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TASTE TEST đźŽ
To get an idea of what this album sounds like, take a quick listen to... The Big Sky.
THE ALBUM
Title: Hounds of Love
Release date: September 16, 1985
Genre: Art pop
Mood: Passionate, Intense, Theatrical
Kate Bush was 27 years old when she released Hounds of Love. It is her fifth studio album.
From the Apple Music review:
Split across two side-length suites—the five-song Hounds of Love and the seven-song The Ninth Wave—the album grapples with big themes: the gulf between men and women, the fierceness of a mother’s love, the nature of dreams. Bush’s voice is an instrument of breathtaking power, capable of both tenderness and force, yet Bush herself is everywhere and nowhere: Particularly in the second suite, her songwriting gives shape to a kind of fragmented consciousness, a shifting array of thoughts, voices, and perspectives. Cryptic metaphors and allusions give the songs an unmistakably metaphysical aura, and the production follows suit. Bush recorded the album at home, in the 48-track studio she installed in a barn behind her house just outside of London, in a lengthy process of demoing, overdubbing, and layering. Availing herself of a state-of-the-art Fairlight CMI sampling synthesizer, one of the first of its kind, she peppered the album with sound effects: church bells, breaking glass, bits of film dialogue, and the snippets of Georgian folk music that give “Hello Earth” its otherworldly power.
THE ARTIST
Artist: Kate Bush
Nationality: British
THE IMPACT
From Kate Bush's wikipedia page:
Bush's eclectic and experimental musical style, unconventional lyrics, performances and literary themes have influenced a diverse range of artists. [Note: see the "influence and legacy" section of her page for examples.]
From Hounds of Love's wikipedia page:
The album's lead single, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)", became one of Bush's biggest hits. The album's first side produced three further singles, "Cloudbusting", "Hounds of Love", and "The Big Sky". [...] Hounds of Love received critical acclaim both on its release and in retrospective reviews. It is considered by many fans and music critics to be Bush's best album, and has been regularly voted one of the greatest albums of all time.
On Kate Bush's influence on women breaking into the music industry who wanted to be in charge of their own sound, Imogen Heap said in a 2014 interview:
When I was 17 and getting my first record deal, it was the likes of Kate Bush who had contributed to labels taking me seriously as a girl who knew what she was doing and wanted. I was able to experiment and left to my own devices in the studio. Kate produced some truly outstanding music in an era dominated by men and gave us gals a license to not just be 'a bird who could sing and write a bit,' which was the attitude of most execs.
THE REST
YouTube channel Trash Theory made a video about Kate Bush's career surrounding this project. It's very thorough and interesting. Click here to watch Running Up That Hill: How Kate Bush Became Queen of Alt-Pop.
THE CONVERSATION