Kate Bush // 50 Words For Snow

I'm guarded about this so far -- clearly the song lengths and their sparseness will make me harder than any other album I must review this year.

Haha -- make me WORK harder, but perhaps that too.

I wonder if something dramatic has happened to her voice since "Aerial"? Or perhaps she's changed her writing style to better suit its maturity

Alfred you had me o_O there for a sec :)

I'm immersing into this more and more. Especially the first three tracks are like a perfect hibernation cocoon.

Very excited about hearing this! She's one of the few artist I won't listen to previews or download anything. I wait till I buy the album, which is on my list of things to do on Nov 21.

I kind of like the idea that every time she has to hit a high note she hires a guest vocalist. Bertie 4ever.

Elton sounds utterly horrible in this.

I continue to be happily surprised by the broad range of ILMers a new Kate Bush album is able to bring together.

I don't want to be weary at the idea of Elton John sharing vocals with Kate, I would like to keep an open mind, But why of all people did she pick him?

This documentary claims that Elton was an early influence on her.

^link goes directly to YouTube video, btw

She covered "Rocket Man," guys – and quite well too.

I don't like Elton's timbre in the last ten years but no way is he an unexpected guest. I can certainly imagine teenaged Bush learning Elton songs (and can still imagine her covering "Love Lies Bleeding" or "Social Disease").

Elton John was her biggest musical hero as a teenager - it's only surprising she hasn't asked him before.

People are more ready to assume that any wackiness in the music of a female artist is a direct expression of their wackiness as a person.

perfect way of listening to this album: early on a freezing winter's morning before anyone else is awake

Ooh, with a warm cup of cocoa too?

Sorry that was mean -- it prob IS great to listen to it then. Kate just brings out the über-preciousness of people on ILM.

I had to stop myself from using snow metaphors in my firsts responses here to the full album.

tbh one of the truly great things about kate bush is her lack of fear of seeming too emotional or too grand or too emotional or too wacky or too everything, so i don't think it's wrong for ppl to react to her work in ways that might be precious or "corny"

Regarding the wackiness, I still remember when Kate appeared on the block in 1978 and she sure was considered weird back then. The way she danced, her facial expressions, etc. She was the talk of the schoolyard for quite some time. Have you seen that!?

The weirdness had mellowed out somewhere around Hounds of Love, where Kate was just 100% percent herself, but by then the label of 'wackiness' had stuck like glue. Also: writers seemed to start confusing 'wackiness' with been 'seclusive.'

what's "100% herself"? Is an artist ever herself? And this is an album on which half the songs support a concept.

The Dutch amusement park The Efteling also used Kate to promote their (then new) Haunted House (that featured a tombstone with here name on it to this day!) That also helped cement Kate as this witchy wacky loony (or at least in the lowlands).

Kate was very much forced into making her second album the same as her first, for instance. And it my personal believe that she had more of an image to herself at the beginning of her career then she has now. Now she just since about doing laundry and about how much she loves her son.

since = sings

Itself an image, right?

Of course, but I believe it to be less contrived.

no way she hates her fukkin brat and wears stanky ass clothes

he hates her fukkin brat

If that was true, Director's Cut would've featured a rerecording of Get Out of My House, no? ;)

I like the first three songs so far. The rest is a bit ... soporific. No sparks whatsoever in that Elton John duet, IMO.

I take that "soporific" comment back. I dig the track with Jeeves. Almost a HOL bside!

First three tracks... Adore it already. If this is MOR, it's in the finest tradition - mark Hollis, yes, but also hints of David sylvian, John Martyn and rickie lee jones at her most abstracted.

get a vibe of some joni mitchell stuff like hissing of summer lawns and hejira too

My Kate Bush fandom started with the release of "Hounds Of Love" which came out towards the beginning of my dive into alternative/indie/college music. It really blew me away, and I also loved "The Dreaming" and the singles on "The Whole Story" but never cared for the rest of her early work. "The Sensual World" was a great follow-up but ever since then I've been uninspired. I HATED "The Red Shoes" aside from "Rubberband Girl" and "Aerial" didn't click for me, though I'm planning on revisiting it. I'm just listening to the new album now and it's off to a damn good start - I'd love to come back into Kate's fold!

HATED "The Red Shoes" aside from "Rubberband Girl"

what

Yeah that seems like a really odd "aside from".

What? I really disliked that album, just across the board it felt like a huge drop-off in quality.

"Rubberband Girl" is one of her best singles though.

get a vibe of some joni mitchell stuff like hissing of summer lawns and hejira too

I wish! I know Steve Gadd's on board but I'm not hearing much of a rhythmic undertow yet.

funny, as you say that i'm listening to "Lake Tahoe" and it's rolling, albeit gently

I do like that one.

i'm wondering if Elton John then Stephen Fry next to each other might be flawed sequencing

Not if she intended to rely on our collective memory of their sexuality.

The Elton voice is supposed to be her alter ego, right? To my ears his Elton-ness is so overwhelming that neither he nor Kate sound particularly polymorphous.

in that Quietus interview i think she says they're supposed to be star-crossed lovers or something but i wdn't always take what she says to be gospel

re: the sequencing i guess i meant that the sound of those two tracks feels like an odd tangent when they're placed together in a way that maybe wdn't have happened if they'd been isolated from each other

Last night I gave in at a moment of weakness and downloaded '50 Words For Snow'. I thought I could hold out till it's release date, but a mini bottle of tequila had me craving new Kate Bush songs. I only made it through the first 3 songs and each surprised me. This is a beautiful record!! I loved all of Aerial and so far I love this one as much.

"Rubberband Girl" is one of her best singles though.

i think it's her worst!

i've only listened to half of this so far and can't wait to hear the rest

finishing up the 1st track right now. beautiful and moody, the vocals are great. those high notes are sensational. i wish the piano varied it up a bit more. i LOVE the piano hook, but it would hold more drama if it weren't repeated as much.

and i say this as an avid supporter and believer in the power of repetition.

like i totally got it in Mrs. bartolozzi, a song about cycles, and patterns.

The Elton voice is supposed to be her alter ego, right?

i assumed elton was the snowman X:

You can't get much more repetitious than snow falling.

yeah, i definitely see how the falling piano hook emulates snow. need to let it ruminate more.