On this Day: Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love released.

 On September 16th 1985 Kate Bush released what many (myself included) regard as her finest hour. Hounds of Love just transcends time completely - it's mystical pop crossed with art rock sound makes for a listening experience unlike any other.

The first time I heard the album I was bemused. I had never heard anything like it before and I couldn't comprehend it. The album had... something though. An aura, something that was entincing me back. One day I was listening to the album on a starry winter's night in the car. The song And Dream Of Sheep came on. It's a beautiful lullaby of a song. And as I gazed up at the sky, peppered with stars as I listened to it... it all came together. To this day, the album still remains a firm favourite of mine.

One thing I also find absolutely fascinating is how defiant the album is. Just a mere two days prior to the premiere of Running Up That Hill on BBC1's Wogan show NME published a Where Are They Now? article, one of the subjects of the piece being Kate. Just two days later, the Hounds Of Love era began. Running Up That Hill became one of her biggest hits, and Hounds Of Love her biggest seller. It's also arguably the pinnacle of her career in terms of critical acclaim too. The moral of the story? Never write a great talent off. And really, assume nothing in life. Little did the author of that NME article know that Kate Bush was in her studio, creating an album that would rightfully be seen as one of the all time greats. A personal and professional high indeed. Hounds Of Love really is her opus.

Kate Bush - The Big Sky

Not only one of my all time favourite Kate Bush songs, but simply one of my all time favourite songs, period. For me, this is her best single and in my top three favourite Kate Bush tracks. It was the final single released from her career-defining Hounds Of Love album, released in 1986. It only reached #37 in the UK chart which I think is a bit of an injustice. It's a fantastic song. It's just got an incredible atmosphere. The lyrics concern youth, and the pleasure felt at the simplest of things. Like "looking up at the big sky". When you're young, such things can fascinate the mind (I'm personally still fascinated by them to this day). I can definitely remember as a kid staring up at that wide open space, just wondering what lay out there. And how the clouds looked so magical - I always wanted to sleep on a cloud personally. The lyrics for The Big Sky can be incredibly hard to make out. In fact, if it weren't for a transcribe of the lyrics most of them (bar the chorus) would be inaudible. I'm pretty bad at deciphering lyrics anyhow, although this time it's definitely more down to the arrangement. The song starts off with a certain air of anticipation I think and it just builds. It's like for every layer of joy that comes in; so does a new instrumental piece. By the time the song reaches its coda (ending segment) it's ended up incredibly percussion-heavy. So much so in fact that it becomes very discordant and cacophonous. Listening to it too loud is actually painful - I could imagine this track doing damage to your ears if listened to too often and too loud. However - the track just makes me feel deliriously happy when I hear it. The arrangement is so uplifting - I especially love the guitars which are prominent during the chorus. They actually send shivers down my spine more often than that. The track was remixed for single release, in a mix known as the Special Single Mix. It was released on 7" whilst the 12" had another mix called the Meteorological Mix. In all honesty I'm not a huge fan of the single mix - the album version is my definitive version. In any case, I'd describe the song as frankly magical, and that's an adjective I virtually never use to describe songs!

Unexpected gems

I found a great little store in one of the area's of Belfast city center that I'm not usually in. Its a collectable's store that sells comics, vinyl, VHS tapes and some CD's. I didn't find any Pet Shop Boys records, but I did see about half of Morrissey's albums in the CD part for about £3 each. I also seen some George Michael singles. I didn't have a massive look in the vinyl section (I'm small, and couldn't even see the top shelves) but I did see Erasure - Two Ring Circus, Prince - Parade and Saint Etienne - Avenue in the vinyl section though. I didn't buy any of them, I don't buy vinyl unless its something I really desperately want that costs about £3. They also had Blur - Parklife and a VHS tape from a Madchester era band called The Farm that I really like but like vinyl, I don't collect either VHS nor cassette. I eventually settled on Grace Jone's most recent album and two Madonna singles from the 90s.

When I went into the only proper record store in city center they had a massive sale on. They were selling various albums in their 2 for £10 deal that I really wanted so I had a hard time choosing. They had greatest hits by The Cure, New Order, Kate Bush, The Farm and I'm pretty sure there were others too (I had to rush around HMV because my dad and me had two hours to get out of town and we were pushing it) I eventually settled on The Farm and Kate Bush's greatest hits, but I'm hoping to go back in there sometime this week to have a proper look

I did order some things online too, New Order - Waiting For The Sirens Call arrived on Saturday and I've just ordered Madonna - American Life. So after 6 years of being a fan I've finally got all her studio albums! I'm ordering a few other bits and pieces this week too, so I'll post more when they get here!