Kate's downward spiral (long tirade)

[greg@deming.eng.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)]

vickie@pilot.njin.net (WretchAwry) writes:
>[Kate] couldn't have made TRS in 1978. She made TKI.

The problem is that Kate seems unable in 1993 to make "Never For Ever" or
"The Dreaming."  "The Ninth Wave" was her last, extended brush with greatness.
She's starting to remind me of Paul McCartney.  What has happened to Kate's
voice?  She continues to sing primarily in her "constipated" voice.  Now her
voice has more of a "screaming soul sister" quality to it.  It's ironic that,
though people complained that she was squeaky and shrill on her first albums,
I find her more squeaky and shrill now.

Maybe she just doesn't mic herself correctly.  I think she needs to get out,
move her arms and legs about, try out a different recording technique, travel,
quit smoking, whatever.  She just seems to get deeper and deeper into her
own little world.  That was fine when she unearthed insights, but the trouble
is, she doesn't anymore.  I'm glad to see that she's been reading Joseph
Campbell, however.  If she's gonna "read it in a boooook," he's a good author.

And no matter how many repeated listens I attempt, "Eat The Music" is still
annoying.  The same simple chord progression repeated *over* and *over* with
nothing thrilling enough to take my mind off of its sameness.  Even the much-
touted "Big Stripey Lie" suffers from her deteriorating vocal ability.  Her
shouts are just annoying, like some cat that is being mortally interfered with.
Take "Rubberband Girl": the song is beginning to grow on me, tune-wise, and
is quite catchy.  But her vocal performance is, for the most part, terrible.
The high parts, anyway.  The low parts are odd enough to be OK, even though
I fear it is less out of invention and more out of her smoking habit, which
threatens to give her all the dulcet tones possessed by, say, Lauren Bacall.

I remember sitting down with my copy of "Hounds of Love" and playing it
through, then going, "What?!"  Then I played it again.  And again.  Then with
headphones.  Then cranked.  Then for friends.  I got into it.  I explored it.
It challenged me.  From "Experiment IV" on, I thought Kate was doomed.
"The Sensual World" had its moments, but it just confirmed that Kate had lost
it.  She showed good taste in picking the Trio Bulgarka, but vocally, they
blew her out of the water (though there's some evidence of her trying their
technique on "Reaching Out", an otherwise unremarkable track).

I realize that a musician can't always pull the rabbit out of the hat, and
I give her some slack in that regard.  She will always be a favorite.  But I
don't agree with the "she really IS" folks who worship her and say she can
do no wrong: "Hmm, it sounds like crap!  But Kate is Goddess, so it must just
be something wrong with *me*."  I refuse to follow that line.  I will listen
to "The Red Shoes" more, but I just don't get the same feeling I did from her
best stuff.  Her production, once stellar, is now just one of the crowd.  That
contributes to my lack of enthusiasm.  I get no sense of the imminent discovery
of something special when I attempt to listen, and that's regrettable.