Why The '80's Didn't Suck: Kate Bush

The Dreaming

Warthur wrote: I'd also point out that just because prog itself (as it was understood in the 1970s) took a back seat in the 1980s, there was plenty of experimentation and new sounds out there, the post-punk scene in particular taking an avant-garde, experimental approach to things, and the indie scene in general coming up with superb music (even if it wasn't "prog"). The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Fields of the Nephilim, The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, The Chameleons - all of them were releasing great albums, none of them are 80s bubblegum pop with 80s pop production values. Basically, I think people tend to assume that all modern music sucks... as soon as they stop keeping up with modern music and discovering new bands and obscure sounds that don't get mainstream airplay. Mainstream radio has sucked hard since the 1980s and continues to suck today, and probably sucked in the 60s and 70s too (though perhaps to a lesser extent, I don't know). The reason so many people think music improved in the 90s or 2000s was that that's when they got the internet and started discovering new bands again...

The 80's didn't suck at all its just that prog took a back seat for a while before it was able to get back on its feet again.

Hounds of Love is the best album of the 80s.

richardh wrote: I expect Andrew Powell has a significant influence on her in the early days before she was able to stand on her own two feet so to speak. The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love seem more 'organic' to me as she was able to fully express her ideas without having to force anything into a specific sound and style. Much of Hounds of Love features the Fairlight which uses sampling techniques and is strong on texture and atmosphere. Perfect tool for someone like Kate and enabled her not to be so reliant on orchestration to paint a picture.

Don't know about Powell but certainly evokes the art rock of the time generally in the early albums.  The interesting thing there too is that her songs seem to develop momentum without a whole lot of instrumental 'activity'. Just as a comparison, say something like Love Lies Bleeding has so much orchestration and a more rocking tempo to propel it but Kate makes the chorus of say Symphony in Blue throb with mostly just accompaniments to the vocals. Shes uses the guitar very effectively and without it overpowering the piano and keyboards (except on out and out rockers like Violin).

rogerthat wrote: Chris S wrote: Hounds of Love is such a powerful work, yet individual albums appeal at different times. That is exactly right. Her albums appeal for different reasons and yet it's possible to like a good many of her albums too.  In spite of Hounds of Love's commercial success, I'd have to say she's somewhat underrated.  She has amazing control working within essentially pop form, paints varied and highly evocative textures and writes unusual chord progressions that are still effective and expressive enough to have immediate appeal.  And rarer still is she seems to be able to pull a different ace to bank on in different albums, whereas composers typically identify their strengths early on and tap them to the hilt.  If the first two albums seem to draw more on the conventional focal points of melody and harmony, Hounds of Love relies more on texture and rhythm and I can't say she is less effective as a composer in either approach.

Chris S wrote: Hounds of Love is such a powerful work, yet individual albums appeal at different times.

That is exactly right. Her albums appeal for different reasons and yet it's possible to like a good many of her albums too.  In spite of Hounds of Love's commercial success, I'd have to say she's somewhat underrated.  She has amazing control working within essentially pop form, paints varied and highly evocative textures and writes unusual chord progressions that are still effective and expressive enough to have immediate appeal.  And rarer still is she seems to be able to pull a different ace to bank on in different albums, whereas composers typically identify their strengths early on and tap them to the hilt.  If the first two albums seem to draw more on the conventional focal points of melody and harmony, Hounds of Love relies more on texture and rhythm and I can't say she is less effective as a composer in either approach.


Edited by rogerthat - June 16 2011 at 12:01

Sean Trane wrote: Well my preferred KB albums are from the 70's.... Sooooo the 80's did suck after all !!!     All kidding aside, even if there is the odd good album that was released in that dreaded decade, they are usually the exception that confirms the rule....

Odd good album?  Nightfly,  The Dreaming/Hounds of Love, Synchronicity/Ghosts in a Machine, Moving Pictures/Signals, Fire of Unknown origin, Discipline, Remain in Light, Gaucho, Metal Fatigue...there's no shortage of good albums from the 80s. Yes, it was no match for the 70s (so what!) but I really doubt the conventional wisdom of the 90s being so much better than the 80s these days. Yeah, if you really hate the guts out of all accessible music, then maybe.  80s production values were awful but the albums weren't necessarily so.

EDIT: On topic, I love the first three of these chronologically almost equally for different reasons but got to give it to Dreaming for just how mad it is.  An incredible and bold metamorphosis of a talented artist.


Edited by rogerthat - June 16 2011 at 10:13

Hounds followed by never for ever

moe_blunts wrote: I voted Never For Ever because it is my current favorite Bush album.  Infant Kiss is particularly...well, disturbing.  Great stuff.