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58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glass shattering moon eyed hippy makes genius album? Yep., 9 Oct 2003
Picture this. An ordinary Thursday evening in the late 1970’s about to be thrown into the realms of the bizarre by- of all things- Top Of The Pops.
In what I strongly suspect was a Laura Ashley nightie a mad haired hippy chick with eyes as big as saucers does a twirly whirly dance under some trees in a cold damp park and unleashes the most unearthly noise- four minutes of Victorian melodrama splattered with Pink Floyd guitars and vocals that made the dog whine. Then, leaving me stunned, confused and just a bit scared, she’s gone, leaving me to my Clash albums. Kate Bush. Wuthering Hights. Bloody hell. That, for me, was her early career. Fast forward to the mid 80’s, and then, from out of the blue (Ms Bush having dropped off my music radar as if she’d been taken back, in a glowing paisley UFO drawn by pre-Raphaelite Angels riding unicorns, to Planet Odd) came The Hounds Of Love. And she stunned, confused and scared me all over again. This didn’t sound like Husker Du or the Jesus And Mary Chain- this was songs about clouds, things hiding in trees, doing deals with God and a whole side that was that dread thing- A Concept. Run away! Had we not fought the Punk Rock Wars to rid the world of such indulgence, to ensure we could have a life free of ‘song cycles’ or (shudder) ‘Rock Operas’? The Hounds of Love is split down the middle. All the famous stuff huddles on side one (Cloudbusting- yoyos, rain machines and big black cars, Running Up That Hill- God, desire and lust, Big Sky- tribal myths and clouds that look like Ireland, Hounds Of Love- fear, foxes, throwing shoes into lakes. All your usual subjects for pop songs.)
Side two is where you feel Kate Bush really lets go- a nine song cycle about… errr… someone drowning? The afterlife? Buggered if I know, but ( and here the ghost of my snotty punk youth turns in it’s leather jacketed grave) it’s just wonderful, despite the presence of those foul relics of the 1980’s, the fretless bass guitar and Fairlight sampling computer. Mad, strange, pretentious, self indulgent and utterly, utterly wonderful. A work of art and one of the most remarkable records EVER. She’s never done anything as good as this since. But there again, who else has?
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kate's Best, 1 Sep 2005
Hounds Of Love is undoubtedly one of the great 80s albums and a highpoint in her career. It's split into 2 parts, the 5 songs which made up Side One, and the Ninth Wave song cycle which took up Side 2. The remastered version of this CD has some excellent bonus tracks, a great extended minimalist version Of Running Up That Hill; Be Kind To My Mistakes, her theme song from Nic Roeg's disappointing film Castaway, which is a fine song in itself and makes this disc even greater than it is, and a cover of a traditional folk song, My Lagan Love, in which Kate gives one of her best vocal performances. The album itself is just full of great songs, Deal With God aka Running Up That Hill is one of Kate's finest songs, an apocalyptic and menacing piece; Mother Stands For Comfort is one of her finest ballads, a companion piece to Man With The Child In His Eyes complete with drum machines and Enoesque synths, and Hounds Of Love, continuing the drum heavy beat of Running Up That Hill with a sensuality that only Kate can bring off, a track which endures today as it was covered (rather badly) by The Futureheads. Perhaps the "song cycle" is slightly less than the 5 song set of Side One but still with the stupendous "And Dream Of Sheep" it still packs a mighty punch. Less instant than the previous songs, it's still an ambitious piece and unlike anything I've heard before. It's not exactly her "Low" but is her avant garde take on rock music,a combination of prog,classical, Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson. What is great about this album is that it's stood the test of time. It's an album that stands alone because there's no one quite like Kate. There's only one Kate Bush and this album proves it.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kate's Klassic Koncept Komeback, 28 Jan 2002
I bought this album on vinyl the morning it was released in the UK, in fact, the shop had to unpack the box to give me the first copy - and it was so worth it !
This was a comeback and then some. Whereas her previous release, 'The Dreaming' was almost too far ahead of its time, 'Hounds of Love' is half perfect commercial 80s pop, with a concept piece filling the entire flip-side - and no female artist is more in touch with the flip-side than Kate ! I love her because she is always different, she marches to her own drummer, she is personal, spiritual, literary, sensual.
'Hounds of Love' was immediately a hit, and its first single release, 'Running Up That Hill' entered the UK Singles Chart at No2, and this was before singles regularly entered at high positions. It won a Brit Award, and brought Kate back to the top where she truly belongs.
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