At first I listened through the album (well, not entirely, I skipped tracks after the intros) and pretty well hated it. So it stayed in its bag, under my desk. I've recently been working my way through all of Kate's albums after being introduced to Hounds of Love. They're just fantastic. So by this point, the only one I was short of was The Dreaming. And I bought and listened to and loved it, whilst The Red Shoes was still under my desk (I am also a messy person), and I realised The Red Shoes deserved a second chance. Which is what I am giving it now, as I write; I have to say, I am more than pleased. This is actually a brilliant album, if you give it time (which you most definitely should). And if you haven't listened to any Kate albums before, I actually recommend this as a starting point, because they can only get better that way ;)