FEATURE:
You Want Alchemy
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
Kate Bush’s Remastered in Vinyl at Two
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I am writing about Kate Bush’s…
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
remastered albums and boxsets because November is a big month for anniversaries. In addition to The Red Shoes, Aerial, Lionheart, and 50 Words for Snow celebrating various anniversaries, The Whole Story turned thirty-four on 10th November. The most-recent anniversary that is coming up concerns Kate Bush’s remastered albums (in boxset form). The vinyl albums (all of her studio albums) were released in four separate boxes; the first two arrived on 16th November, 2018, whilst the latter two came out on 30th November. The C.D. boxes were staggered on the same dates and the remastered albums are all available om digital platforms. If you have not got the sets, they are available here, but I want to bring in a news piece from Kate Bush News when they announced the releases (and at the start, I have included Bush’s response to the reception the news accrued):
“I just can’t believe the fantastic response to yesterday’s announcement of the Remastered project. I’m totally blown away! It’s really exciting and incredibly rewarding for everyone involved to see it being received so positively.
I really wasn’t expecting such an overwhelming reaction. Thank you.
All best wishes,
Kate
As well as the 10 Kate Bush studio albums being made available for purchase separately on vinyl and CD, Kate is also releasing box set Remastered collections – four box sets on vinyl and two box sets on CD. The vinyl albums – all Kate’s studio work – will be released in 4 separate boxes, the first two on November 16 and the latter two on November 30. The CD boxes will be staggered on the same dates. The remastered albums will also be made available as digital downloads.
The four vinyl box sets are called Kate Bush – Remastered in Vinyl I, II, III and IV and present Kate’s 10 studio albums across three individual box sets, with the fourth set being a brand new 4LP rarities collection of 12″ mixes, remixes, b-sides and covers. The first three LP box sets feature artwork imagery from The Dreaming, The Sensual World and Aerial, unadorned by any text, to mark each era of recordings they contain. The rarities LP box set features a portrait of Kate on the cover. The Red Shoes is now presented in a double vinyl gatefold sleeve format. Note: The Before the Dawn live album set has already been made available by Fish People since 2016 in its own 4LP box.
The two CD box sets are called Kate Bush – Remastered Part I (featuring her first 7 albums), and Kate Bush – Remastered Part II which features Aerial, Director’s Cut, 50 Words for Snow, Before the Dawn and a brand new 4CD rarities collection of 12″ mixes, remixes, b-sides and covers called “The Other Sides” Note: The rarities CDs will only be available as part of the second CD box set.
The Other Sides – Track-listing of rarities discs (vinyl and CD):
12” MIXES
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix)
Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix)
Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix)
Experiment IV (Extended Mix)
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
THE OTHER SIDE 2
Home For Christmas
One Last Look Around The House Before We Go
I’m Still Waiting
Warm And Soothing
Show A Little Devotion
Passing Through Air
Humming
Ran Tan Waltz
December Will Be Magic Again
Wuthering Heights (Remix / New Vocal from ‘The Whole Story’)
THE OTHER SIDE 1
Walk Straight Down The Middle
You Want Alchemy
Be Kind To My Mistakes
Lyra
Under The Ivy
Experiment IV
Ne T’Enfuis Pas
Un Baiser D’Enfant
Burning Bridge
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix
IN OTHERS’ WORDS
Rocket Man
Sexual Healing
Mná na hÉireann
My Lagan Love
The Man I Love
Brazil (Sam Lowry’s First Dream)
The Handsome Cabin Boy
Lord Of The Reedy River
Candle In The Wind”.
I have pulled off quite a lot to chew here, but one big reason for marking the second anniversary of the remastered sets is two-fold. For one, it is close to the anniversary of The Whole Story. Prior to The Whole Story in 1986, there had not been a greatest hits package from Bush. This Woman's Work: Anthology 1978–1990 was released in 1990, but that was more of a collection of all of her albums rather than a precise presentation of her best work on a single album. Nearly three decades after that huge retrospective, Bush put out these great packages. Previously, it was quite difficult to get certain studio albums on vinyl – as I have said - and here we have the studio albums on their rightful format!
What was most interesting to me was that, on the fourth vinyl box, we got The Other Side (parts one and two), and In Others’ Words – giving us a chance to hear some B-sides and great covers. A lot of the material would have been familiar to many, but putting out the studio albums and rarer tracks was a great opportunity to reach new fans. Some people wondered whether there was a missed chance in terms of putting out even more material in terms of unheard demos, live recordings and unique rarities, but I think there is a great spread across the sets. In 2011, Bush released Director’s Cut: reworkings of songs she was not overly-happy with on The Sensual World (1989), and The Red Shoes, and this was another case of revisionism and retrospection – something she had not really done in the past. Ahead of Christmas, I do think the remastered sets are a perfect gift for any Kate Bush fan and those who are unfamiliar with her work. I will mention the second reason why I wanted to mark the anniversary of the boxsets, but one notable thing about the remastered sets is that Remastered Part I (Remastered Parts I-II in Vinyl), and Remastered Part II (Remastered Parts III-IV in Vinyl) were released on Bush’s Fish People label (alongside Parlophone and Rhino) – The Other Sides, released initially as part of the Remastered box set, and subsequently as a stand-alone four-C.D. set on 8th March, 2019 (released through Fish People and Rhino).
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
The fact the albums were released on Bush’s own label meant that she could remaster the albums in order to fit how she would have wanted them to sound originally. There is debate when it comes to remasters as to whether they improve on the originals and are necessary but, as she remastered/reworked songs from The Sensual World, and The Red Shoes in 2011, I guess she was quite keen to look at the other albums – many albums were also out-of-print prior to 2018, so many fans would have experienced these albums for the first time in remastered form. Bush didn’t like when her albums sounded too compressed and digitised so, contrary to how many artists approach remasters, the 2018 versions almost sound less modern and sharp. The 2018 remasters feel warmer and fuller than the original albums in a way, and I think that completion closed a chapter whereby Bush got to correct ‘errors’ or unhappiness she felt with the original studio albums. I will wrap up soon, but I just want to bring in a couple of reviews for the remastered sets. This is what Classic Pop Magazine had to offer:
“The Kate Bush Remastered CD Box 1 (or Vinyl Box 1 and 2) collects the albums from 1978’s The Kick Inside to 1993’s The Red Shoes and is frequently staggering. Her debut spawned not only the phantasmal Wuthering Heights but also The Man With The Child In His Eyes, a miracle of insatiable, mystical dream-pop.
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
Bush’s first albums brimmed with art-pop of almost unconscionable vim and imagination. Lionheart (also 1978) and Never For Ever (1980) found her training a childlike eye on adult emotions via meditations such as In Search Of Peter Pan and the fluttering Babooshka. By her 1982 masterpiece The Dreaming, Bush was both feverishly sampling and producing her own album – unheard of in those sexist times.
Her vocals, alternately raw and immaculate, were a thing of wonder on 1985’s Hounds Of Love and 1989’s The Sensual World (a quintessential Bush LP title). On The Red Shoes, she further explored themes of sex, sensuality and gender roles.
The albums making up Kate Bush Remastered CD Box 2, from 2005’s Aerial to 2011’s 50 Words For Snow, are bigger on stylised reflection and lighter on impactful pop hooks, but harbour moments of genius such as poignant 2005 single King Of The Mountain. Bonus tracks include 12″ mixes, B-sides and (in the CD box only) 2016 live album Before The Dawn.
Driven, visceral, thespian, experimental and yet capable of conjuring up sheer pop nuggets, Kate Bush has always been a groundbreaking, very British artist like no other. That Johnny Rotten knew what he was yelling about…”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
In another review, Attitude praised the remastering job and sound - and they made some interesting observations regarding omissions.
“Kate worked in conjunction with James Guthrie on the remastering and they’ve done an amazing job. Rather than just pumping up the volume, they’ve gone for nuance and clarity so the drums on ‘Running Up That Hill’ pound a little harder and the shattered glass on ‘Babooshka’ is crystal clear.
An even bigger treat for fans is 'The Other Sides', a four-disc compilation of 12 inch mixes, B-sides and rarities (like the haunting ‘Under The Ivy’), one-off singles (like ‘December Will Be Magic Again’) and cover versions such as Kate’s reggae take on Elton’s ‘Rocket Man’ and her surprisingly faithful version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’.
Also included are the 1986 remix of ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the underrated ‘Experiment IV’, both of which originally featured on singles collection 'The Whole Story'. The fact said best-of isn’t included in either set and nor is the live 'On Stage EP' means this isn’t quite the whole Kate Bush story”.
It is interesting what they write about songs that should have been included. Thirty years after that This Woman’s Work package, maybe there is a demand for a new collection or a greatest hits package like The Whole Story that fills in the gaps between 1986 and now. I do feel that live recordings have been lacking when it comes to packages and boxsets. Bush’s Before the Dawn live album has already been released in a vinyl box, but what about 1979’s The Tour of Life?!
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
Maybe there aren’t great recordings of those sets, but many would jump at the chance to hear as many live recordings from that incredible tour on vinyl. Similarly, there must be demos and some earlier recordings that would go together on a new set. I wonder whether Kate Bush will ever consider opening the pantry wider when it comes to those recordings, or maybe she is just looking ahead to releasing new material. The second reason why I wanted to mark two years of the remastered sets being released is that, next month, a very special magazine is being released. Kate Bush News gives us more details:
“Something we’ve never seen before – an ENTIRE full colour issue of the legendary Record Collector magazine devoted to Kate Bush. It hits the shops December 3rd. This magazine has always taken Kate very seriously over the years as an artist who also happens to have a highly collectible body of work. As such they always put Kate’s fans front and centre. This “bookazine” is no exception, pages upon pages of content here illuminate just what Kate means to fans AND for the very first time is rich with illustrated features about collecting the music that we love – and there has been significant input from Kate’s fans to make this very special indeed. We’re excited. Do not miss! PRE-ORDER YOUR ISSUE HERE!
IMAGE CREDIT: Record Collector Music Magazine
Here’s what Record Collector says: “This latest RC special gives fans the definitive guide to collecting one of the most extraordinary musicians of our times with a comprehensive UK discography, in-depth guides to collectables and memorabilia, all of her studio albums revisited by some of RC’s finest writers, fans and musicians on what Kate means to them, unpublished photographs, an evocative piece on her remarkable live comeback, and so much more. Available for pre-order: 5 November. Release date: 3 December – Note: Due to lockdown, there may be a slight delay with dispatch of your order”.
It ill be great to see that magazine, as it will go beyond the studio albums and obvious and introduce people to the entire Kate Bush universe. 2020 has been an interesting year where three different magazines have been published that go deep with Kate Bush’s work – the first was MOJO’s Collectors’ Series, and then PROG’s celebration of Never for Ever at forty. There is still this appetite and fascination regarding Kate Bush’s work and, as the upcoming Record Collector magazine will show, there is so much love out there for her! As we mark two years since Bush’s last significant output - and one that goes deep and covers her whole career -, I think the magazine is good timing, as it will be a career retrospective and it will urge people to buy the studio albums. If you have not got the 2018 remastered sets, then I would encourage people to buy them as they are…
IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino
WELL worth some investment.