THE DREAMING

Kate Bush's growth as a musician continued with the Dreaming, which saw both a diverge range of musical styles coming to the fore - including wonderful Irish folk influences on Night of the Swallow to traditional Australian music on the title track - and Kate herself continuing to develop her range as a theatrical vocalist, taking on roles as diverse as a bank robber, a smuggler (and his wife), an Australian aborigine dispossessed by uraniam miners, a soldier in Vietnam and (as depicted on the cover) the glamourous assistant of a Houdini-like escape artist. In fact, I'd say with this album Kate staked a claim to being one of the best of the theatrical art rock singers, her command of her different personas ranking alongside the likes of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel.