If you had expected the soft thoughtful introduction of previous albums (or future albums, come to that), the first moments of The Dreaming would come as a huge surprise. Big, bad drums wallop out a devastating tribal rhythm, and Kate's voice, deep at first, very quickly rises to an angry shriek. ... Read review
Advantages: Artistically liberated, full-on and crazy! Disadvantages: Just too "way out" for some
If you had expected the soft thoughtful introduction of previous albums (or future albums, come to that), the first moments of The Dreaming would come as a huge surprise. Big, bad drums wallop out a devastating tribal rhythm, and Kate's voice, deep at first, very quickly rises to an angry shriek. Instinctively one senses her pent up creative frustration, given glorious and immediate release in "Sat In Your Lap", the opening number. The ... ...shows that, in every way, she is pushing the boat out. "Hey, I'm gonna take it all!" A note on the CD packaging tells the listener that it was made to be played LOUD! Great advice. I'd better close the windows though, or the neighbours will think I've gone nuts.
"Sat In Your Lap" ends abruptly, with a set of staccato blasts, and "There Goes a Tenner" follows on immediately. It's a slightly more subdued, ... more
If you had expected the soft thoughtful introduction of previous albums (or future albums, come to that), the first moments of The Dreaming would come as a huge surprise. Big, bad drums wallop out a devastating tribal rhythm, and Kate's voice, deep at first, very quickly rises to an angry shriek. Instinctively one senses her pent up creative frustration, given glorious and immediate release in "Sat In Your Lap", the opening number. The first of her albums to be produced by Kate herself shows that, in every way, she is pushing the boat out. "Hey, I'm gonna take it all!" A note on the CD packaging tells the listener that it was made to be played LOUD! Great advice. I'd better close the windows though, or the neighbours will think I've gone nuts.
"Sat In Your Lap" ends abruptly, with a set of staccato blasts, and "There Goes a Tenner" follows on immediately. It's a slightly more subdued, but still very eccentric, stop-start number about a bank robbery. It alternates comically between abrupt piano, brass and drums, and a completely different, dreamlike chorus.
Meandering rhythms next, coupled ominously with low, sinister and unhinged backing vocals, traffic noises and unearthly shrieks and wails. "Pull Out The Pin". A helicopter, jungle noises and madly escalating chords, wander off into infinity. They do so madly, wildly and effectively. All are woven together in a chaotic but, somehow, coherent whole: Kate's anti-war stance finds new expression, as she describes the sights and sounds experienced by a frontline soldier.
There is a totally unexpected change. "Pull Out The Pin" fades slowly, slowly into obscurity, and "Suspended in Gaffa" firmly grasps the baton. From the outset, I've instantly formed a picture of a bespectacled schoolmistress sitting, prim and proper, at the piano, banging out a kooky waltz. I laugh out loud, then gasp as the joyous mandolins strike up, ushering in in a booming chorus. We're transported back from the horror and desperation of Vietnam to, perhaps, a quaint little village somewhere with everyone dancing hippy-dippy round the maypole. The theme is of longing and denial, "Can I have it all? We can't have it all. But, here, can I have it all now?" The vibe here is so surreal that it's possible to conjure up almost any mental picture. Kate has been quoted as saying that she loves the listener to form their own impressions, not necessarily to be rigidly tied down to the intention of the artist. Music is pure emotion: it doesn't make sense to say that someone doesn't "get" it.
The mad jollity is replaced by an angry and obstinate-sounding crash. "Leave It Open" introduces warped vocals, flitting disturbingly between a low distorted croak and a high-pitched girlish squeak. "Narrow mind will persecute it..." she chants menacingly. This is the most extreme of all so far, and the point at which, I can imagine, opinion among listeners will become utterly polarised. From, "Oh no, what on Earth has she done!" to "This is the most daring, exciting and groundbreaking she's ever been." I fall definitely into the latter category, though I can understand a reaction of disappointment, or even dismay, from people who feel that the harsh experimentation stamps all over the gentleness and vulnerablity of the past three albums.
Rolf Harris booms out with the didgeridoo, and Kate slips into a cockney drawl. The raw gutsy title track The Dreaming pulls no punches, again taking it to the limit. Bleating sheep, surreal aboriginal chants and ever-present clanking echoes make this is a mental, demanding and unrelenting joy to experience. She captures the very essence of aboriginal anger at past injustice.
The Australian blast continues into the next track, whereupon it is enhanced by the mysterious notes of a gypsy fiddle. What's this, though? A simple piano once more, high tortured vocals soaring, glorious, into the air; then sinking into a soft whisper. All the fiery barriers of anger, frustration and defiance are, for a moment, drawn aside, revealing Kate simplified and childlike, the lovely being whose gentle voice graced "The Kick Inside", "Lionheart" and "Never For Ever". Yet the vision lasts only for brief seconds, as "Night of the Swallow" whips in with its fiddles, Uillean pipes and string bass. I am taken, high, high above the rooftops on a crazy, impossible and marvellous journey. "Though pigs can fly, they'll never find me posing as the night...and I'm home before the morning."
"All the Love" begins quietly, with a sombre baseline and soft secretive percussion. Eerily effective, a choirboy adds his beautiful crystal voice to the chorus. The lyrics are uncomfortable, sinister and chilling. Perhaps this is the darkest song on the album, with its theme of dying and forced departure. The procession of strange telephone voices at the end adds to the creepy drama.
As if to comfort the listener after this icy affair, her voice climbs a half-octave, jettisoning the anger and becoming kind, warm and welcoming. "Houdini" is the nearest we come to "old" Kate, and this time we have more than a glimpse of her soft side. We are at a seance, described poetically and wonderingly. "Not even eternity can hold Houdini". An ethereal flip-flop beat reveals her frustrations and fear once again - this album is "The Dreaming" after all - and her voice once more becomes coarse and distraught.
The devastating finale of the album reveals it in its complete, uncompromising utter madness. The fullness of her anger has returned with a vengeance, with a crash, with shrieking and snarling, with power and drama. "Get Out of My House" she screams, and dreams up every possible way of banishing the intruder. "I will not let you in, I face towards the wind, I change into the mule..." And she does. The bellowingly insane donkey braying at the album's conclusion is the most awesome moment of all.
Like so many works of genius, it's quite possible to misunderstand The Dreaming: in which case the wonder of it could fly right over someone's head. It's also entirely possible - and probable - that those people who hitherto had only experienced her gentler tones and relatively mild musical experiments, could be horrified. Yet this is part of the album's great strength.
Not for the faint-hearted, this daring musical kaleidoscope is nevertheless, for many, the finest musical journey she has ever taken.
Advantages: Radical, ingenious compositions and arrangements, a motherlode of invention! Disadvantages: Not for everyone; as with Kate's other albums, TIME will reveal the surreal beauty of these works.
...her terrific landmark album, The Dreaming, which saw a quiet release to the unsuspecting world some twenty years ago, she crashes through the boundaries of modern alternative pop music making, whilst maintaining a strong link to her listeners--I might be so bold as to declare that with this album she forges an even more powerful bond with them. And the more you listen to the tracks, the more deeply you're drawn into her mesmerizing, wild, weird and ... ...works. Take The Dreaming, for instance: a musically daring opus densely filled with treasures large and small, lightheartedly fun and thoughtfully melancholic, bizarre and comprehensible, but never, ever banal or ordinary. This dazzling, shocking, exhilarating, intense, intelligent, beautifully weird and strangely melodious album simply bursts with rare musical vision, brilliance and innovation, and Kate appears to have hit her creative peak on this ...
zerbine28 15.11.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dreaming, The - Kate Bush
For those of you who live in a cave or simply aren't that interested in music (what are you doing reading this then?) Kate Bush is a singer-songwriter and sometime piano player, who burst onto the music scene in 1978 with the huge hit "Wuthering Heights" (you know the one - no one had a clue what she was going on about - I do believe it was one of the first tracks to be included on the "indecipherable lyrics" round of "Never Mind The Buzzcocks"). ... ...describe someone's sound, and resort to comparisons like "she's a bit like Kate Bush", so where does that leave me when I'm trying to describe Kate Bush? The best I can come up with I'm afraid, is that Tori Amos probably took up where Kate left off. They are very different artists, but they do have the singing/piano/mad as a box of frogs connection.
So, onto "The Dreaming". This was Kate's fourth album, and it saw her take a more experimental approach.
...
delawney 31.08.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dreaming, The - Kate Bush
Advantages: Pushing the boundaries Disadvantages: Some misses
The Dreaming, an experimental, courageous, though arguably over serious album, was Kate Bush’s follow up to Never For Ever in September 1982. Just under two years in the making, the album wa sproduced by Kate herself, a role she had been moving toward since Lionheart.
Sat In Your Lap, inspired by a Stevie Wonder gig, and trailed as a single as early as July 1981, was indicative of what was to follow: complex lyrics; a deepening of Kate’s vocal timbre; ... ...claustrophobic production. The album, recorded in three separate studios, each carefully chosen not only for acoustic quality but for ambience and vibe, featured some unusual guest artists. Rolf Harris and animal impressionist Percy Edwards appeared on the title track, which delineated the plight of the Australian aborigine. Four members of the Irish band Planxty were recruited for Night Of The Swallow, while German bassist Eberhard Weber appeared ...
dave27 10.10.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dreaming, The - Kate Bush
Advantages: One of her best albums Disadvantages: Too 'weird' for some
With _The Dreaming_, Kate Bush took a mammoth leap, producing something of dark beauty and meticulous madness. Her previous set _Never Forever_, was an admirable leap back into the mainstream after the low-key affair of _Lionheart_. Here though, she really muddies the waters. Multiple vocal dubs, drum machines to the max, and a more textured voice give these songs a murky quality.
"Sat In Your Lap" is a bizarre mishmash of sounds, released the year ... ...else does here. "Pull Out The Pin" is a commentary of the west's effect on the rest of the world and is perhaps her most ambitious song to date. The electric guitar and bass are really something.
Kate goes all ska and cockney on us in the humorous "There Goes A Tenner", and then Australian in the title track, which rallies for cultural respect. She stretches her voice to the limits in "Night Of The Swallow", and then further so in "Houdini" which ...
ameo747 23.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dreaming, The - Kate Bush
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Reviews which might be of interest for "Dreaming, The - Kate Bush"
Advantages: Big due to the remastered version. Kate Bush at her very best. Disadvantages: a couple of unnecessary tracks.
KateBush is one of Britain's most sensational women. Picked up by Pink Floyd guitarist at a very early while singing and playing piano for the K.T. Bush Band, she has shown eccentricity and voluptuous quantities of natural talent ever since that first, mesmerizing "Wuthering Heights" performance on Top of the Pops back in 1978, a song that the likes of Keane have said: "sticks with you for the rest of your life from the moment you first hear it". However, the track "Wuthering Heights", that can be considered her best, is not part of this album. Yet I have chosen to review this album because it is my favourite, and also the most interesting for me.
KateBush decided to make this album after the harsh criticism she received from her much darker album The Dreaming. She wasn't angry though she moved to the country in search ...
Advantages: Gorgeous vocals that need very little accompaniment Disadvantages: None
songs. Admittedly, I picked this album up extremely cheaply on Amazon Marketplace (I think for 0.01p plus p&p if memory serves!), but I would have happily paid HMV prices if needed to hear Stephanie Kirkham.
Born in Lancashire, she cites the likes of Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Billy Holiday, Bob Marley and KateBush as influencing a young girl's dreams of becoming a singer-songwriter herself one day. However, it was listening to Joni Mitchell who moved her to create music. Despite all these heavy hitters providing the inspiration, she's clearly carved out a little niche for herself in "That Girl" and hasn't traded any of her uniqueness for the sake of mass appeal. This is definitely pop - and 'dreamy' pop at that, but when it's this good, who wants to think about labels?
The CD comprises ten tracks:
1. That Girl
2. Stay Here Close To ...
Advantages: unique, eccentric, life affirming Disadvantages: it takes a bit of time to get into
and laughs like a maniac along with all the tweeting birds. It's taken me several listens but now I'm beginning to sink into this honey and fall in love with Kate all over again.
In comparison with Kate's back catalogue I would say Aerial is closest to The Hounds of Love, particularly on disc two. It also has elements of The Sensual World and touches of The Dreaming. It's not likely to become my favourite KateBush album but there's some really good stuff here and it stands well apart from anything else out there today. ...
kate price
I was toldby my mumthat thishad beenvoted thehighest in apo
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Product Information for "Dreaming, The - Kate Bush" »
Product details
Title
Dreaming, The
Performer
Kate Bush
Genre
Rock & Pop
Sub Genre
Art Rock
Release Date
26/01/1987
Original Release Year
1982
Label / Distributor
EMI / EMI Operations/CEVA Logistics
Producer
Kate Bush
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
77774636124
Catalogue Number
CDP 7463612
Additional notes
Album Notes
Personnel: Kate Bush (vocals, piano, keyboards, strings); Alan Murphy, Brian Bath, Ian Bairnson (guitar); Paddy Bush (mandolins, strings); Liam O'Flynn (uillean pipes, penny whistles); Sean Keane (fiddle); Donal Lunny (bouzouki); Rolf Harris (digeridu); Del Palmer, Eberhard Weber, Jimmy Bain, Danny Thompson (bass); Dave Lawson (Synclavier); Preston Heyman, Stuart Elliot (drums); Paddy Bush, Gosfield Goers, Richard Thornton (background vocals). Engineers: Haydn Bendall, Nick Launay, Hugh Padgham, Paul Hardiman. THE DREAMING is a breakthrough for English singer/songwriter Kate Bush. Recorded after her work on Peter Gabriel's innovative third album, its scope and confidence are breathtaking. The songs range from the title track (a cry of protest against the destruction of Australia's native culture and people) to a contemplative study of "Houdini" and his wife's attempts to contact him after his death. Her production takes advantage of a new digital synthesizer (the Fairlight), and musicians like Euro-jazz bassist Eberhard Weber and members of the traditional folk group Planxty.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Sat In Your Lap
2.
There Goes A Tenner
3.
Pull Out The Pin
4.
Suspended In Gaffa
5.
Leave It Open
6.
Dreamin'
7.
Night Of The Swallow
8.
All The Love
9.
Houdini
10.
Get Out Of My House
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