The Sensual World

Kate Bush suffers from what I like to call "Björkism." Björkism is a disease that causes vocalists to wander aimlessly; rarely, if ever, approaching anything resembling a melody, let alone a legitimate hook. In fact, vocalists who suffer from Björkism often seem downright phobic when it comes to hooks. Instead, they choose to warble endlessly and leave the listener exhausted from trying to follow along. I call this syndrome Björkism, not because I believe that Kate Bush bit the style from the eponymous Björk, but because Björk is the ultimate example of this disease. Accordingly, "The Sensual World" by Kate Bush receives a slightly better score than your average Björk album because, as annoying as it is, at least it's not Björk.

Right... I'm guessing this is going to be a bit of a theme but here we go: I know this album is great, but spending one day with it isn't enought. I feel bad rating the album anything without giving it its due diligence... So, I'll give it 5 stars in the hopes that I'm not wrong once I've dedicated the time to the album that it deserves. Again, Kate Bush is a fascinating and revolutionary artist, one that is worth studying and appreciating.

DAMN… maybe all those stranger things nerds were on to something…

With all Kate Bush albums there is an element of intrigue and mystery. This is proved sonically with this album. The power and range of her voice is constant throughout with layers of atmospheric instrumentation. All mixed to never interfere with the vocals at centre stage but instead to enhance even more as the tracks build. Highlights are The Fog, Reaching Out, Deeper Understanding and the incredible finale This Woman’s Work. I personally prefer The Hounds Of Love slightly but this is still a valiant effort as a follow up to the album that has defined her career.

Beautiful, lyrical, ethereal. The opening and closing tracks are exquisite. Kate Bush is in a class of her own.

Hard to find something to enjoy about this record. Weird 80s beats and all the songs sound the same.

it doesn't quite give me the feels hounds of love does, but i'll be goddamned if i wasn't getting verklempt at "this woman's work."

La légende raconte que Kate Bush a écrit cet album quelques heures seulement après s'être acheté deux sweatshirts dans un magasin GAP. Et on a envie d'y croire tant le projet est une réussite.

Not a good album by Kate Bush. Her style is already very controversial (in my opinion), and when the music is as boring as on this record, then there is nothing redeemable about it. Whole album was a perfect example of music for human tortures, probably it's number 1 in Guantanamo. I think I'm a bit too harsh, but definitely it is not a record for me.

Yes. This clicked Kate Bush for me. I always appreciated she had an amazing voice and style, but I never enjoyed her music and always found it a bit too soft and airy. This album packs a punch, it's daring and out there, and her voice cuts through that brilliantly. It's fantastic

This kind of discovery is exactly why I was excited about the prospect of this project. I would never have given it a chance. Wikipedia says "Art Pop?" Gag. But I listened once and felt a spark. Then again and started digging it. Now a third time in four days and it keeps growing on me. I love the theme (of most tracks) of yearning for human connection in various types. It's human and earnest and totally disarmed my assumptions about being pretentious. It's a little weird, but just a little, so it seems like it's in a sweet spot for me. So like, Tori Amos and Robyn and Portishead in a stew, not Bjork salad.

Excellent album, en revanche j'ai pas trop apprécié sa décla comme quoi "tout le monde préfère sa propre race à celle des autres"

Bonerific

Kate Bush is incredible. In looking at previous work in this project, Hounds of Love is one of my favorite albums ever. This album didn't quite show the variety of voices and styles that I appreciated so much in that one, but I still very much love so much of it. The title track has always been a sensual favorite, and "This Woman's Work" will always be emotionally connected to the scene from "She's Having a Baby," which it was written for. I did notice the influence from the very popular in the late 80s "Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares" keep creeping in, and then saw that it had an actual Bulgarian women's choir join in. "Deeper Understanding" is strangely prescient of our times for 1989! "Love and Anger" continues to be the sort of engaging song that made it on the US charts.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Bush but I think this is one of her weakest albums. There aren’t any bad songs, but no absolute knockouts either. This is probably her most commercially appealing work which is also probably why I’m not as enthusiastic about it. I would give this a 3.5 but round up because I’m not sure if her iconic albums like Never Forever, The Dreaming, Hounds of Love or Aerial will show up on this list

Bush finally clicks. A sumptuous record (or should I say sensual) where the artist is able to convey an emotional range above and beyond the mere mortal. Best track: This Woman's Work.

Highlights: The Sensual World, Deeper Understanding, This Woman's Work It's easy (and frankly lazy) to compare Kate Bush to Tori Amos, but there is so much more. Both feature a strong, crystal clear vocal talent, companied with classically-trained piano...Bush's haunting, sweeping melodies intertwined with other-worldly lyrics are easily her own, comparisons be damned. She'll hook you with a pop-like progression and turn on you, shattering your expectations with the unsettling reality that this is her show, she's going to run it her way. It's great. This is a strong album from start to finish.

Who knew that something that begins with a Ulysses-inspired tune would turn out to be so lush? Layered, dense, and beautiful.

I'm pretty sure Kate Bush is from the Feywild.

Titellåten gjorde ingenting för mig. Försökte för hårt att vara porrig och sensuell. Bra fart och nice David Gilmour-gitarr i Love And Anger. I The Fog är Kate Bush' röst så fin och skör. Precis tillräckligt stämningsfull och mystisk och experimentell, mycket bra! Reaching Out är kraftfull, kanske lite för powerballadig. Mer poetiskt än melodiskt vacker. Heads We're Dancing visar upp ett kul och innovativt låtskrivande, när berättarjaget blir uppbjuden till dans av Hitler. Deeper Understanding fortsätter understryka vad som verkar vara genomgående i albumet: briljant låtskrivande och sång av Kate Bush, men musikaliska arrangemang som är ganska släta och för mycket 80-tal för mig. Handlar om hur berättarjaget får kärlek och förståelse endast av en dator (före sin tid frågetecken). Between a Man and a Woman och Never Be Mine ljöd i lurarna utan att jag reagerade nämnvärt, varken bra eller dåligt. Rocket's Tail däremot! De första tre verserna är endast Bush' sång ackompanjerad av en bakgrundskör (den bulgariska kören Trio Bulgarka enligt wiki) innan bandet slår som en slägga - gitarrer och bas, trummor och hat - som förvandlar låten till ett fantastiskt rocknummer. David Gilmour med även här. This Woman's Work fantastiskt vacker. Tydligen ska bakgrundssången låta som en kvinna med sammandragningar inför en födsel. Ett bra album, med ett sound som kanske inte åldrats så väl, men som ändå lyckas dra in en i sin meditativa aura. Med en enigmatisk och mystisk Kate Bush blir det en upplevelse! Avslutet, med Rocket's Tail och This Woman's Work (räknar inte med bonusspåret Walk Straight Down the Middle), höjer albumet väldigt mycket! Under lyssningen gick mitt betyg från en 2:a, med hjälp av Kate Bush' mysticism till en 3:a, och tack vare de avslutande låtarna, som hjälpte mig se resten av albumet i ett nytt ljus, till en stabil 4:a! Bästa låt: Den första som stack ut efter en grundligare lyssning var The Fog. Men de två sista låtarna måste också nämnas. Speciellt andra halvan av Rocket's Tail.

This just wasn't for me. I liked the David Gilmour solo towards the end of the album that other than that this was a chore.

I just listen to this album a few weeks ago. I love this album and Kate Bush in general. I love the mixture of traditional and contemporary music. Great story telling and very emotional.

Excellent album that is much more than just a collection of songs. The songs and soundscape are written to be part of a whole without the too obvious need to produce them for single release. Dua Lippa eat your heart out.

Absolutely excellent. I will never not give Kate Bush anything less than 5 stars. While The Sensual World isn't Kate Bush's best or, dare I say, flawless (see The Dreaming or Hounds of Love), it does have my favourite KB song; Never for Ever.

Kate Bush utilizes the bouzouki, uilleann pipes and a damn fishing rod on the first track - and I'm all aboard. It's a bit less dreamy and more grounded (if any Kate Bush album from this era can be called that) and it suits the songwriting, production and her vocals immensely. The Sensual World ends an insane trio of albums by Kate Bush, with this, the last of her 80's-albums, being slightly better than The Dreaming and almost as good as Hounds of Love.

Love it.

Beautiful voice. Amazing lyrics.

This Woman’s Work always gives me chills when I hear it. It is profoundly moving. I’m not familiar with Kate’s full catalogue of work, but I think this might be the most accessible and enthralling she has ever been. Hounds of Love was giving me life too, but this album is an ethereal ghostly beauty that captivates and arrests my attention. The soundscape created here is lush, emotional, and airy; I love this side of Kate, she’s brilliant at creating fully realized sonic worlds where listeners can luxuriate in the splendour of it all. Top marks!

A little into the title track, the first on the album, the impression was that this was going to be a fairly flat reworking of early Kate Bush, but how wrong this impression was. The album grows steadily throughout and by the end I was more than a little impressed. A very suprising 5 from me It is not going to be to liked by everyone as it is not pop, not rock, nor blues, not even jazz. It defies any form of categorisation

Progressive pop perfection.

Well, it’s Kate Bush. For me this one flags at the start of side 2. Still gets a 5 though. This Woman’s Work has the ability to reduce me to tears

Listened to it many times. She’s awesome. Wife loves it too. 😘

The most extravagant thing I've ever done is fly to the UK to see Kate Bush twice in a week back in 2014. It's not The Hounds of Love or The Dreaming but there's a lot of good things on this album. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this album. The B-side (starting with 'Deeper Understanding') is a go to but I often skip the patchier A-side. There's something about the "mmm, yes" at the start of the title track, the whole song is one of my favourite vocals of hers. 'Love and Anger' is interesting but after this the first side gets increasingly patchy. 'The Fog' is ok, 'Reaching Out' is a bit of a nothing song and 'Heads We're Dancing' is one of the worst songs she's ever released. The second side is a different story though, some of the very best of her songs - 'Deeper Understanding', 'Never Be Mine', 'Rocket's Tail, 'This Woman's Work' plus the tacked on B-side 'Walk Straight Down The Middle' included on the CD version. I was originally excited hearing about 'The Director's Cut', anticipating she was taking the worst songs from this album and 'The Red Shoes' and making something of them. Instead she took the best songs from both albums and made them worst. Not her best but up there. Would probably give 4.5 stars but have no problem rounding up to the full 5.

So apparently Kate Bush releasing The Dreaming, Hounds of Love, and The Sensual World in order might be one of my favourite three-album streaks ever. And I had absolutely no idea before going through this list.

One of my favorites. Nobody addresses poetry in music quite like Kate.

5/5. I don't know how she does it, every album feels so expressive and experienced. There is a passion and world-building that exists through your voice but also through great choices in instrumentation. This album, and most of her albums, spawned a generation of art pop that allowed female artists to explore the experimental without commercial or executive pushback. Just an awesome album, just like most of her stuff, great harmonies and backing vocals as well. Best Song: Love And Anger, Rocket's Tail, This Woman's Work

idk yet

Fantastic album. Must buy on vinyl.

I'm familiar with a lot of Kate Bush's work; I was a big fan of her throughout her catalog up to and including Hounds Of Love and for whatever reason, she fell off my radar. This album rivals HOL and The Dreaming for what she's known for best: excellent songwriting, top-tier musicianship and arrangements, and state-of-the-art production quality. Fabulous album. Mick Karn's bass on Deeper Understanding is a real standout treat.

Kate Bush’s THE SENSUAL WORLD was a staple since my college years. I have routinely listened to it since its release in 1989. I love every song on it. While not her most experimental sounding work, there is plenty of variety on it. I particularly love her use of the Bulgarian ensemble and other world music influences scattered throughout. On of my many favorite Kate Bush albums that I never tire of.

After Wuthering Heights, I thought I'd heard all I needed to hear from Kate Bush. Turns out this album has everything I loved about that song but without the almost shrill edge that made me avoid the rest of her catalog. I'm glad this album was on the list. Time to give her a deeper listen

Absolutely loved it. Definitely among my new favorite albums of its era - have listened to a bunch of Kate Bush before but never this album somehow. Magical. Amazing melodies and arrangements.

Really wonderful. She's so good.

This was great. David Gilmore screams on a couple of tracks, neat mix of 80s sounds with traditional Irish instruments, loved it. Will listen to again for sure

Weird in a way I'm not cool enough to appreciate.

Awesome

It's so good. Her voice, the drums, the chorus, everything is beautiful.

One of the small number of people for me who need their own scale.

Amazing!

I adore Kate Bush. She’s an arty, sometimes comical, overly sensitive when she needs to be and tough when she’s not rock singer. Even though I haven’t listened to a lot of her albums (I’ve only listened to some of Lionheart and The Kick Inside and this one today), she makes some really good songs that stand the test of time. Her songwriting on this album is just like the others: Adventurous and not afraid to go the distance. Songs like the title track and “Heads We’re Dancing” are stellar examples of this newfangled sound she seems to have made. All of the songs on this album are pure gold in musical form. This is an album I’d definitely recommend to other people for the adventurous sounds alone. I’ll be sure to keep a look out for Hounds of Love and any other album of hers on this list, and I’ll definitely listen to this one again. 5/5 Favorites: “Deeper Understanding”, “Heads We’re Dancing”, “Between a Man and a Woman”, “This Woman’s Work” Least Favs: None

Listened to it, as soon as it ended I started the album again. This Woman's Work at the end is unreal, just perfect

At once rapturous and lustrous, Kate Bush follows up her biggest hit with a greeting that evokes the climactic end of a Irish literary classic. From here on, she soars and shines in her own by now lofty standards and she doesn't disappoint in the slightest. The Sensual World thus allows itself to not only make splendid usage of its structure but allow eventual inhabitants to glean inspiration from its environment. Yet another wonderful entry in the Kate Bush Canon.

Love Kate Bush, certainly unique. Fave tracks, The Sensual World, Deeper Understanding.

This is an incredible album. I don't know why I didn't seek it out earlier given how much I like 'Hounds of Love'. I think I might even enjoy this one more as a whole but that's a tough call. I continued to listen to this one throughout the day on repeat, which is always a surefire sign that an album is 5/5 for me. I think "Love and Anger" and "This Woman's Work" are my two complete standouts from this album. This is just really beautifully written and Kate Bush's voice carries so much emotional. Standout Tracks: The Sensual World, Love and Anger, Reaching Out, Deeper Understanding, Rocket's Tail, This Woman's Work

je suis outrée par la mauvaise note globale de l'album

Great record, love the openness of the sound

What can I say? The woman’s a genius and “This Woman’s Work” is brilliant. Best tracks: This Woman’s Work, Between A Man And A Woman, Rocket’s Tail, Deeper Understanding, Love And Anger

Brilliant album.

Love a bit of the Bush….

I have a slight distrust in anyone who calls Kate Bush 'too weird'. I do kind of understand though. Her vocal style is unique, her music refuses to be complacent, and she's routinely compared to Bjork (not a bad thing in my opinion). The last point is slightly unfair as Bjork was still aimlessly jumping around Icelandic punk bands when Kate Bush was already established. If anything, it's Bjork who sounds like Kate Bush. I've always been intrigued by her music though it didn't immediately make complete sense to me. Repeated listens and multiple albums really help to connect the pieces though. There's something different and truthful about Kate Bush that's sitting there waiting for new generations to discover. Thanks to 'Stranger Things' that's exactly what has been happening. If you didn't like this one or found it 'too weird', I'd encourage another listen. Like a good wine, sometimes you need to let it sit for a short while before drinking it.

based

Eerie vocals over some well written and produced instrumentation. It’s witchcraft in the best way.

The 80s was a dark period in pop music, especially the latter half of the decade. Things were so commercialised and overproduced, and everything just sounded the same and was painfully cheesy. For my whole life I have only ever been able to describe it as this "annoying 80s sound", without knowing what it actually was. But anyway, you get the point. I'm just going off on a tangent now. Kate Bush was a beacon of hope in the 80s. In such a commercial era of pop music, her progressive lyrics and forward thinking approach to art pop is so refreshing, and has aged absolutely beautifully. She did what she wanted and never sold out and became just another 80s pop star that faded into irrelevance in the early 90s. She kept making genuinely good music and I couldn't be more thankful for it, as fantastic albums like this show how there still was great pop music in the late 80s.

Well I think it has to be a 5 star.. what an incredible album and piece of art. Kate Bush is such a visionary and deserves all the credit and prestige she's acquired. Woman's Work must be one of the best most perfect songs ever written right? Loved the some of the heavier ones, a bit surprising. I feel like I need to listen intently 5 more times to appreciate this properly

Absolutely stunning masterpiece. I've never listened to this album properly before and I'm so so happy that I have now. I'm going to keep listening quite a few more times now as well. This album takes me to so many interesting places in my mind and on a much more shallow level is also just really lovely to listen to, it makes me feel good and I love the complexity of different sounds working together. I cannot imagine how a piece of artwork like this could be created by a human or where you would start with it. There is a lot of magic in this album for me.

This is a complete masterpiece.

Okay but have you seen the Sensual Worlds music video? ♨️♨️♨️♨️♨️♨️♨️♨️♨️

brilliant

Brilliant.

Gorgeous, Sensual, unique, wonderful.

I'd still consider Hounds Of Love her gratest album, but there is only one word. Genius. ❤️

This album makes me incredibly sad. In an artistic way. It used to, too, when I was younger. Now I know why. It's not any easier now than it was then, but at least I have context for the emotions now. I am less afraid.

As I lay out my thoughts on The Sensual World in time order, I see the sum is a little funny. Bush starts in unique sonic territory, brings back her distinctly cosmic basslines, then integrates solo lines that smack of glam rock. Compared to Hounds, this album ends in a definite open end. Somehow, the incompleteness is right beside that mentioned sum: Perfection, certainly more than the parts promise to be. I don't imagine this will convert non-fans, and there are less charitable readings. But just as Kate features elevate other records, Joyce references do so here.

Bush

Blows me over each time I listen - which has been many times.

109% brilliant

Another excellent album from Kate Bush 4.5/5

One of my favourite Kate Bush albums, there are really some fantastic songs on here. "Deeper Understanding" is weirdly both nostalgic now and also quite prescient. "This Woman's Work" always gets an emotional reaction from me.

9/10 Kate Bush definitely stands out from the rest of the 80s pop scene I really like her stuff! but it took me a little while to ease into it

Love, love, love Kate Bush since the early 80's. Favorite all time female vocalist. But I didn't ever buy this album! I have several others.

Ein Album, dass ich schon lange nicht mehr gehört habe - und es gefällt mir wieder einmal sehr gut.

Perfect beauty.

I’ve heard one Kate Bush album prior to today (Hounds Of Love) and it completely blew me away. I didn’t realise quite how many songs of hers that I already knew until listening to that. Therefore, I’m understandably excited to give this a listen today! Songs I already knew: This Woman’s Work Favourites: This Woman’s Work, The Sensual World Holy hell, this album is phenomenal. I’d heard This Woman’s Work before but hadn’t properly listened to it, and it gave me full body goosebumps and got me quite emotional. Her voice is angelic throughout, and the music is very 80s, but also much more interestingly arranged than I may have expected before listening. Truly, Kate Bush is something else. This might have shot into one of my favourite albums of all time.

This is the kind of thing I want from this project. I've always wanted to dive into Kate Bush beyond Hounds Of Love, but never have made the time. This was absolutely excellent, and I will definitely go all in on her catalogue now. Such a weird, beautiful record.

Didn't get it at first, then I did. Made me cry amazing

Loved it!

Beautiful

i love kate bush

Kate Bush's music is so distinct and atmospheric that even the worse tracks were still interesting. It's really something to see where she takes each song concept and music wise. Bush is always 5/5 BT - This Woman's Work - The Fog - Never Be Mine - Deeper Understanding - the entire second side of the album & title track as honorable mentions

I loved it.

- iffy volume mixing, nice for background with moments where it steals your attention. - Out-there but not as out-there as other Kate Bush stuff. Nicely listenable.

Kate kills it again.

My favorite Kate

I would have never have thought of pairing jaunty folk instuments with, well, the sensual world. But I'm not Kate Bush Better than I expected even from her tbh! Heads We're Dancing was a revelation. I didn't think we'd get such a BEAT! Rocket's Tail was bloody gorgeous. She's just a real visionary and it shows here, throughout. She seems more purposeful this album than the one I had to study But I did in fact get called out by the spending my evenings with the computer like a friend line...

the queen of my heart

p620. 1989. 4.5 stars. Brilliant all rounder shows how it should be done - there are more ideas and invention here than most artists manage in an entire career. And This Woman's Work is possibly the best song she's ever written. Half a point docked for getting a little bit saggy around the rear, but its still fabulous. A bit like Kate :)

This Woman's Work.

It took me a while to formulate my thoughts on this one as it's an album I find very hard to rate. On one hand this is very clearly a step down from her best but it's still a Kate Bush album and still a great one. It doesn't have the wild experimentation of The Dreaming or the grand pop tunes of Hounds of Love but it does have consistently great Kate bush songwriting throughout with excellent personal and touching lyrics. Not 5/5 in the context of her discography but in the wider world of music I think I'll just about give it a 5.

Thia ia one of her best. I love Kate Bush.

Kate Bush is my guilty pleasure, however just based on her hits. Never took the time to listen to albums let alone this one. The album is great, the songs really flow together with the indistinguishable voice of Kate of course.