Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

Great album, many memories, first cd I ever bought, but "The Dreaming" is her creative magnum opus for me, find a U.K. Nimbus and you're sorted!

 

Excellent! I just found a Nimbus CD pressing of The Dreaming a few days ago. It's not a CD you find in the used bins too often in the US so I bought it without knowing if it was a preferred pressing.

 

Hounds of Love her nadir!? Are you nuts?

 

That's what I'm thinking after reading all the comments in this thread. I think I'll take my time picking them up, really want to absorb this music.

 

What the heck is this?

http://www.amazon.com/Hounds-Love-K...r_1_23?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1263769058&sr=1-23

 

A skipping rope?

 

I'm cool with releasing classic albums as lossless downloads or flash drives. But releasing classic albums as skipping ropes with creepy faces painted on? Not so much.

 

And if they come with an OBI?

 

Great album! I have the UK reissue vinyl and the US original, and the UK is much much better sounding and more dynamic! Wonder how the UK original would sound though.

 

I see a Japanese copy of the box set "This Woman's Work" on ebay for a pretty reasonable price.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/KATE-BUSH-THIS-WOMANS-WORK-CD-BOX-SET-JAPANESE-IMPORT_W0QQitemZ220540205237QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_CDs?hash=item33593878b5

 

..and avoid 'The Red Shoes'. A huge mis-step for her. Thank god 'Aerial' was good.

 

I believe like all of Kate's work, it is worth getting, but I find it to be her most inconsistent work. Whereas most of her albums feel like organic wholes, this one sounds to me like it was jumbled together with songs that seem to belong on very different albums. The touching, lushly orchestrated "Moments of Pleasure" is sort of like a combination of "The Fog" and "This Woman's Work" from The Sensual World, and probably worth the price of a CD in and of itself. The brooding "And So Is Love" is also a highlight, as is the intense, whirling title track and the musically celebratory but lyrically dark "Eat the Music" (which would have fit in nicely on the first side of HOL). Even the collaboration with Prince ("Why Should I Love You?") is pretty cool.

Not much else really works for me musically, and her lyrics have moved from the wistful melancholy of The Sensual World to downright desperation--many of the songs are quite frankly depressing (especially the album closer). I also find the mechanical-sounding "Constellations of the Heart" to be the least interesting song of her entire career (though perhaps that is a point of interest in itself).

In general, not among my favorite Kate Bush albums, but is still better than most albums of its time. I found the recent Aerial to be a nice return to form.

 

I love "The Red Shoes". Listening to it right now. I'll never understand why it's so disparaged.

 

Agreed, particularly after "Heads We're Dancing" on The Sensual World. Most overblown Kate Bush moment ever (and that's saying a lot...):

"...it's a picture of HITLER!!@#!%@"​

 

My memory (which is faulty as hell) is that when HOL was first released, one of the music magazines at the time (Stereo Review? High Fidelity? Rolling Stone?) simply raved about the CD. Gave it a 10, said it blew away the vinyl, made a case that this album showed the real power of the CD, etc etc. But this was a time when CDs were not that plentiful (fall of 1985), and I was unable to find a copy of the CD in any store. Then, suddenly (if I remember correctly) it was out of print. I don't think it was repressed until late 1986/early 1987. And when I finally was able to buy the repressing, I was underwhelmed. To this day, I don't know if there was any difference between the first and second pressings of the HOL CD - either in terms of mastering or packaging.

J. D.

 

Methinks there is some confusion regarding the meaning of the word, "nadir".

 

Great price for the set, not-so-great price for shipping: $25.25.

 

More on "The Red Shoes". Listening to it right now I can only remember how delightful this album is to me. Some specific moments: the big long call and response section of "Constellation Of The Heart". The song "Lily" strikes a deep chord with me as many years ago I read and greatly enjoyed many of Katherine Kurtz' Deryni fantasy novels, and the ritual described is straight out of that world (even down to small details - It's been years since I've read them, I believe the pinch of salt is significant). The song "The Red Shoes" - I love songs based on fairy tales (I also have a soft spot for the classic Disney movies) and this one captures the essense of the frantic "Red Shoes" beautifully.

I even have "The Line, The Cross, and The Curve" on LaserDisc.

To the OP - since it's not universally loved, you may find "Red Shoes" for a very low price!

 

It means low point.

 

Penultimate is another oft-misused word, especially in music forums.

 

Indeed it does... it's clear you weren't the confused one

 

I have often wondered was Hounds of Love - alternate verison wasn't included on the reissue.