Kate Bush Album: “Never Forever”

Surfing the Net recently, I came upon what in some circles was a notoriously nasty critique of Kate Bush's work by the American rock critic Dave Marsh. You may have read it in the first ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDE from the 70s, namely that she sounded "like the consequences of mating Patti Smith with a Hoover vacuum cleaner." Well, Marsh was of course one of the founding fathers (or founding self-described teenage dwarves) behind CREEM Magazine, and if you remember CREEM, fondly or otherwise, you still have to ask yourself what the heck the editors of the RS RECORD GUIDE were thinking, assigning the likes of Marsh to review Britain's reigning queen or art rock. Marsh was the quintessential American ROCK--no, make that ROCK'N'ROLL critic: if it wasn't three minutes of three chord power pop, he didn't want anything to do with it. No way Kate Bush was not going to be his cup of meat.

But the Patti Smith comparison was certainly intriguing. Most people, when comparing the veddy British Kate with American female singer-songwriters, mention Joni Mitchell (Canadian by birth, but who's counting) or Laura Nyro (New Yorker by birth, which made her suspect to many other Americans, but who's counting there either). But Patti Smith? Well, that's not such a stretch as all that. There's a moment in Kate Bush's track "Delius," on this album, that she slips into a Patti-style-American-Indian chant. The similarity is actually uncanny: briefly. But of course, Patti Smith was carving out her poetry in a punk rock context. And Kate was coming from a British art rock tradition (she was discovered as a teenager by Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour) that in turn had its roots in Celtic folk and Classical European traditions in general. But in significant ways, both women were already stretching those traditions and re-defining them from the very outset of their careers. So the similarity is real. The tradition actually mattered less than the urge to extend it and, to a great degree, move beyond it.

The comparison with Laura Nyro is also significant. Nyro was similarly eclectic and similarly inclined to shatter the traditional forms she loved (in her case American R&B, Doo Wop, Broadway, folk and some classical). She also had her own unique sense of language and an ability to create whole universes within three minute pop songs. All three women met with initial critical acclaim and quickly garnered strong cult followings (and some mass recognition to boot). And then they all pretty much retreated--much to their fans chagrin and to some critical taunts of burn-out--mainly to raise their families. Dropping out was not a permanent state for any of them, and, in many ways, their refusal to sacrifice their personal and (just as significantly) their ARTISTIC lives on the altar of show biz actually serve to make them all the more credible as genuine artists.

And of course, when they DID come back, they did so on their own terms.

But I digress, I suppose. At the time of NEVER FOR EVER, Kate Bush was still a relatively new phenomenon. And in her home country, she really was a phenomenon. Her singles had all done quite well, thank you very much. And if she remained a virtual unknown in the US, her popularity extended to the European continent handily. I recall that when my ex and I were staying with a French family she had previously lived with on an exchange program, I innocently asked their teenager daughter if she knew Kate Bush, "Mais oui," she said and starting singing, "Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka Ya Ya."

Now Kate had been a European discovery for me and my then-bride when we were living in Germany. NEVER FOR EVER was the one recording I had not heard yet when I posed that question to the young Veronique in France, but as soon as I got back to Deutschland I sought out a copy of the cassette version of that record--in part because of Vero's cute little rendition of Kate's continental hit. (Spot on, actually). And I was not disappointed. We had bought THE KICK INSIDE and THE DREAMING pretty much at the same time, loved them both, but were curious about how she got from point A to point OMEGA-to-the-nth-power. (Yes, I had never heard anything quite like THE DREAMING before in my life). LIONHEART had proven to be KICK INSIDE TWO (aka: KICK HARDER). Finally, laying my hands on NEVER FOR EVER was the great aha! moment. That's where you hear the transition. Still lots of whimsy and girlish charm, but things start getting a little more dangerous too, a little spookier.

And not just in terms of the lyrics. Kate Bush had always had a Gothic sensibility from the outset, leavened with humor, of course, a delightful sense of off-handed mysticism. And lots of melodic hooks, hooks, hooks! The girl could just churn out tune after quirky, catchy tune. Well, the hooks are still here on this album, but they serve to highlight a darker lyrical vision. Murderous revenge for a Wedding Day Massacre (sounds as though it might have been ripped from current US headlines, but no, its inspiration is a Truffaut movie) and women feeling erotic impulses toward the children in their charge (even more of a contemporary headline case, but again, inspired by cinematic--and ultimately--literary sources: this time Henry James by way of Hollywood). Still this kind of stuff("The Infant Kiss"--or as it might also be called "The Child With the Man In His Eyes--could get you BANNED in this country. Luckily for Kate, it remains obscure enough for most people not to have had a chance to misunderstand it. (She's not advocating anything: she's telling a story).

The major departure for Kate with this record, though, is probably more in terms of production than in lyrical content. This was the first record that she co-produced, and it shows. There was always a certain textural (as well as textual) richness to the early stuff, but it's more sharply defined on this record. It is a solid step forward, maybe even bold--not yet a gigantic leap into the abyss (that would come a few years later with the release of--what many, including myself--consider her masterpiece, THE DREAMING.

Speaking of comparisons, the only time I ever subscribed to an actual fanzine was one dedicated to Kate. Called BREAKTHROUGH, the ads for it used to say, "Bigger Than The Beatles!" I used to wonder why anyone would compare a solo woman performer with ANY group--let alone a group as iconic as the Beatles. But I realized later that it's no more absurd than comparing Kate to Patti Smith or Laura Nyro (I don't really see much basis for a Joni comparision, however--other than they've both been boldly experimental). Listening to the production values of NEVER FOR EVER, I'm reminded of the great Beatles experiments of a decade or so earlier. Slamming doors, footsteps, disembodied voices lecturing about the aftereffects of nuclear war, "--all of these "effects" are successfully interwoven into the musical whole. The music doesn't suffer for their inclusion. These are sound effects that actually work. They hold up over repeated listenings. And that's hard to achieve. And what about those eerie tape loops on "Egypt" reminiscent of nothing so much as "Tomorrow Never Knows." I don't know if the young Kate Bush could fairly be described as "BIGGER than the Beatles," but the comparison is certainly interesting. For a solo artist to even be in the same league is remarkable. For a young woman barely out of her teens at the time this album was released), it's pretty darn astonishing.

The first Kate Bush album I bought was The Dreaming. I fell in love. And I fell in love with this woman who created this brilliant album, The Dreaming! I then bought Hounds of Love. To my disappointment, Hounds of Love didn't have that oomph of The Dreaming. I head heard that the next best album of Kate's, if not the best, was Hounds of Love. I thought, maybe, like Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville, The Dreaming was the one and only brilliant album from her. Then I decided, I should try to explore more of her albums... I got The Kick Inside and absolutely loved it, it's definitely a fascinating debut. But it lacked that lower range in Kate's voice that I learned to love. It also lacked some complexity as well. THEN, I thought I'd give Never for Ever a chance. To my surprise, I fell in love! This album is perfect! Every song has something very special and different to it. Songs that make you giggle, yet awe in their total beauty. I do prefer The Dreaming, but this album has something that The Dreaming lacked... intense emotion in Kate's voice. Considering my favorite album of all time is Radiohead's Kid A, I really enjoy my music to be very "overproduced", if you will, and have lots of time and effort put into the music. This album has some very brilliant sounds and textures to it that pull you in and never make you want to escape. To sum up what this album sounds like to someone who hasn't heard it, or Kate Bush even: Very beautiful crazy wide-eyed mad woman screaming with a good melody while doing the shimmy in a very theatrical manner... good visual... now think of what that would sound like.

PS. I've heard more of Hounds of Love and do think it's a very good album, indeed. It's just over rated in my opinion.

Kate's third release is a combination of her early style with something she later perfected on The Dreaming and Hounds Of Love. She started taking over control producing her own music and included all the ideas she had in her head. Like Kate on the cover, it's like you open you own Pandora's box and let all the weird, spooky and mysterious things out in the open. I never heard this album before my 12th birthday but it still brings back feelings and memories from my early childhood in the forms of dreams and fantasies. This is another essential album for people who like original and daring music.

This was the album that introduced me to Kate in the early eighties. After listening to it I went out the next day and bought The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Twenty years later this album is still one of my favorites. Never for Ever is simply one of those rare pieces of art which can transport the receptive listener from his sitting room through a bewildering array of emotions and situations. Such disparate scenes as the great Delius and Fenby working together, a bride shooting her husband, and a post apocalyptic plutonium suffocation don't seem to have much in common but it all comes together in in a magical way.

As you know, this is Kate's third album, and it was followed by the masterpieces "The Dreaming", and "Hounds of Love". To me, "Never Forever" sounds like a cross between her debut and the Dreaming, but still is a very rewarding and challenging experience.

The album begins with favourite Kate Bush single ever (besides "The Dreaming"). It is such a strange pop song, but it somehow got to #1 in Australia and top 5 in the UK. The song starts out with a cello, and the verses are rather quiet, and the chorus just explodes with Kate singing 'All yours / Babooshka / Babooshka / Babooshka ya ya' - the video is one of Kate's best also. The second track is the strange "Delius (song of summer)". It is one of my least favourites, but this is not to say that it is bad. It is a nice contrast to the out-there-ness of most of the other track and makes a nice chillout song. "Blow Away" is another great song that Kate wrote for one of her band members. This is a nice and catchy song that would have made a great single. "All We Ever Look For" is yet another strange song about we should really look for, and about the relationship between a father and son or daughter especially.

"Egypt" is another strange (I am really overusing this word today), and one of my favourite songs EVER! The song sounds so modern - it could be released today or in the future, remembering that this album is 26 years old. The climax in this song is one of the best Kate Bush moments ever (others are the climaxes of Hello Earth and Jig of Life), and I cannot understand how anyone could dislike this song. "The Wedding List" sounds like a novelty song musically but is much more than that. Kate sings about anger and hurt in a fun way, which I thought was strange... "Violin" is just an out of control song about who knows what. All I can say is that the vocals are great, the music is great, and this song is very fun and very crazy.

"The Infant Kiss" is a nice ballad, but not one of my favourites, but does feature one of my favourite lines ever: 'There's a man behind those eyes'. "Night Scented Stock" sets the mood for the album, and its running time is not more than one minute. There are just backing vocals in this song basically. "Army Dreamers" is a mysterious song and defiantly one of my favourites. It was the third and final single and peaked at #16 in the UK. The song is about war and how bad it is, and tells the story of a man who wanted to be a successful father, but died (in a war) before he was 20. "Breathing" closes the album, and should leave you in awe. It is another strange song, and I am surprised in peaked so highly in the UK (#16) because it is so different and inaccessible. The song begins with some weird piano chords, and has another great video, and I think the Never Forever/Dreaming was the era when Kate produced her best videos. The song is about a baby inside a mother's womb, breathing in toxins such as nicotine, because of a war.

9.5 / 10

As you don't know, for me, and album has to be an absolute masterpiece for me to give it a 10, and this album (with tracks such as 2 and 8) just falls short of this. But the album is still great, and ranks around my 4th/5th favourite Kate album at the moment, but her albums ARE VERY hard to rank, because they are all really really good (yes, including Lionheart and The Red Shoes). Kate Bush is my favourite artist/band etc. ever, and this album is one of the main reasons why.