LIONHEART

"Lionheart" was an effort which intended to present a continuity from her debut album "The Kick Inside". In fact, we can find lots of the musical elements which appeared in that record: a mainly symphonic nature, in most of the cases flavoured with subtle touchs of piano, Kate's personal and dramatic singing style, all of this surrounded with a kind of romantic atmosphere.

However, while "The Kick Inside" sounded like a genuine and authentic work, "Lionheart" sounds a bit more pretentious and relies maybe a little too much in the structure of its predeccesor. Not that this is a bad album at all, but it lacks the personality the previous one had, and it is a bit irregular one, having good moments mixed with other weaker ones.

The album starts well, with "Symphony in Blue", a song which could have appeared in the previous album with no problem. "In search of Peter Pan" is a fairy tale, performed in quite delicious way, focusing in the quality of vocals, either Kate's or the backing vocals as well as the children's choir. Probably one the best song of the album. "Wow" is another decent song, in which we find interesting passages of mellotron, certain atmospheric textures and again some symphonic touchs with flutes and the such. "Don't push your foot on the Heartbreak" tries to repeat the rhytmic nature of songs like "Rollin" or "James", with an only correct result. "Oh England my Lionheart" is the first true ballad of the record. Although it has good moments, specially with flutes again, it a bit weak song, that loses itself in its own indulgence. "Fullhouse" is another thing. Maybe another of the strong songs from the album, returning with the mixture of symphonic energy and Kate's commited singing, again with curious backing vocals. From here, the rest of the album goes to the weak side. "In the Warm Room", "Kashka from Baghdad" and "Hammer Horror" don't seem to be convincing. Probably the exception in this last part of the album is "Coffe Homeground", which is kind of a funny and entertaining song, that still doesn't lose the elegant style of Kate.

Then, for me, like a fellow reviewer mentioned, "Lionheart" was an attempt of going on with "The Kick Inside" artistical success instead of creating a new appropiate record. The result, a bit irregular, but still good. But not further than that.