Covers can obviously be great, but quite often I am a bit disappointed. The artists want to celebrate their musical heroes themselves, sure, but is it as emotional for me? Not so often. The last album in the “Remastered in vinyl IV” box is Kate’s collection of songs not written by herself. Kate Bush being an artist that is defined by her writing skills, I find this at best a curiosity. All cats stay safe!
“The other side” are two LPs full of b-sides and odd tracks from Kate’s career. The LP-covers have two variants of the same photo and they are among her best album art ever. We see Kate’s bare back with her arms in a pose for a mysterious signal. Lyrics from “Running up that hill” on her arms. Can the great cover pictures be an indication of the content? Are there hidden treasures here?
I have never been a big fan of remixes. It was a very popular thing in the eighties, when I started to collect vinyl the first time, but I never got it. How many versions were there of Paul McCartney’s “No more lonely nights” really? Way too many I think… Tongue in cheek.
The first thing I think of is the great sound quality and the full and rich soundscape of this live recording. This is taken from Kate’s second ever tour, the “Before the dawn” show. 22 shows were performed at Hammersmith Odeon in London in the autumn of 2014. This was Kate’s second tour and the first one was in 1979! This lady is surely not giving us fans many opportunities to see her live. I regret I did not fly to London as it was the only stop of the 2014 “World” tour. Of course, I didn’t know about the shows when the tickets went up for sale, but I can feel regret anyway, can’t I?
Kate Bush is never still, she has previously done concept albums, “The Hounds of Love” and “Aerial”, and now she has somewhat surprising turned a corner again. Gone are the 4-minute pop songs from her earliest phase. Albeit high class, they are still pop songs. “50 words for snow” includes influences from classical music like renaissance choir music and experimental jazz, and it has long complex songs that make me think about the seventies progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and Genesis. How exciting!
A whole album with remixed or re-recorded songs from two previous albums? Well, I guess it could have been great, but this album is somewhat disappointing to me in the end anyway. As it is a re-mix album, it doesn’t feel like a full, or worthy, album to me.
Damn, what a relief! Already the first song and I feel calm. The opening song “King of the mountain” is majestic, and I feel it in my bones that this album is superior to the last two efforts. The feeling is totally different. Twelve years of waiting, the previous studio album “The red shoes” came out in 1993, but now Kate is back in more ways than one.
Inspired by the movie “The red shoes” by British masters Powell & Pressburger this album was the last in many years to come. The album is quite nice, sort of “okeyish”, but it lack her distinct signature mark from the first four albums. I get the same feeling from this album as from “The sensual world”, something that is over-produced and “too polished”. Sure, Kate is playing with different types of instruments and vocals, and that may be fun for some, but it feels too stuffed to me.
I was going to listen to the album for the first time in many moons. I put it on and a few seconds into the first song “Watch that man” I got goose bumps running up my arms. I was flung back through time to my childhood’s summers out on the island Tjörn on the Swedish west coast. I was walking on the narrow sloping path through the gnarly pine trees towards the warm cliffs down at the waterline for yet another dip in the salty ocean. Sverker, Lottie, Ulrika and Marika were not far behind. It was the best of times. “Aladdin Sane” was played over and over again on the TDK AD cassette tape. On the flip side I had “Diamond Dogs” but we loved “Aladdin Sane” the most…
Ziggy played guitar, jamming good… “Ziggy Stardust” is an iconic album. It’s one of the best glam-rock albums ever and it’s on the short list for my albums that I have listened to the most in my life. It is filled with great songs, almost no weak points all through. All that said, I am still a little bit conflicted over exactly how great it is…
