Thoughts & Things

Kate Bush Albums Ranked

As a huge fan of Kate Bush's music, I have listened to her entire discography many times over. She has an incredible voice and a magnificent sense of artistry. Her music and video content is all top notch, but as with anything, I do favour some of it over other pieces. I have thrown together this list of her albums, ranked in order from least preferred to most. I will also provide a brief explanation as to why I have ranked them where I have. This will include her studio LPs only.

10. The Director's Cut
The Director's Cut is made up of re-recorded tracks from The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. It's a decent enough listen, and it's fun to hear some of the tracks re-imagined in different styles, with a more mature tone. That said, this album essentially feels like a Kate Bush cover album if Kate Bush was the one recording the tracks. I like this well enough, but I don't love it.

9. Lionheart
Lionheart has some really solid tracks on it. Bush has some really fantastic early singles on this album. However, this release is comprised of songs that didn't make the cut for The Kick Inside, and it does show. She has admitted herself that she isn't as fond of on this album. It's well worth the listen for the individual tracks, but as a cohesive album it doesn't compare to some of her other releases.

8. Aerial
Aerial is a solid album, and I honestly just think I haven't spent enough time with it. The first disc is made up of some excellent individual tracks, including one where she sings a great many of the digits of pi. The second disc makes up a concept album that she performed in its entirety in her 2014 concert series. I feel like this album may eventually rank higher when I get around to spending more time with it.

7. 50 Words For Snow
50 Words For Snow is her most recent album of all new tracks. The maturity displayed in this album stands out from her early releases, but that Kate Bush quirk is present as always. If you ever wanted to hear Stephen Fry read out fifty words for snow set to music, this is the album for you. My personal favourite track on this album is Snowed In At Wheeler Street, a duet with Elton John; this one has actually inspired a rather ambitious story idea that I have been working on for some time. Her teenage son also displays his angelic choirboy voice on this album, and I hope to hear more from this very talented kid. This album makes a really excellent cohesive piece.

6. The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes has some of my favourite individual tracks on it. I really enjoy the use of Trio Bulgarka, and you can definitely hear the lush maturity in her voice. Eric Clapton and Prince feature on this album quite well. As a whole, the album is fine, but individual tracks that stand out far more than the work as a whole. The Song of Solomon is probably one of the sexiest songs of all time. Considering this album has a fair bit of pop accessibility, it did a fair bit poorer than some of her other works.

5. The Sensual World
The Sensual World is a beautiful piece. It stands together as a cohesive album wonderfully, but still has some stand out tracks. It features the Trio Bulgarka for the first time with incredible success. The title track is another incredibly sexy release, Deeper Understanding was decades ahead of its time lyrically, Rocket's Tail is a phenomenal track with an excellent guitar solo from David Gilmour, and This Woman's Work is perhaps her most beautiful melancholy piano pop ballad.

4. The Kick Inside
The Kick Inside actually took a fair bit of time to grow on me. I am rather disappointed in myself for this now. This album is a joyful representation of Bush's youth in the vocals, music, and lyrics. The singles make up some incredibly eccentric but accessible pop tunes, such as Wuthering Heights, Them Heavy People, and The Man With The Child In His Eyes. The other tracks are just as breathtaking however, my favourite of which is probably Moving.

Three way tie for #1 numbered in no particular order

3. Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love is easily her most popular and accessible album, and with very good reason. The A side has some wonderful pop singles, such as Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting, and Hounds of Love. Donald Sutherland actually features in the cinematic styled music video for Cloudbusting, which is worth a watch any day of the week. The B side of Hounds of Love is treated as a separate concept album titled The Ninth Wave. This is a masterpiece of art pop, and I could re-listen to it all day. The entire album features Kate Bush at her strongest vocal ability, with incredibly well done arrangements, and perfectly magical lyrics. Hounds of Love is a great first album for almost anyone, as it is incredibly intelligent and well done, but features Bush at her most pop accessible.

2. Never For Ever
Never For Ever is Kate Bush at her lyrically weirdest. This is the first album where she really had control over what she was putting out, and it really shows. She still stays in a fairly accessible area musically, although her vocals have improved and matured. The lyrics on this album will likely never not be considered strange. She features tracks from the perspective of a mother whose son's body is being returned to her from the war, from the perspective of a woman who tries to seduce her husband while disguised as another woman, and from the perspective of a fetus during a nuclear holocaust. And those are just the singles. Those are the songs she wanted on the radio! The songs that didn't get released as singles include one about committing revenge killings based on a 60s film and one based on an older film in which a child is possessed by an evil man who causes the governess to have some very confusing feelings towards the child as told from the perspective of the governess. This is a really excellent starting point for weird Kate Bush, as it still has that pop accessibility in the music to go with the quirky lyrics.

1. The Dreaming
The Dreaming is actually the first Kate Bush album I ever heard. I bought it on vinyl by pure chance, a random pick off the shelf. This was the first release she had one hundred percent control over, and you can definitely tell. This features Bush at some of her vocally best and musically weirdest music. This has everything from a didgeridoo to donkey braying, and it all works for her incredibly well. The two songs that made me fall in love with her feature on this album as well. Suspended in Gaffa, which has gotten me through some incredibly hard times. And Pull Out The Pin (with David Gilmour on backing vocals), which caught my attention on the first listen as I had terrible speakers for that play-through but still managed to be captivated by her guttural screams of "I love life." This album features some of her most story oriented songs, featuring tales of smuggling, robbery, Houdini, the Vietnam war, and the plight of the Australian aboriginals. The individual tracks are top notch, and it makes a wonderful cohesive whole album. This is a great starting place for someone looking for something unusual and different.