Flying Over With Kate Bush

The first time I heard Kate Bush was on a Peter Gabriel album called So. The album gave Peter Gabriel his megastar status. I liked the album. I also liked his female guest vocalist. I thought in the brief time he used her, he used her effectively. I wish I knew more about her then as I do now. The voice is utterly amazing. She has been copied many times before being talked about in woman's music since 1975. My love of female artists would have not been quite to my liking if it was not for Kate Bush. I remember my friend who always introduced me to all types of cool music and of really nice and peaceful type music would always show me something new. He one day handed me Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. He told me to take my time and listening to the tape and really soak in the vocals and the great sounds of what she has to offer.

I drove to meet up with him for dinner and in the five minute drive to where we had to go, I was already in love with her voice and music. I could not figure out how the hell I missed this in the first place. I sat in my car and my friend came over to me and asked what I thought in that five minute drive. I was speechless. I like what I heard. Her music was not punkish or in your face from the time that she put this stuff out. It was light and atmospheric and her voice was beautiful. It was not at all what expected. When I got to sit down with him I told him how much of a quick impression Kate Bush made on me. I really liked what I heard. It was very good.

After I gave back my friend the tape I graduated to Kate Bush's other stuff. I listened to early albums but I wanted new stuff. I had heard only one thing from her in 1993, but that was all she put out. I was eager to hear new fresh stuff. I am sure she had something to say. It seemed like forever that I would hear her voice again. I picked up most of her early work and re-listened to what she was singing. The album from 1993 did not make much of an impression. Even when I went back to school in 2000 I still was waiting and heard nothing. The friend who introduced me to her music

After a long break she came back in 2005 she put out a new CD. I did not buy it at first, but I waited for my friend to tell me how great it was. He told me he did not even know about a new CD until I told him. I finally did pick it up and it's full of lush vocals and wonderful great sounds. It has great guests like Eberhard Weber and Peter Erskine and Gary Brooker. The music is a welcome sound to the ears. This is a two-CD set of a finely constructed set of songs that engage without regard for anything else happening in the world of pop music. There's no pushing of the envelope because there doesn't need to be. The music is fun to the ears.

Listen to this and you too will be just as impressed as I am. Take some time and listen closely to what she has to say. Her music is wonderful and full of little treats along the way. What gets created for the listener is an ordinary world, full of magic; it lies inside one's dwelling in overlooked and inhabited spaces, and outside, from the backyard and out through the gate into wonder. Enjoy this music and I am sure you will be a lover her music forever. This is what makes good musicians even better. Have fun on your 80 minute Kate Bush journey. Enjoy!!

P.S. Looking back at the post I did back in 2010 I had a few issues posting about this album.  One, was this was her first album after a twelve year break.  When it was released in 2005 it made waves. It received very positive reviews.  I liked it because I was always a fan of her and hearing new music after a long break I was excited to hear something new.  This past year EMI put out two boxed sets of all her albums out.  These were carefully mastered from the original analog tapes and they sound so much better then previous versions.  Even Aerial sounded better then it's original release.  I could have really picked any album, but her latest and possibly her last is still a treat for me.  If you want to go chronologically backwards then start here and you can see her music as complex and clear as all her other albums.  It shows maturity and for me a view of her awesome music.  One last thing, she toured for the first time since 1979.  Amazing for such a gifted and awesome singer which we owe a huge debt to.  When asked who I love as a female singer, Kate Bush, is right on top.