FEATURE:
For Kate Bush at Sixty-Five…
A Lionheart at Forty-Five Podcast
_________
ON 30th July…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Lionheart cover shoot/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz
the Kate Bush fan community will celebrate her sixty-fifth birthday. It is an opportunity for people to come together to show their love and respect for an absolute icon. I was initially planning to do a full week or special events and projects to mark that birthday. That would include a live show where famous and new fans come together to discuss her music. I still think that a tribute album should be brought out. Not connected with her sixty-fifth birthday, it would be a chance for artists to add their stamp to a Kate Bush song. I know that Bush does not like a huge fuss made about her. Maybe going too hard on her sixty-fifth birthday would make her uncomfortable. I know she will mark the occasion privately, and there are sure to be new articles and features to celebrate too. So much love will be shown online but, when it comes to celebrating Kate Bush, maybe things should be pared down. Instead, I am thinking ahead to 13th November. I know it is a way off but, in lieu of a bigger birthday present in July, a podcast about one of her lesser-appreciated albums would be better. Among the underrated Kate Bush albums (of which there are a few), Lionheart always struggles to get that much appreciation. I would place it about fifth or sixth (out of ten studio albums). Although it is ten tracks, you get a lot of quality and memorable moments from her second studio album!
Finding a positive review for the album is quite tough. In fact, finding anything written or said about the album is rare! I know I have written about Lionheart a lot, but that is because it does not get the respect it deserves. Seen as one of her weakest albums when it comes to rankings, I would definitely not place it last at all. Of course, given the quality of her music, placing an album last would not mean it was bad! Rather, that it was not as incredible as the others in her catalogue. Bush was not happy with the album, as she felt that it was rushed and not her best work. She assisted production with Andrew Powell (who produced her 1978 debut, The Kick Inside), but she wasn’t given sufficient time to write new material and create an album that was an evolution from The Kick Inside. EMI wanted another album to follow the successful The Kick Inside. As Bush was a unique and exciting artist who captured worldwide attention, that desire to keep the ball rolling and ensure more success was a bit overzealous and unwise from the record company. Bush wouldn’t have wanted this after such a hectic 1978. Lionheart was released on 13th November, 1978. This was six months after her debut! It did get to number six in the U.K. one of its singles, Wow, ranks alongside the very best from Bush. Recorded entirely at Super Bear Studios in Berre-les-Alpes on the French Riviera, it was he only time she recorded an album outside of the U.K. Bush would take The Tour of Life around Europe in 1979 - but this was a rare occasion where she was making music in another country.
Having travelled so much in 1978 to promote The Kick Inside, she would have wanted to stick in the U.K. and record somewhere like AIR Studios (where The Kick Inside was recorded). Perhaps designed to give her a nicer backdrop and some scenic views, the good weather and fresh air couldn’t have been too bad! There were some struggles. Bush wanted to take her own band to record the album, and she was in a position where some music was laid down with her band (including Brian Bath). They were replaced by musicians who played on The Kick Inside. This tussle between keeping the same musicians from the successful debut, and Bush wanting to use her musicians because she felt like she had earned that, it was unfortunate. The awkwardness of one band departing and the other coming in – in fact, there was a period when Bush’s guys were in France without anything to do whilst the other musicians were settling in -, and this sort of weird meeting at the airport where musicians were coming in and out and passing by one another. That transfer and awkward interaction where everyone had to make nice couldn’t have been great for Bush. Regardless, I think Lionheart is very strong because it retains a lot of the strengths and incredible performances from The Kick Inside, but there are new sounds and directions to be found. When Bush co-produced (with Jon Kelly) Never for Ever in 1980, she got the chance to right ‘wrongs’ and use her own musicians and take creative control.
This is something that began the year before with The Tour of Life. Of the ten tracks, only Symphony in Blue, Full House and Coffee Homeground were new tracks. The rest had been reworked by Bush in preparation for the recording. Songs that she had and could have used for The Kick Inside. She has said that she felt the album was good, but she was not happy with it. Maybe it was Bush herself who reckoned she was too inexperienced to produce the album herself, but she did assist with Lionheart. You can sense her production influence coming through. Most reviews for Lionheart are about 5/10 or two/three-stars. It has never really got a lot of love. This is what Drowned in Sound wrote about Lionheart back in 2018:
“One of the funny things about The Before Time when you had to buy music to listen to it is that ropey critical reputations could really put you off ever listing to certain records, even by artists you loved. It took me years to get around to Lionheart. And you know, sure, it’s the weakest Kate Bush record but that doesn’t make it bad. If anything the fact it’s routinely dismissed as a rushed follow up to The Kick Inside means it doesn’t have the pressure to compete with the stronger later records. The luminous ‘Wow’ is obviously the best and most memorable song, but seriously, check out those elaborately layered vocals on opener ‘Symphony in Blue’. The songwriting is a bit hazy compared to the laser-definition of later albums, but musically and texturally it’s a really beautiful record - the only Kate Bush album that is content to be pretty and not ask you to commit to it, and there’s something to be said for that, I think. (7)”.
I don’t think there is a weak track on Lionheart. Wow, Symphony in Blue and Kashka from Baghdad are highlights, but Hammer Horror, Coffee Homeground and Full House are great. I do feel that there should be more done to celebrate Kate Bush’s second studio album. She would bring the songs to life through The Tour of Life. I think a podcast would do justice to an album that is very important. There is a lot to discuss when it comes to context. In terms of that it followed quickly on the heels of The Kick Inside and was part of a hugely busy year. I think The Tour of Life was a response to the sense of dissatisfaction she might have felt when recording Lionheart. Although Bush gave her everything to the album, she would have liked more time and creative freedom. Her international tour of 1979 was the first opportunity to take the reins and stage her songs in her own way. Each of the ten tracks are very different, and there are some parallels to The Kick Inside. I think there is greater lyrical and musical breadth on Lionheart. The French setting is also fascinating, and you can imagine times where Bush and the band were on downtime and hanging by the pool and chilling. It would have still been an exciting time for the teenager! Knowing that she had this fanbase and commercial pull would definitely have put her mind at ease. You never know whether a debut album will resonate. The Kick Inside definitely made a mark! Rather than doing a lot for Bush’s sixty-fifth birthday on 30th July, maybe planning a Lionheart podcast would be better. Inviting guests to share their thoughts on the album. Showing praise and long-overdue affection for a truly great album. Even if Bush was unsatisfied with the final results, she shouldn’t have been! 1978’s Lionheart is…
A wonderful thing.