Re: kate rate

[iago@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Iago)]

Hmm...trying to rate my favorite Kate albums. That's nearly
impossible. Nonetheless, here is my list:

1. The Dreaming -- Is there any other possibility? This is
genius at work. Every time I hear it, I find something new. Songs
like "Get Out of My House" and "Houdini" never fail to send chills
down my spine. "There Goes a Tenner" is always fun, in a Keystone Kops 
kind of way. There isn't a single bad song on this album, and each track
always brings about some sort of reaction in me. The depth of this
album musically is unparallelled.

2. Hounds of Love -- specifically, TSW, although Side 1 is very strong.
TSW has always seemed like the logical progression of TD musically. It's
another one of those always-find-something-new masterpieces. No one
can do this like KaTe. And one of these days I will direct The Crucible and
play Waking the Witch beforehand.

3. Never For Ever -- This is where it starts getting difficult. NFE is
great, 
Kate at her most fun (The Wedding List) and breath-taking (The Infant Kiss,

Blow Away). 

4. The Red Shoes -- Mainly because it includes MoP, the song that touches
me most of any she's written, and Lily. The album is so inconsistent,
though,
that it's tough to rank this #4

5. The Kick Inside -- What a fascinating debut. I can still picture myself 
dancing along with this album, pretending to be KaTe live performing
James and the Cold Gun or Them Heavy People. It's a spectacular start
to an amazing career. Much more consistent than TRS, but the highs are
not quite as high.

6. The Sensual World -- Everything sounds alike on this album. I don't 
know why, but I rarely reach for it when I'm looking for an album to play.
That said, it's still heads and shoulders beyond anything anyone else has
done.

7. Lionheart -- On some days this is higher. Fun -- Coffee Homeground, but
beautiful -- Oh England My Lionheart. Maybe part of the problem is Kate's
crimped hair (blow away...blow away...oops, sorry. Wrong album. :-)

*sigh* Trying to choose 5 favorite songs is impossible. It changes every
day,
every week according to my move. I guess they'd be:

1. Moments of Pleasure...This song has personal meaning to me. I just wish
it had
been around right after my father died, because it would have helped me
through
a lot.
2. Waking the Witch...Kate does Psycho
3. Under the Ivy...Such beautiful vocals!
4. You Want Alchemy...I trashed this song when I first heard it, but it's
grown
on me. I still have reservations over her squeak and what it's doing to her

voice, but if she can continue to smoke, I guess one squeak won't have much
of an effect.
5. The Handsome Cabin Boy...I just love this song!

==> Valerie