Hounds of Love (Kate Bush, 1985), Album Review

Hounds of Love (Kate Bush, 1985), Album Review

by

Niamh Gallagher

Quick Facts

Artist: Kate Bush
Released: 16th September 1985
Genres: Alternative rock, baroque pop, progressive rock, art rock
Length: 47:33
Label: EMI

Hounds of Love is a rare piece of music and could be argued to be a work of artistic brilliance with Bush's unique vocal range bringing the songs to life against a backdrop of unforgettable music. Kate Bush has the talent of making her listener immerse themselves into her work, her songs being able to draw you in and captivate you with their strange and fantastic melodies that only Bush can accomplish and pull off. Kate Bush's defining album features some of the singer's most known and loved hits such as the titular and powerful track 'Hounds of Love', the iconic 'Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) and the poetic whilst evocative 'Cloudbusting'.

The album is unusual as it contains two sides; the first and more mainstream side is 'Hounds of Love' while the second 'The Ninth Wave'; a hauntingly-beautiful collection of concept songs which Bush herself describes as "about a person who is alone in the water for the night. It's about their past, present and future coming to keep them awake, to stop them drowning, to stop them going to sleep until the morning comes.".

The Ninth Wave is a shudder-inducing assemblage of tracks that is almost terrifying to listen to as it clings to your imagination, filling your mind with images of watery dooms and despair until it reaches the energetic 'Jig of Life', a welcome relief after listening to the macabre previous tracks. The song, and the album overall, reinforces Bush's Irish roots; the music filled with Irish folk singers and instruments.

Highlights of the entire album for me are 'Hounds of Love', a song about being scared about falling in love and comparing it to being chased by a pack of ravenous dogs. As soon as the drum beat kicks and the words "it's in the trees, it's coming!" is heard at the beginning of the track, the words being sampled from the British 1957 horror film 'Night of the Demon', the striking track is full of emotion and is arguably the best track on the album. Other standouts are 'Hello Earth' which showcases Bush's ethereal voice and is a much underrated song and 'Cloudbusting'  majestically finishes the album. The song is based on a novel dealing with a father and son relationship. An interesting note is that in the music video, Bush played the son while Donald Sutherland played the father. The father is a scientist who built a machine to create various weather patterns. The father is whisked away by the nefarious shady government characters , yet the son is able to continue the work and be successful at it. A difficult and weird topic, but is simply stunning when backed by its marching backing track. It would be wrong of me not to mention 'Running Up That Hill', a song which has achieved critical acclaim worldwide due to its sheer might and class as a song.

Like all albums it does feature some disappointing tracks such as 'The Big Sky', the song consisting of moaning and wails from Bush which does not let her show off her fabulous skill set and is a wobbly song. Another let down is 'The Morning Fog', the song quite boring and repetitive. 

Wrapping up, "Hounds of Love" is on my list of favourite albums of all time. It is atmospheric, dreamy, bold and beautiful and is Bush's best album to date,  she was inducted into The Songwriter's Hall of Fame following the release of the album due to its success. Kate may be the single greatest influence on female artists, for it was her who truly pushed the boundaries of pop music and how much art it could become. Still making music today, Bush will find it difficult to surpass 'Hounds of Love'. 

RATING

1/5 Stars = Avoid

2/5 Stars = Average

3/5 Stars = Good

4/5 Stars = Excellent

5/5 Stars = Unmissable