Re: Which Kate Album to Listen to First

["Ronald W. Garrison" <rwgarr@intrex.net>]

ANGLTRED@aol.com wrote:

> ><< Cal Asked:
> > > I like what I've heard of Kate Bush. I know she has many albums,
> but what
> > > album do you think is the best? I only want to buy one for
> starters.
> >
> > Hhmmm...  Kate's catalog is like a good novel.  You just can't start
> in the
> > middle, so go back to the beginning and fall in love with TKI.
> >  >>
>
> The Whole Story is, to me, a perfectly wonderful album to start out
> listening
> to, since it captures Kate over several years worth of work and
> provides
> selections from the albums which preceded it.  I think it provides a
> lovely
> overview of Kate's work and yet isn't resigned to portray simply one
> phase of
> style, a phenomena of which all of the other albums cannot help but be
>
> guilty.
>
> I personally fell in love with Kate after hearing The Dreaming.  The
> Whole
> Story was the 2nd album I got and was entranced by the many different
> aspects
> of her work which appeared on that album  I was unaware that it was a
> compilation album and was impressed with her wide range of style,
> lyrical
> content and depth of meaning.  However, until I began to listen to The
> Kick
> Inside, Lionheart, N4E and Hounds of Love, I was totally unaware of
> how much
> her style and subject matter changed from one album to the next and
> was
> thrilled to discover how much more in-depth each album is--a depth
> which
> naturally, as a compilation album, The Whole Story cannot provide.
> So, there
> is a down-side to The Whole Story, however, I still maintain that if
> you
> intend to hook a listener onto Kate, The Whole Story is the perfect
> album to
> play to achieve your goal.
>
> Take this with yet another grain of salt,
> ~~~Samantha
>

...This makes pretty good sense, but I'd like to propose an alternative
that I havelong thought might be even better. This centers on the two
discs that are included
in the *This Woman's Work* boxed set, but are not regular album
releases.
These discs are quite long--especially the really best one, in my view,
that
starts with "The Empty Bullring" and ends with "Be Kind to my Mistakes".
There
are some really beautiful songs here that show different styles--the
pure, unadultered
"My Lagan Love", the haunting "Lord of the Reedy River", the exotic,
French "Ne T'En Fui Pas", and the too, too seductive "Be Kind...". Oh
God, I can't
go on...

Were it not for these discs, I'd say, just strap 'em in, turn out the
lights, and
play *Hounds of Love*--*loud*. But some listeners have gentler
sensibilities--or are
in that mood at the time--and these two beautiful discs should be much
better
known than they are.

> P.S.  I am delighted to announce there is one more Kate fan to add to
> our
> ever-growing population.  The conversion of which I speak is that of
> my
> younger sister.  In 1989 I forced her to listen to Kate's music and
> she
> despised it (and despised me for torturing her by such "inhumane"
> means....but something must have caught her attention over the years,
> for
> just last week, she mailed me a card wishing me a Happy Katemas. She
> stated
> that Kate is "one of the wonders of the world."  So, the moral of this
> story
> is:  Hang in there ....it may take time to make converts and at times,
>
> people's thick-headedness may cause them to appear as hopelessly
> stupid
> creatures who cannot possibly be worthy of the use of their names and
> the
> words "good taste" in the same sentence, but eventually, KATE WILL
> PREVAIL!!!!  >:-}

...I, too, have known people to have this reaction.

--Ron
--
http://www.intrex.net/rwgarr/