The Mounds of Gloves

Overall Album Score: 9.7 out of 10

I'd hate to start out this album review on a negative note, but it must be done. It's clear that Hounds of Love isn't better than The Dreaming. The general public disagrees with this one, because Hounds of Love was a phenomenal hit, and it remains the album everyone still knows and cares about today. (It's OK. I'll wait until you catch your breath.)

But that doesn't mean Hounds of Love isn't an excellent album. It might not contain the non-stop unbridled ambition and innovation of The Dreaming, but this remains a Kate Bush album! And besides, the second half of this album contains more innovation than four-hundred-and-three average pop artists combined. Hell, the first half of the album contains more innovation than four-hundred-and-three average pop artists combined. Haven't you heard? KATE BUSH IS A FRIKIN' MUSICAL GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!

What's so different about the first and second half of the album, do you ask? The first half contains all the pop songs that would have fit comfortably on the radio. This is something that The Dreaming definitely did not contain! (Could you imagine hearing "Sat in Your Lap" on the same radio that plays "Up in the Air Tonight?") And these are five *good* radio songs. (Well, I doubt "Mother Stands for Comfort" got any radio play at all, but ... the other four could have.) The highlight of these is probably "Cloudbusting," which features some of the most alluring use of violins in a pop song I've ever heard ... even surpassing songs such as "Yesterday" (even though that was one of the first, so let's not blame Paul McCartney). The last half is an almost avant-guarde suite. Well, I suppose it's not really avant-guarde, because that term automatically suggests that it's unaccessible, but this stuff is very much listenable. They're just not songs in the traditional sense. The last half contains such a wide variety of songs ... and they all work! It begins with a piano-based ballad ("And Dream of Sheep"), and a weird, atmospheric song consisting of an evil demon voice ("Waking the Witch") and even a traditional Celtic song ("The Jig of Life"). Really, this stuff is pretty alluring!

And Kate Bush does it again. It's not as thoroughly amazing and delightful as The Dreaming, but this is a masterwork in its own right. And I shall continue to blast "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" out of my car stereo until my ears bleed.

Overall Album Score: 9.7 out of 10 (Another Kate Bush album ... another fantastic album.)

Average Song Score: 9.6 (Kate Bush delivers yet another stunning masterwork. The songs are all very good, and nothing scored below a 9.)

Album Tilt: 9.5 (This is another amazing work for Bush. The musical suite at the end of it was a fantastic idea.)

Artist Rating: 10 (Even though The Dreaming remains Bush's singular masterpiece, this is another one for the listener to endlessly ponder.)

Track Reviews

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 10/10

This one starts up with a nice, steady programmed beat ... and it's obvious right away that Kate was going mainstream! However, she went mainstream without giving up the art. The build-up of this song is classic and so rarely topped. The energy! The spirit! The passion! ... It'll lift you up along with it! The end of this song is so The synthesizers Bush used throughout the song are great ... she's a real genius with technology. This is all not to mention the melody, which is very catchy. What an excellent album opener. (This is a great song to blast really loudly out of your car stereo ... it's crap for your hearing in the long run, but ... at least you enjoyed it!)

Hounds of Love 9.5/10

Bush continues to bring on the compelling songs, although this isn't her best. A minor complaint! This song is mid-tempoed this time and contains a rather odd (but delightful) drum line. Notably, it features Kate giving me the best idea of why someone would want to sing like a barking dog! This song features a nice melody, and a lot of compelling violin tracks. Most importantly, however, it contains a very spirited vocal performance! (Isn't that why we all listen to Kate Bush, anyway?)

The Big Sky 10/10

This is another great song to hear blasting out of your stereo. This song is related to "Running Up That Hill," except the melody isn't quite as catchy and the instrumentation is much busier. As it goes along, it gets busier and even more excited. It eventurally gets so dang excited that we hear Kate resort to SCREAMING. And, what do you know, it works!

Mother Stands For Comfort 9/10

Unfortunately, this isn't so great, but this remains an excellent art-rock song! This track contains many pretty compelling sound-effects and synthesizers even though it's not as inherently great as so many Kate Bush songs have been in her recent past. I really enjoy those squeaky synths! The bass instrument plays some very good lines throughout this piece as well. This song is only three minutes. It needn't have been longer and it needn't have been shorter. The lyrics are interesting, but ... all Kate Bush lyrics are interesting!

Cloudbusting 10/10

PEOPLESSSSSSSSSSSSS... this song is BRUUDDY EXCELLENT ... This song prominently features some of the brooding, bouncy violins (I suppose they're not synthesizers)! The melody is great. The harmony is great, too. ... Bush's vocal performance is great as always ... And this might just be her best mainstream song EVER. Yeah ... one of those songs that could get radioplay or whatever. Anyway, everybody loves this song, so ... you'd better, too.

And Dream of Sheep 10/10

This song marks the start of "The Ninth Wave" ... sort of a concept that only appears on the second half of the album. (I guess the first half was supposed to be the pop songs, and the second half is to see if we are paying attention.) Even when Kate Bush is singing boring ballads, she manages to sound warm and precious. The melody is utterly fantastic, of course. The instrumentation is sparse this time, but just as she is excellent with lushly arranged songs, she's excellent with non-lushly arranged songs. Besides, we just get to concentrate on her very nice (and normal) singing voice.

Under Ice 9/10

Meant to be more of a moody piece. It's great, naturally ... (Holy crap, do I have to go through great detail to why I am scoring a Kate Bush song the "low" grade of a 9? This is a high score, dang it!) It features some violent, pounding violins and (until the very end) an appropriately restrained vocal performance.

Waking the Witch 10/10

This song scared someone at my workplace! (I should really learn my lesson about playing Kate Bush albums at work ... some people just can't take 'em, I guess.) Anyway, I have no idea if that's actually Bush doing those demon growls, but ... it is pretty frightening. There's not actually a melody here, but there's a sort of demented groove and an '80s drum beat that keeps things going nicely. This song features a really evil trial of demons of some sort. Anyway, it's really great and nothing like I've heard before.

Watching You Without Me 9/10

This track features a pretty light (but rather mystical-sounding) groove and Bush signing sometimes in the foreground. The song strikes up into something even more strange and alarming (with some great vocals by Bush). And she experiments a bit with tapes, it looks like, because her voice does some serious breaking up at the end of this! This song is a pretty good meditative piece even though it might not be overtly enjoyable.

Jig of Life 10/10

She threatened to do a traditional, pagen-era British song in The Dreaming at the end of "Night of the Swallow," but she goes all out here. The beginning of this track features some very Celtic violin tracks and Bush essentially sing-chanting the lyrics. (She really knows how to do these vocalizations ... I can't imagine how singing a song like this could actually be done better.) The end of this song is a jig. It's something for the ancient British people to dance to. (In fact, there was a song exactly like this featured in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice.) The song stops and Bush whispers a little bit, and then some dude with a funny accent starts saying stuff.

Hello Earth 9.5/10

This is one of the longer tracks (more than six minutes) and it's VERY nice. As always the melody fantastic and the mood through the song extremely well done. The harmonies fantastic here ... how can you say no to that sweet Celtic-ridden violin that pops up the background? Twice, the song stops for a bunch of coral singing (i.e. sounding like Medieval monks). The build-up in the middle of this song was FANTASTIC. The final few minutes of the song consists of very quiet chants. Sure it's fine, but ... not like The Dreaming, where I was intensly into every second of every song. The very last minute is still quiet, but it's utterly spooky, too. (Eeeeeek!)

The Morning Fog 9.5/10

This is such a sweet song, and a lovely album closer. It features a bright acoustic guitar and a nicely-chosen drum tappings. The musical arrangements here were fantastically done. They don't go overboard, but it lends the song an earthly quality that is seldomly surpassed. But the main attraction of the song, naturally, is the singing performance!

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