FEATURE:
Nightmares and Awakenings
Kate Bush’s The Dreaming
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I was poised and ready for it to come around…
PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari
because, at the moment, The Guardian are running a series where they focus on a big artist and give a buyer’s guide: where the best place to start with them is; the albums you need to buy, in addition to some suggested reading. Kate Bush was up on the block, and I knew that whatever was written about her would draw some discussion and division. The article is pretty interesting, as the album they recommended to start with is The Dreaming:
“When Big Boi from Outkast said that The Dreaming, the worst performing of Kate Bush’s 10 studio albums, was “a good place to start” in her catalogue, he was not wrong. Her previous three releases had established the high-octane prog-pop and catsuited hand-wafting image that still lingers today. But, though it seems ludicrous considering her legendary status now, Bush still wasn’t widely acclaimed by then. Most of the men writing about her would describe her looks or her tits, or ask her band whether she ever loses her temper with them, before acknowledging her songwriting craft. Even despite achieving a UK No 1 with Wuthering Heights at 19, her role as the architect of her own musical universe went largely unrecognised.
Faced with such idiocy, it’s little wonder that Bush secreted herself away and came up with something as deranged as The Dreaming. This isn’t the album that took her stratospheric (that was its follow-up, Hounds of Love) but it’s her Willy Wonka-sized adventure in sound; the self-sufficient cocoon that turned her, some say, from musician into “artiste”. The Dreaming was the first record that she produced entirely herself, which she would continue to do, using an expensive Fairlight sampler to dazzling effect. Listening to it now, it sounds like Bush unbound, unleashing her frustration like never before.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with a Fairlight CMI in 1982
These are brilliant rackets where her ingenious use of sampling (smashed marbles! Twittering birds!) defies expectation and her voice pole-vaults to new heights. The intricacy is overwhelming and thrilling. Opening track Sat in Your Lap is one of her best ever, foreshadowing Running Up That Hill with its gated drum gallop, as she screeches how people think that a knob equals knowledge, the rhythm pushing and pulling with kinetic energy. Every song after comes like a shock: the Artful Dodger oompah-pah of There Goes a Tenner, the guttural howling of “I am aliiiiive!” on the onyx slink of Pull Out the Pin to rival any hair-metaller’s, a title track about aborigines having their homeland stolen that unfortunately has Rolf Harris on didgeridoo, a chorus of donkeys on the closing song …
Bush has called The Dreaming her “mad” album, amused that many, like Björk, have called it their favourite. But perhaps she shouldn’t be so surprised: in the decades since, it’s been reappraised as technically pioneering – especially poignant because women in the studio are still not being given due credit compared to their male peers. And, once you’ve got through it, the rest of her oeuvre will land on your ears like tufty down”.
It was obvious that the selection of The Dreaming as the best Kate Bush starting place would draw some shock and reaction. Most people would say, logically, that The Kick Inside (her debut album) or Hounds of Love (1985) would be the best starting place, as they are quite accessible and popular.
A lot of people expressed consternation regarding The Dreaming being highlighted as the one to investigate for new fans, but I think it is an album that remains underrated and wonderful. I think most of the negativity towards The Dreaming was less to do with quality and more to do with its accessibility. Logic would dictate one starts at the beginning and sort of works their way to The Dreaming, much like Kate Bush did as an artist. The Dreaming was released in 1982, and Bush’s fourth album peaked at number-three in the charts. Although five singles were released from the album, they were less commercially successful (overall) than her work on The Kick Inside, Lionheart and Never for Ever – nothing as instantly catchy as Babooshka or Wuthering Heights. Since 1982, The Dreaming has risen in the estimation of critics – many mention it in their list of the 1980s’ best albums. I am not sure why The Dreaming did not get a bigger reaction when it was released. Bush produced The Dreaming alone, and she created her most diverse and experimental album yet. The Fairlight CMI was a technological asset that Bush used on Never for Ever and would extensively deploy through The Dreaming. As such, her sound palette moved further away from the piano; Bush was pushing her limits and taking her music in new directions – much more ambitious and adventurous than anything she had ever created.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush signing copies of The Dreaming in 1982
I can appreciate how some critics might have felt like the lack of commercial hits signalled a defeat. Opinion has shifted quite a bit, and many fans and artists rank The Dreaming as their favourite Kate Bush album. This is AllMusic’s take on the album:
“Four albums into her burgeoning career, Kate Bush's The Dreaming is a theatrical and abstract piece of work, as well as Bush's first effort in the production seat. She throws herself in head first, incorporating various vocal loops, sometimes campy, but always romantic and inquisitive of emotion. She's angry and pensive throughout the entire album, typically poetic while pushing around the notions of a male-dominated world. However, Kate Bush is a daydreamer. Unfortunately, The Dreaming, with all it's intricate mystical beauty, isn't fully embraced compared to her later work. Album opener "Sat in Your Lap" is a frightening slight on individual intellect, with a booming chorus echoing over throbbing percussion and a butchered brass section. "Leave It Open" is goth-like with Bush's dark brooding, which is a suspending scale of vocalic laments, but it's the vivacious and moody "Get Out of My House" that truly brings Bush's many talents for art and music to the forefront. It prances with dripping piano drops and gritty guitar, and the violent rage felt as she screams "Slamming," sparking a fury similar to what Tori Amos later ignited during her inception throughout the '90s. Not one to be in fear of fear, The Dreaming is one of Kate Bush's underrated achievements in depicting her own visions of love, relationships, and role play, not to mention a brilliant predecessor to the charming beauty of 1985's Hounds of Love”.
Whilst many argue over the best Kate Bush albums, I do think that some new appreciation should go the way of The Dreaming. Opening track Sat in Your Lap is one of Bush’s finer songs, and it reached the top-twenty. The first half of the album is impressively broad, and there is that urgent and tribal opening salvo; There Goes a Tenner concerns a bank robbery and finds Bush cracking out her best cockney/mockney accent. Pull Out the Pin sports one of Bush’s most impassioned vocals, whilst Leave It Open has this amazing composition that sort of spins the head! The Dreaming’s title track finds Kate Bush inhabiting an Australian accent, whilst All the Love is this gorgeous and affecting song. The album switches between more energetic and layered songs and these very touching and moving songs. Bush found this balance, not only in terms of dynamics and tone, but lyrical content – from the political to matters of the heart, The Dreaming is overloaded with brilliance! The album’s final two tracks, Houdini and Get Out of My House, between them, cover The Shining-inspired possession and an escapologist faced with the peril of drowning. Houdini mixes beautiful strings and a rare romance with a well-known subject in the form of Harry Houdini, whereas Get Out of My House propels and rumbles as Bush (aided by Paul Hardiman) brays and eyores with the best of them!
I would rank The Dreaming in my top-five favourite Bush albums, and I think a lot of the problems stems from the way many perceived it back in 1982: as this album that was too far from the mainstream which lacked ready singles, shafts of light and the same sort of appeal that was evident in earlier albums. It is a challenging album but, to me, one of her most rewarding. This sort of brings us to the matter as to whether The Dreaming is the best place to start regarding Kate Bush’s albums. I would say that, if one were new to Bush or was making someone aware of her music, I would say to start out with The Kick Inside and work that way – doing it chronologically seems like the best approach. I do think that The Guardian’s article raised interesting debate. I would disagree with those who said The Dreaming should be overlooked – there were a few – or anyone who suggested it is too out-there to be lovable. What I would say is that this album – in addition to Bush’s entire cannon – warrants fresh ears and study. I think The Dreaming has gained a lot of fresh respect since 1982, but it is an album that demands some serious attention. I love all the madness and chaos and how one can get buried in something intense; the album then offers up something absolutely beautiful and moving. It is a thrilling, intoxicating and varied listen, and I am still amazed that Bush managed to pack so much into the album! I have covered The Dreaming before but, in the wake of fresh focus (from The Guardian), I wanted to have my say. If you have not experienced The Dreaming before, please do spend some time listening to…
A truly masterful work.