Kate Bush Album: “Dreaming”

In her first three albums (THE KICK INSIDE, LIONHEART, and NEVER FOREVER) Bush established herself as an etherial-voiced, highly accomplished artist with a penchant for the macabre; in THE DREAMING she suddenly sheds the deliberately adopted artifice of her earlier work and simply explodes as a truly great iconoclastic musician of extraordinary vision with a ferocious passion that would daunt even the likes of American contemporary Patti Smith. The entire album is slickly done in terms of music; the sound, which relies a great deal on percussion and bass lines and synthesizers, is at once as smooth as spit and polish can make it and yet as emotionally raw as a gaping wound. And each track, although extremely diverse in terms of material, feeds into the overwhelming power of the album as a whole.

Always attracted to macabre and violent imagery, Bush finally takes off her velvet gloves and reaches directly into some very dark material indeed: the futility of knowledge and the frustration of ambition, the spider-like evil of war and the destructiveness of colonialism, and the invasion of personal space made by modern society. The vehicles by which she conveys these themes are amazing: an American solider stalked by a Vietcong, presented from the Vietcong's point of view (Pull Out The Pin), a botched bank robbery (There Goes A Tenner), the adventures of a drug smuggler (Night of the Swallow), the ecological and social carelessness of the English in Australia (The Dreaming.) The result is surrealistic, horrific, passionate, and hypnotically fascinating from start to finish, and the passage of time has not so much dimmed its power as enhanced it.

A great many people--including many who count themselves fans of both her earlier and later work--loathe this particular recording for its dissonance (a friend who walked in upon me one day while I was listening to it actually mistook Bush for Yoko Ono) and violence, but love it or hate it Bush's THE DREAMING far outreaches the similar-sounding SECURITY and SO by Peter Gabriel, and it remains a landmark of 20th Century high-art music.

THE DREAMING, now more than 20 years old, is still the most inaccessible work Kate Bush has produced. As such it is probably least favorite on many a listener's list, even among her fans. It's not a dance record, it doesn't have many "catchy" melodies (at least by pops' modern simplistic standards), and it doesn't really make great background music. It was also somewhat less than a commercial success at it's release. In short, it is not a pop record.

These are not criticisms, however. The album flies in the face of standards by which modern music seems to be judged, and defies categorization on those terms. It reaches for a high level of craftsmanship and musical excellence that demands close attention by the listener. That kind of attention was falling out of fashion in the '80's when the album was released, and is certainly out of fashion with the current iPod mania; but THE DREAMING deserves that attention. The album is full of rich textures, a huge palette of sound, complex rhythms and melodies, samples, effects and studio wizardry. Most songs remain fresh sounding (although the 'orchestra hit' sound, the first ever recorded, is now so cliched as to take away a little of the force of the title song). The songwriting is adventurous at its least points; at its best, nothing short of brilliant. Drumbeats stop and start as needed, dynamics are exceptional for its idiom, the variety of instrumentation is large (but never feigning the overused 'world music' trappings) and all is in service to - and in harmony with - the subject of the music. Nothing is out of place, yet nothing is held back, and Kate's voice goes from half sung whispers to animalistic screams, a showcase of range arguably only challenged by some of Bjork's recent work. There is a sense of passion about the music here that Bush hasn't really equaled (although she came close with "The Ninth Wave", the concept suite of songs from her album THE HOUNDS OF LOVE).

These music pieces are not abstractions, nor are they so experimental and removed from the norms of pop music influences as to be ranked with John Cage or Steve Reich. Kate Bush is a storyteller, and the story has never been in more focus than here. She envelopes us in a sonic storytelling experience that perhaps only Peter Gabriel has challenged in the rock/pop music culture (which is appropriate, since some of her inspiration for the album came from sessions she did on Gabriel's third self titled solo effort). The emotional payoff for the listener is rich and varied: joy, anger, excitement, desperation, fear, regret and more are communicated here in the characters she describes, follows and inhabits like short one act plays. I don't think it can all be received properly on one or two listens, certainly not on a casual listen as we're so used to these days. And it's that multilayered structure that will help it stand the test of time.

Kate recently released a new album as of this writing, ARIEL, after a decade of silence. I'm glad she's still writing, but THE DREAMING came at a unique time in her musical development, and we may never again be fortunate enough to receive from her its stylistic equal. That makes this one all the more special, and almost unique even in her own body of work. Some might find her musical adventures here a "difficult listening hour", to quote an old comedy sketch. They may find RED SHOES. ARIEL or one of her first 2 albums more palatable. But for those who want to experience a creative at her musical zenith, this underrated and misunderstood masterpiece is the album to hear.

I did not believe what everyone said about this album. What a fool I was.

I've known Kate Bush for a long time and have always liked her work. I got The Kick Inside and Hounds Of Love years ago (and I love them!), but I've always seen "The Dreaming" as "the strange album".

Then, a couple of months ago, I got it from a local store. It was an import (as Kate has never had any CD released in Brazil) and was a little expensive, but what the hell, Kate was worth a try.

I absolutely hated it. Every single song almost hurt my ears the first time I listened to it.

Then I read all those reviews you see here and simply could not understand everyone's hype. It could not be possible. Was I going crazy? I had to "get" the album's brilliance too!

I kept trying and listening to it every single day at least once. Then, suddenly, these songs started to grow on me, one by one. The first one (which eventually is my favourite) was Suspended In Gaffa. Then, Sat In Your Lap, The Dreaming, Houdini, Get Out Of My House (that song SCARES me!), every single one started getting me. Now I'm hooked bigtime!

Believe me, all of these songs are worthy. Every one tells a story with a diverse and sometimes absurd theme. It's impressive how Kate could think of those themes, create a magical space and take us there.

And, yes, the album is timeless. I have never heard any of these songs before January of this year and they do not sound old at all. The drums and keyboards are so perfectly arranged that you can't tell if they were recorded in 1970, 1982 or last year.

If I could ever choose one album to call daring, The Dreaming would be it. It is completely understandable that it did not have the chart success the others had, you need to listen to it many times and focus on the lyrics and the rhythm to be able to appreciate it fully. This isn't music you would find on the radio or on TV.

Kate's fourth studio album is uniquely intense. It's dark and angry - there's wailing aplenty and some lyrical gnashing of teeth going on here. This is definitely no picnic.

'The Dreaming' is not officially a concept album, although it sounds like one with its foreboding soundscapes and uncompromising production. In some respects it could almost be a prototype of 'The Ninth Wave' - the conceptual piece on Kate's next album, 'Hounds of Love'. Unfortunately 'The Dreaming' has always been in the shadow of its more commercially viable successor, which is a shame as it is such a remarkable album in itself.

Standout tracks include 'Get Out of My House' - this is an exquisitely furious and dramatic piece of music - listen out for the slamming car door lurking in the percussion! 'Night of the Swallow' and 'Leave it Open' I can only describe as sheer ear candy, while 'Houdini' (in stark contrast) is uplifting and disturbing in equal measure.

I think Kate reaches her creative peaks when she really lets rip - and there is a lot of that going on in 'The Dreaming'. This is a spellbinding album which treats the listener as an emotional punchbag. It'll leave you feeling shaken for sure. Only the brave need apply.

I keep worrying that if i had not read all the reviews on this album and got into Kate bush a lot lately via Hounds of Love, Kick inside,never for ever and red shoes i MIGHT have listened to this once and never again! Thankfully that wasnt the case and i played it a 2nd time was knocked of my feet and then of course the 3rd time i was in musical Kate Bush heaven! My fave tracks are pull out the pin, the way she shrieks "i love life" and is followed up the men chanting "pull out the pin" makes me shudder (in a good way) its fanatastic, "suspended in gaffa" and "night of the swallow" boast GREAT chrouses, espiecially the latter, "Houdini" is chilling and "get out of my house" makes me want to cower in fear but i cant i have to listen all the way through because its a masterpiece, the other songs are all great too, and "sat in your lap is a brilliant way to kick off" but this and let it become one of the strangest and most fanatastic albums you have ever owned!