The Dreaming

I like her later stuff, but this was too unfocused for my taste.

Just no

Definitely like the other Kate Bush album I got. Not that this one is bad, its kinda gives me Tom Waits vibes (and honestly preferred her over Waits), but the experimentalism wasn't working for me as much on this one as it did on Hounds of Love.

Kate Bush nije za svakoga i to znam po činjenici da ja uvijek prebacim stanicu ili kanal kada naiđe neka njena pjesma. Ali ovo je onaj ne-mainstream novi poremećeni nivo. I stvarno nije za mene, ne mogu čak ni cijeniti umjetničku kvalitetu, ali brat Hamza koji svira kontrabas na pjesmi 3 je donio dvicu.

One thing I've been learning from the outliers section of my history on this site is that I clearly have higher than average tolerance levels for quirky/challenging female artists. Bjork, Joanna Newsome, PJ Harvey, Fetch the Bolt Cutters-era Fiona Apple, I love you all, so how can I not love the final boss of quirky/challenging female artists at her weirdest?

Dreaming. Tja, dromerig kan ik het niet noemen..Het schiet heel wat kanten op. Van eigenlijk vrij toegankelijk naar geschreeuw. In vergelijking met haar soortgenoten, kan ik ook de Kate van dit album weer iets makkelijker hebben. Ja, het is kunst omdat het moet. Maar dat levert toch ook originele prettige vondsten op. Het is echt dat geschreeuw tussendoor waar ik op afknap. Anders had dit best 4 sterren kunnen krijgen.

You know I've got a lot of time for this. You can't accuse Kate Bush of being boring, and I respect how weird, bold and out there this is. I can see how her music would have influenced some other artists too. Even though it's kind of different, it reminds me of Janelle Monae's ArchAndroid in places, and how weird and quirky that can be. Just that complete lack of fear to stick it all out there and do whatever the fuck you want.

You have to admire her as an artist, although I concede that some bits of this are objectively hilarious. I like that though.

3.5 rounded up.

Super experimental. Did not enjoy the oinking on the last track.

My second Kate Bush album after Hounds Of Love and while it didn’t knock my socks off like HOL did, I still enjoyed it overall.

I’m unsure of the score because it took me a couple of tracks to fully get into it. Second listen will decide.

Top Track - Night Of The Swallow

ou, eh pedrada. fiquei bem surpreso, papo reto.

pop experimental e art rock na medida certinha. que isso, ce ta doido. e dá pra sentir uma vibe post-punk malucona também, viu. bela produção, btw. eh 5 estrelas, né? gostei bastante!!!
fiquei com vontade de ouvir tudo dela. mas vou aguardar os outros saírem aqui no site.

We meet again, Kate Bush! Nice big album cover. Genuine train of thought: I hope this is the one where they go 🎵The Dre-aming is the hardest pa-rt 🎵. Oh no, that's Tom Petty, and it's not "dreaming", it's "waiting"? The album is gonna be a major disappointment.

Compelling background music here (pianos and bloopbips) but somewhat annoying vocals in parts. PERE UBU-ESQUE even. If only a dour man could sing lead on this album instead. Let David Gilmour do it, he was crushing those BG vocals! I do like the lyrics, and I do like Kate Bush, but high pitched noises just stress me out, wacky singing included. I had no idea 'Suspended in Gaffa' was a cover (that is to say, I only knew the Ra Ra Riot version! which I do prefer, but of course I heard it first). In the end this was only a minor disappointment. Definitely very Kate Bush. Perhaps could improve on repeated listens, but I don't think I'm willing to put in the time.

Highlights: "Some say that knowledge is oh-ho-ho-ho", 'Pull Out the Pin', 'Suspended in Gaffa' (good song)

Wild album. I liked it. 3.5/5. Raising to 4.

It's been nearly a year and a half since I got a Kate Bush album from the generator. I think on some level, because I got Hounds of Love as my first Kate Bush record, I was better prepared to hear her prior album, The Dreaming. In some ways, one can connect the two and hear the sonic evolution that unfolds. But even then, boy, does this album get weird.

After a successful run of three albums, Kate Bush produced this record all by herself, and the newfound creative freedom shows. This is certainly one of the most excessive and intricately assembled albums of its time. Opening with the whiplash percussive brushes of bamboo sticks and cascading pianos on "Sat in Your Lap", into the hazy synths contrasting the syncopated horns on "There Goes a Tenner", the tribal-esque percussion accompanied by the piano dirge and electric guitar strokes on "Pull Out the Pin", the thunderous drums of "Leave It Open" and "Get Out of My House", the ornate mandolin and string accompaniment on "Suspended in Gaffe", the bullroarer and digeridoo on the title track, the bagpipes and other such Celtic instruments on "Night of the Swallow", such a wide variety in sounds colliding. Throughout, Kate puts on quite a spectacle with her voice, going from soft croons to full-on harsh screams and even an Australian accent on the title track that somehow works. I can see how this album could be overwhelming for some people on first listen. But again, seeing the throughline between this and Hounds of Love, not only do I hear the greater depths in storytelling that were achieved in execution, but I was pretty much into the eccentricities of it all.

It also helps that the lyrics feel just as varied and striking. Some tracks touched on Kate's personal issues as she strove for her artistic freedom, like the existential dread on "Sit on Your Lap", the exploration of one's darker side on "Leave It Open", the desire to experience something truly ethereal on "Suspended in Gaffa", and the strife to process through loneliness and grief on "All Your Love". Other tracks saw her explore various subject matter that tapped into her storytelling prowess, including the plight of Aboriginal Australians on the title track, the suspense in the crimes illustrated in "There Goes a Tenner" and "Night of the Swallow", the Vietnam War allusions on "Pull Out the Pin", and the passionate tale of magician Harry Houdini's widow trying to contact her dead husband in the song that bore his name. It all culminates in the closing number "Get Out of the House", wherein Kate draws from the works of Stephen King's The Shining and Ridley Scott's Alien to create a chilling horror story that metaphorically deals with self-isolation and the anger and frustration that can spill over from such drastic measures.

All in all, The Dreaming is a batshit record, and I adore it. Obviously, Kate Bush's later releases would become more accessible, but for once, there was beauty in the madness.

some parts remind me of hank williams

Too many silly voices on songs like ‘There Goes A Tenner’ and ‘ The Dreaming’. I just dont get Kate Bush, like pop meets prog rock

Two Kate Bush albums in less than a month on the Generator. This one as weird as the last one.

I start off liking the weirdness and then towards the end start thinking it's a bit much. I love her voice when she's just plain singing, but the random voices and shouty bits just becomes *a lot* over a full album - especially when they just become silly voices like those I'd have done while reading books to my kid when they were a toddler. I thought the it was the fault of the b-side being "conceptual" on Hounds of Love, but the same thing happened here. Houdini for example is great musically, lovely when she is singing in her standard vocals, but then the comedy voices happen and it loses me.

I really wanted to like this more than I did in practice. There is so much about it that should make it a 5 star album to me, but then there's a noise like someone is strangling a cat or pretending to be Eeyore and I'm rolling my eyes.

2/5

The great Kate!

Kate Bush rules but do we really need her 4th album? Sakes.

I admire her, but this is more challenging than I like my music to be. It's like a cross between Bjork and Les Mis. Too experimental electronica for musical theater, too musical theater for experimental electronica.

No wild and windy moors here