Hounds of Love

Wonderful album!

Running Up That Hill is so good, and it's not even the best song on the album (I'm partial to The Big Sky). I really like side 2 as well; Kate Bush really is one of a kind

A strong mix of huge pop hits sitting neatly alongside spookier experimental offerings. It’s dramatic throughout without ever tipping over into being cheesy. Songs sound meaningful and important without the messages behind them being spoon fed to you. It’s a work of art.

I came into this knowing Running Up That Hill and thinking it was a pretty cool & interesting song, and that was it. What I did not expect out of this listen was to have my mind absolutely blown by the music!

This is such a fascinating piece of music, and while things fell off a bit in the 2nd half for me, when Kate Bush hit the spot, she REALLY hit it. I could see myself getting immersed in this. A very strong album.

pls more 80s music from Stranger Things

This album gives me nostalgia for a period of time I never actually experienced. Genuinely surprised how experimental some of this is for an 80s pop album. I really wish all pop music was this good!

Favourite tracks: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Cloudbusting, Waking the Witch, Jig of Life

More like the Hounds of Hell

What the fuck was that

1 ⭐️

I have been saved from Vecna 🙏

This is a weird one, because its not one I think I'll go back to, but its effortlessly great.

Almost comes off as experimental, but I don't think Kate Bush isn't trying to be experimental, that's just the type of music she makes, hence why I said it comes off as effortless. I've listened to her before, 50 Words For Snow, and if I remember right, that was a far quieter, more subdued album, so this more bombastic 80's pop style threw me for a loop.

I did like Under Ice and Waking the Witch a lot with the odd horror vibes/experimentation. Also noticed quite a bit of this album feels oddly influenced by The Wall era Pink Floyd? Particularly in the basslines/sound/tone in songs like Mother Stands for Comfort.

Started really strong, then just kinda went... somewhere incomprehensible.

I could've sworn we already had this album, but no, that was "The Sensual World". At least this starts with 'Running Up That Hill', which is the only Kate Bush song I really know, even though I think it is inferior to the Placebo cover. Running up a building is a lot more impressive than running up a hill, you know, but nobody talks about that part.
I liked the album OK. It certainly has an 80s witchy vibe, which I appreciate, but it didn't particularly compel me on a first listen.

Highlights: 'Running Up That Hill', 'Cloudbusting'

I’m at a 5.

It’s weird – I never knew this was sort of a two-sided album, even with how incredibly prevalent “Running Up That Hill” became a few years back. Past that song, I truly knew nothing else here, but once again, Kate Bush has really come through. This isn’t the best album we’ve gotten from her; that still goes to “The Sensual World”, but this album’s highs are pretty damn close to that one’s.

I do feel like the first 5 tracks here get overshadowed by the story/concept side of the last 7 tracks, but they’ve all got something going for them. “Running Up That Hill” is the all-timer here for the synth work & imagery it provokes, especially in terms of pleading to God himself. It went viral for a reason, and it’s just a great track. “Hounds of Love” simplifies that imagery a bit but adds a nice sense of panic; while it might be my weakest track here, I think it’s a great listen. “The Big Sky” does something really ethereal with the percussion work that just brought me into a total zen state. “Mother Stands for Comfort” is eerie as hell, and sort of reminds me of a Peter Gabriel 3 type of track, with even her vocals matching the cold, killer instincts of this murderer. “Cloudbusting” is a great listen, but it has a lot of historical context that I just need to dive deeper into to really “get” the track, I think. Regardless, I liked all 5 of them.

It is the second half of the album that really shines here though – while “The Sensual World” took a look into the human need for desire, relevancy & comfort, all of “The Ninth Wave” focuses heavily on hope, insecurity, & survival, showcasing the dreams & delusions of a woman drowning in the middle of the ocean, presumably from a shipwreck or something. It really is an excellent set of tracks, with a heavy emphasis on sound design to compliment the instrumentation & her stellar vocals. It definitely leaves some of the onus on the listener to piece it all together, because it is just a mish-mash of soundscapes and styles otherwise, but I think it’s all incredibly well written and performed.

I really want to focus on “Hello Earth” in particular, because something about the use of the choir in that song really, really clicked for me – it’s so disconnected from the main soundscape of the rest of the track that it almost feels like angels observing our protagonist, both within her dreams/delusions & in the outside world, watching her drowning body. It’s the sort of thing that’s really open to interpretation though, which is the hallmark of a great moment in a concept album to me. In the same way that books can be interpreted in multiple ways, having a moment like this where any listener can have an entirely different vision is just incredibly cool to me.

Once again, I do think “The Sensual World” is a better top to bottom album, but that’s entirely subjective, and it shouldn’t be used as a way to diminish this one. This is a great album in its own right, and I loved it all the same. Since this is the last Kate Bush album on the list, the onus is on me to go through the rest of her discography. With that said, going 15/15 means you did pretty fucking good, Kate. Just a remarkable stretch of albums, all deserving to be on the list. As far as this one goes, it’s an incredibly easy 5.

This would be one of my all time fave albums if the end half was as good as the first.

A wonderful album, little more needs be said about it.

1089/1089, and wot an album to end on

Amidst the heightened interest of Kate Bush’s music in 2022/23, I ended up listening to this one summer night while watching the stars. What began as a tranquil moment, with songs like the title track and "Cloudbusting", became more eerie when "Waking the Witch" and "Hello Earth" came on.
I briskly packed up my lawnchair and returned inside. I guess what I'm trying to say is, who needs drugs when Hounds of Love is right here.

Though it isn’t exactly relaxing material, the “Ninth Wave” is incredibly dreamlike, tapdancing on the border between 80s pop and avant-garde electronic. Oh and who could forget those beautiful pipes 🇮🇪

Highlights: “Cloudbusting”, “Running Up That Hill”, “Jig of Life”, 80s synthpop, 60s psychedelia, Cuban jazz, Senegalese mbalax, the shoegaze scene, millennial folk rock, the Soulquarians, east coast hiphop, west coast hiphop, thirty random bands from the early 2000s, all twelve Beatles albums, all the bottom 20 ranked albums on this website (even the ones I hated), all the Canadian albums on this list, all the Irish albums, theatre kids, two-hour long live albums
Not as crazy about: only being able to experience this for the first time once

January 2021 to March 26, 2025

Never really liked Kate Bush based on the couple of singles I had heard but felt this album was okay.

Beautiful, avant garde, definitely interesting enough to hold my focus. Another delightful experience.

For the other listeners on the same journey of discovery: if you don't like Waking the Witch, never hand me the aux. I'm in my happy place here.

That was a quick 45 minutes of great music! :)

This record is great. There’s something magical and transporting about Kate’s sound. Yes it’s an 80s record, but feels fresh today.

A continuously magical eruption of creativity.