My impressions of _The_Red_Shoes_

[Gord Locke <glocke@morgan.ucs.mun.ca>]

Let me say first of all that I take great issue with those (surprisingly
numerous) gaffans who say things like, "Kate has sold out," "she's lost
her magic," etc., etc.  You people should listen to the album a few more
times before jumping to such conclusions.  TRS is **BRILLIANT!**  I
could hardly be more pleased with it.  She can wait TEN years between
putting out records if they're THIS good.
	I like to think of it as what The Sensual World could have been,
and should have been.  The songs have the same ... rich, lush quality to
them, but they're more developed and more satisfying.  Also I agree with
Drukman that the sound quality is better -- for whatever reason,
production, mixing, whatever.  Compare ASIL with The Fog for example.
In The Fog the bass and violin (viola?) are too much in the foreground,
overpowering the vocals.  A sparser arrangement I think conveys the
helplessness better.  I don't know if that made any sense but that's
what came to mind when I heard ASIL.
	Anyway, let me add my voice to the chorus of song-by-song
reviewers:

Rubberband Girl: This number is really danceable.  It took me a while to
warm up to the "uuhhhh-ahhh uhhh-uhhh" bit at the end, but that's just
normal -- my first impression of tons of Kate songs has been, "???What?!
That's too weird!  You can't do *that* in a song," only to later repent
and embrace the wonderful uniqueness of Her musical expression.  Yeah, I
think IED is rubbing off on me in my Kate-Bush-maniac-ness.  Good!!!!

And So Is Love: Beautiful.  Wonderful.  Raw.  Naked.

Eat the Music: After reading all you guys, I was expecting a really bad
song.  What's wrong with you guys??!!  This is *great*!  It makes me
want to dance all around the room.  Yeah it's repetitve but it works!
And this coming from a guy who likes world music but hates it when they
get it wrong.  The lyrics are cool too, and as someone else pointed out,
the BV's really make the song.

Moments of Pleasure: Wow.  This one is so personal.  Very powerful.
Excellent, excellent, excellent.  One of the best on the album.

Song of Solomon: Again, the BV's are a real complement to the main vox.
And I don't know why some people have such a problem with "the B word".
What can I say?  It works!  And the Trio are used to great effect at the
end, better than on any TSW song I think.

Lily: Whoa!!!!  A deadly track.  This is great.  Like a lot of songs on
TRS, you can't think of any other Kate song that's like this.  This is
a good thing!  One of my faves.

The Red Shoes: Hard to keep your feet still to this one.  One thing I
could criticise about it is that it seems to be building up to a climax
that never happens, like it never reaches orgasm.  But it's still real
groovy.  Ya gotta like traditional Irish instruments in a Kate song.  I
think she's a Newfoundlander really, anyway.

Top of the City: Love the chord progression, and how the song changes
from one part to the next.  Great vocal hooks in this one.  A great,
great song and like so many on TRS it seems deeply personal.

Constellation of the Heart: Probably my favorite song from TRS *or* TSW.
Reeeeeally groovy and full of hooks.  She really lets go during the
back-and-forth vocal part.  Meant to be played extremely loud.  Probably
sums up the whole "theme" of the album.  I tend to think that it would
have been good to end the album with.  As it is, the two worst songs
come last.  It's downhill from here ...

Why Should I Love You: The only real dud.  While it has some elements I
like, the BV's definitely do *not* work.  The chorus sounds lifted right
out of a Prince song.  Some of the lyrics were good, though.  It could
have been worse, I suppose.

It's Not You (izzat the name?): Better than the previous one, but that
only makes it 2nd worst.  Some of the synth parts I don't like, and the
words are kinda sappy.  Still, that only testifies to their honesty.  A
great song, but I don't like it much as most Kate songs.

	Basically I'm going to be listeneing to this one constantly from
now until sometime in the middle of next summer, pausing only to
occasionally eat something.  If you don't like this one, you're lost.
-- 
         Gord Locke           |  List owner for blue-eyed-pop,  |  Kate
  glocke@morgan.ucs.mun.ca    |   the Sugarcubes mailing list.  |  Bush
  gordon@femto.engr.mun.ca    |    For more info., finger my    |   is
Memorial U. of Nfld., Canada  |      address or e-mail me.      |  God!!