Re: Rate Kate

[Marcel Rijs <100276.2176@compuserve.com>]

Hi,
 
<Connie Lofton <Connie_Lofton@sonymusic.com>> writes:
 
> As a 12-year Kate fan (though not as well-versed in all things
> Bush as most are here on r.m.g! :-)), I'd like to ask people to
> rate the seven Kate albums (not counting "The Whole Story", of
> course) in order of preference.  I have a sense of where most
> people would put certain albums on the list, but who knows?  It
> might be an eye-opener! To get the ball rolling, here's my list:
[list deleted]
 
Yeah, this is nice. Short info before I start listing my order of
preference: I have been an admirer (understatement) of Kate since
1978, but only bought 7"singles back then since I was only 8 :-)
When Kate made a "come-back" in 1985 I was finally old and
financially capable enough to buy her albums. Well, here goes:
 
1. The Dreaming -- The first album by Kate I ever bought, since I
saw it for 15 Guilders as opposed to the regular price of 25
Guilders elsewhere. I doubted if that was a wise decision when I
first played it. But it took a year to like every second of this
record and now I can't do without it. I especially like the hidden
vocals everywhere on the album and the details knitted through the
music. I _still_ find new things in this!
 
2. Hounds of love/The ninth wave -- So many memories. Bought it
when it was released, after the four previous albums in 1985. Got
the cassette as a Christmas present in 1986 since the LP was full
of scratches for playing it somuch :-) and as a birthday present in
1989 from my late grandmother (who was not much into popular music
;-) The record is of course the work of a genius. Nuff said.
 
3. The sensual world -- I wasn't very happy to get the impression,
last year, upon joining this list, that people of this list are not
positively into this album. I think it's, again, the work of a
genius. I had a little trouble with Rocket's tail, but Gilmour's
guitar solo rock like hell and the Trio is strangely enough very
fitting in this track. Never be mine moves me tremendously, as well
as This woman's work, which was my favourite track in 1989. This
album has no imperfections.
 
4. Lionheart -- People screaming "are you serious?"; I can almost
hear it! :-) I've seen this album mentioned as 7th quite a few
times already, but I really like the low-key, mellow tone of this
record. Not one bad track, just a little uninventive compared to
Kate's other work. But I really like the songs. BTW, note Kate's
obsession with German: in The Ninth Wave she's using "Tiefer gibt
es ein licht", here it's "den Schnitzel... wunderbar..." :-)
 
5. Never for ever -- Early Kate moving into new exciting
directions. "Breathing" is of course a masterpiece, the combination
Babooshka/Delius is wonderful, and the A-side as a whole is a great
piece of work. I don't care much for "Violin" though, and that's
why it's still 5th.
 
6. The red shoes -- I liked it so much at first but it's dropped a
little since. Can't make up my mind about a few tracks, esp.
"Lily", "Top of the city" and "Constellation of the heart".
"Moments of pleasure" is Great, "You're the one " is very moving,
and "And so is love" is such a strong track... Hm, nice!
 
7. The kick inside -- Strange how I never really got into this
album as a whole. I like it, but it'll never be much of a
favourite. The A-side is wonderful, the B-side fails to enthrall
me, except of course the closing track. Maybe she should've had
more time to let these track mature. James & the cold gun, for
instance, turned out really well "live".
 
That's my list!
 
Top 5 tracks:                        Bottom 5 tracks:
(not necessarily in this order)
 
1. This woman's work                1. Violin
2. Moments of pleasure              2. Ken
3. Never be mine                    3. Room for the life
4. Suspended in Gaffa               4. Un baiser d'enfant
5. Rocket man                       5. Eat the music (extended)
 
 
Marcel F G Rijs  /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\  "Conan the librarian"
                 | mfgr@sara.nl |
    Den Haag     \______________/       Netherlands