes through that barrier with grace and distinction.  Without abandoning her distinct style, Bush has matured from a fuzzy opera dropout into a stepsister of American soul music.  Accordingly, her new lyrics are less daunting, more emotionally stimulating.  Oh, she's still trying to take us to other worlds through her words and music, but this time she's begun her journey from a point where listeners can follow along.

The finest example of this may be "Top of the City", and update of the Drifters' "Up on the Roof":  "I don't know if I'm closer to heaven, but it looks like Hell down there/Take me up to the top of the city, and put me up on the angel's shoulders".  From the screaming buildup to the pleading chorus, the song's romantic yearning and suicidal symbolism offer vocal drama as it's rarely done anymore.  It's the kind of love and anger Bush merely sang about on 1989's _The Sensual World_.

On the very next track, "The Song of Solomon", she raises the heat even more.  In the past, Bush has projected a strange virginal persona that seemed slightly unreal and untouchable.  But here, over the thrumming of a classical harp, she puts her desires in no uncertain terms:  "Don't want your bullshit, yeah/Just want your sexuality/Don't want excuses/Write me your poetry in motion/Write it just for me, yeah/And sign it with a kiss."

The way Bush can take something primal and give it a sublime quality is just another aspect of her regained compositional strength.  In the '80s, after Bush discovered synthesizers and retreated to her country home studio, she seemed to overthink her songs, piling up layers of synths that obscured her personality and message.  _The Red Shoes_ is a complete reawakening:  colorful, uplifting, dynamic, and pulsing with sensuality.  Though there's a harder surface to much of the album, Bush stands out front sm
oothing the edges.  And in the quieter moments, she allows a point-blank view of her own complexity and expressive dexterity that's simply breathtaking.

That combination of delicacy and assertiveness works wonders on the house-music hymn, "Why Should I Love You", a smashing collaboration with [Symbol that is Prince's new name: JW].  Though the two might seem like stylistic opposites, the results show they're made for each other.  She has the artistic and spiritual integrity he craves, but he gives her the physical strength she needs to get her message over.  Bush's previous forays in ballet may have something to do with it, but this song really moves.

Interesting enough, the [Prince Symbol] collaboration is followed by the weary heartbreak of "You're the One", which features the lead guitar of Jeff Beck.  Any resemblence to "Nothing Compares 2 U" is probably intentional, but Bush and Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" made unadorned devotion fashionable years before Sinead O'Connor.  And any resemblence to "Whiter Shade of Pale" is due to the presence of Procol Harem keyboardist Gary Brooker.

Believe it or not, those three highlights are all secondary tracks on a bountiful disc that opens with four eclectic pop songs, ranging from bright synth-rock to the bounce mock-mariachi beat of "Eat the Music".  They're balanced by two gorgeous slow numbers, "And So Is Love", and "Moments of Pleasure", which are among the six songs that accompany Bush's new film, _The Line, The Cross, The Curve_, a movie about a ballerina torn between a struggling composer and a tyrannical dance impressario.  But only the
 two middle cuts--the conversational "Lily" and the title track--seem at all dependent on the film's context.

Watching an established artist break through to new heights is always a thrill.  At this point, Bush wants to be heard loud and clear, and she should be.  It could be a very long time before an artist of such strength and beauty enters our world again.
		--JIM MEYER


[ Though I at times disagree with the authors opinion about Kate and her
  previous work, or his interpretations, it is good that a reviewer recognizes
  Kate's talent as much more than pop music.  He makes no attempt to review
  the album on the level of ordinary musisians work, but treats it as an more
  than an bunch of tunes--the mistake so many reviewers make.  This is, of 
  course exactly how Kate's albums should be treated!

	PS  I like all the new stuff - Even CITW!  Of course with
	Kate's songs, I'm going to have to listen another twenty times
	before I grasp them.  These are more difficult, especially "Big
	Stripey Lie", because she is still digging deeper into the soul
	and taking the music with her.  But it took several listenings 
	to ALL her songs before they really showed themselves to be the
	products of a TRUE genius.

  Hope every enjoyed this review


  JOSH

  Josh Whitehouse
  josh@lehman.com