The Dreaming

I don't know what to say. All that comes to mind is a cat starching at my balls. Scratchy and painful this is album hurts. .00000001 out of 5 and only because it could be used to torture terrorists. Kate owes the world an apology. Bonus note: There's actual donkey noises on Get Out of My House. WTF and why?

Definitely an album you have to spend more time with to really appreciate. Multiple listening sessions and reading about the background of the songs bring the album to life. I'm now listening to it for the 3rd time and loving it as never before, in all its weirdness.

I know nothing about Kate Bush, but apparently this is noted as her least accessible, most experimental album. Maybe not the best place to start, but I really like it. Plus she produced the entire album, which is always impressive. The beats are very unconventional and feature some intriguing samples. I don't pay much attention to lyrics on first listens, but her voice is good. I really dig this because I didn't know what to expect on any given track. New genres, new sounds and instruments, new vocal delivery patterns. Kept me on my toes in a good way. Favorite tracks: Leave It Open, All the Love, Pull Out the Pin, Suspended in Gaffa. Album art: I really like this one. It feels like a dream--I'm assuming that's Kate Bush on the cover, with a ring in her mouth, about to kiss a man in chains. This album really does look and sound like the crazy dream of some more ordinary pop artist. The text and framing is nice too. 4/5

Stop

Absolutely lush and gorgeous. Bush's voice and compositions are incredible, mind-bending, this album is perfect. Suspended in Gaffa is the new national anthem now, okay?

Any album that ends with a choir personifying donkeys is fine by me. I had never heard this before, but I have defo heard its influence, it is still influencing albums to this day.

I am not too familiar with KATE BUSH; however, I have heard a few songs and seen a few videos very recently from the recommendation from my nephew. The overall feeling is that I like it, but it’ll take further investigation and listening to solidify my opinion. After listening to THE DREAMING, I initially found it difficult getting used to the vocals being high-pitched, speeding up and down, creating sounds and yelping within the soundscapes. It takes a bit of work to get accustomed to, but after a number of tries I did find that having the lyrics while listening to the songs are a major step in presenting the story that Kate is presenting. She is a pretty vivid storyteller, and your imagination goes to work fairly quickly with the lyrics. You still may have a tough time grasping everything but that the love of the journey that Kate wants to take us on. In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, THE DREAMING is the first of two other releases immediately following that are included: HOUNDS OF LOVE (1985) THE SENSUAL WORLD (1989). I’m looking forward to immerging myself in these two albums. Rate Artist: KATE BUSH (5.0) Rate Album (Year): THE DREAMING (1982 Original) (5.0) Ranking of KATE BUSH - THE DREAMING songs 01. "Sat in Your Lap" 3:29 10.0/10 02. "There Goes a Tenner" 3:24 10.0/10 03. "Pull Out the Pin" 5:26 09.5/10 04. "Suspended in Gaffa" 3:54 10.0/10 05. "Leave It Open" 3:20 09.5/10 06. "The Dreaming" 4:41 10.0/10 07. "Night of the Swallow" 5:22 08.0/10 08. "All the Love" 4:29 10.0/10 09. "Houdini" 3:48 09.0/10 10. "Get Out of My House" 5:25 10.0/10 Original 1982 Release 96.0/100 = 9.6 / 2 = 4.8

I'm sorry, what? What the hell did I just listen to? What's that? "Experimental" you say? Listen, mate. You can't just say something is "experimental" as though that excuses everything. It's shite. Unlistenable shite. Call it what it is.

When I’ve introduced people to Kate Bush, I always start with Hounds of Love, The Sensual World, or The Whole Story. I’m don’t recall ever sharing The Dreaming with anyone. This is despite its status - right there with Radiohead’s OK Computer - as favorite album ever. Yet I have a lot of trepidation about The Dreaming appearing here. The Dreaming is an exceptional work that towers large in Kate Bush's formidable catalog. If her albums were torn from my collection this would be the one you’ll find me clinging to desperately to the end. The Dreaming is packed with incredible drama: The caper that goes wrong in “There Goes A Tenner.” The futility of trying to recapture a moment in "Suspended in Gaffa." The exploration of the Vietnam conflict from two very human perspectives in the devastating “Pull Out The Pin”. Colonial conflict between Aboriginal Australians and the British in the title track. A desperate plea to dissuade a lover from a fateful smuggling trip in “Night of the Swallow.” Houdini’s widow’s intense effort to reconnect with her dead lover. An epic domestic battle in “Get Out of My House.” This list still just scratches the surface… every song is a literal or figurative journey that after hundreds and hundreds of listens continue to move me. Every song has incredible lyrical power and takes big chances musically. Every song is one of my favorite songs. I started to read a few of the critical reactions to this on the wikipedia page and reviews on this site but didn’t get far. Usually I find others’ reactions very interesting and enjoy other perspectives, agree or disagree. I must admit I have little desire to view The Dreaming from any perspective other than my adoring own.

"The Dreaming" is the fourth in a series of five albums by Kate Bush (her first five ones!) to reach a almost perfect sound of progressive pop and rock, with avant-garde instrumentation and production. This is, in this stint of five, her most experimental record and the most maximalistic one, blending genres in a way that was only possible because she had access to cutting edge recording machinery and creative control on the result - a rare feat for a woman in 1984. The talks about existencialism, the pursue of knowledge, sex, godly desires and even colonialism, but there are also songs with narrative, like "There Goes a Tenner" and "Night of the Swallow". The very well crafted lyricism of Bush's songs clashes beautifuly with the instruments of each song, with a lot of percussion punctuating the rhythms as she tells her stories with a voice that never sounded more mature. The single "Suspended in Gaffa" almost sums up what the record is about, with a baroque piano, the mandolin and the synclavier playing around, conducting a strong feeling of pursuing things that one really wants but can't seem to be able to experience or reach again - a common theme of Bush lyrics throughout her career.

There is good and bad from the 80s. This is the Good.

I know people who LOVE this kind of music, but not for me. The kind of music I’d hear when being forced to go to the theater for a school assignment in college

Brilliant, baffling, borderline bamboozling, bizarre Bush.

Can't wait for the Stranger Things crowd to claw their ears off when they listen to this LP. The Dreaming is denser than all fuck and is my go-to reasoning for why Kate Bush belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame despite being "just a Pop artist". The ending of Get Out of My House puts nearly any Rock band to shame, just masterclass stuff all around.

This album has officially converted me - Kate Bush is far more talented & creative than I originally gave her credit for. What a challenging & thrilling listen. This album moved me so much that I played the album twice. It's creative, odd, eccentric, theatrical, brooding, and bold. I'm surprised that I enjoyed this more than her commercially successful albums. I honestly never thought I'd get around to truly enjoying her work, but I'm REALLY into this. 4.5

Still sounds like nothing I ever heard, combing pop sensibilities with theatrical, prog-esque song structures.

well that was freakin weird. Couple decent songs though.

Very eccentric, impressive vocals, not always catchy songs but always arresting and interesting. Clear influence on Lorde, Sia, Marina and the Diamonds, and Florence + the machine. Pull out the pin, suspended in gaffa, and get out of my house were my top tracks

I think at this point I can say I fully stan Kate Bush. This record is good, lot of really whacky stuff

3/30 Certainly very dreamy, lot of creatively structured songs here, love the range of voices she showcased. Standout Tracks: There Goes A Tenner, Pull Out The Pin, All The Love, Get Out Of My House

Though it's not instantly a favorite, I can understand Kate Bush's lasting influence on experimental pop. Brave and assured, if sometimes cheekier and campier than I prefer personally. I do love the muted bass and some of the synthesized sounds, which often seem well ahead of their time. This is an album and artist that will probably reward repeated listens.

Classic. Classic. Classic. I was initially devastated to see this album’s very low global rating on this site, but then had to remind myself that my five stars have come from ten years worshipping at the altar of Bush, following repeated attempts over many weeks to become a “Dreaming” convert. If I’d been trying to give a rating on my first day of hearing it, God knows what I’d have thought. So all you cynics, stick it out if you can… “The Dreaming” is Bush’s fourth album, in which she not only throws the rule-book of pop music out of her house, she changes into a mule and kicks it into smithereens. If classics like “Wuthering Heights”, “The Man With the Child In His Eyes” and “Babooshka” are unconventional and kooky, “The Dreaming” is just… for want of a technical term, pure batshit. Producing her work for the first time, Bush spent two years working on the album (the first of many lengthy gaps between releases for which she has become infamous). She doused the songs in innovations of the day (the Fairlight sampler, elephantine gated drums, vocal loops and distortions) alongside a barrage of traditional instruments from her folksy heritage (penny whistle, fiddle, Irish uilleann pipes, didgeridoo). It’s a fearless, imperious, kitchen sink album in every sense of the word: in her own proud words, her “she’s gone mad album”. The theatrical, cabaret stylings from her earlier work do remain, and may be off putting for some, but the production helps to ensure the album remains much fresher than those earlier releases, and perhaps much bolder than her subsequent ones. But enough about the songs: what of the singer? Just who is the twenty-four year old Kate Bush in “The Dreaming”, and why should we reward her with our time and praise? Kate Bush is a shrieking banshee in a Dunce cap, chasing knowledge in all its forms. Kate Bush is a failed bank robber watching ten-shilling notes blow by, having flashbacks within her own heist song. Kate Bush is a soldier in Vietnam, having an existential crisis with David Gilmour concerning the kill-or-be-killed mentality. Kate Bush is a disembodied, backmasked voice letting the weirdness in. Kate Bush is an- ermm- indigenous Australian, collaborating with- hmm- Rolf Harris on didgeridoo. Yep, you read that one right. Kate Bush is both a smuggler and his lover, wrestling each other over whether he should risk his life over the Channel. Kate Bush is an unreachable friend to all who try and contact her, available only through her answering machine. Kate Bush is Houdini’s widow, desperately reaching out to him in a seance, dreaming of his spit on her lips. Kate Bush is your favourite scream queen in The Shining, turning into a mule and crying “HEEEEHAAWWWWWW”. Now, forty-two years later, the characters have crystallised into legend, and the songs into music history. Above all else, Kate Bush is, of course, Kate Bush.

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Kate Bush is such a talented musician, and this album is absolutely incredible! Also, how cool is it that she wrote a song inspired by The Shining?!

smashing

"Some say that knowledge is oh-ho-ho" I know this album well and Sat In Your Lap has been on my regular playlist for the last few months, one of my favourite KB songs. The Dreaming is just the maddest song ever. I don't really enjoy the mock cockney moments, but the rest of it is so purely original that it would be a sin to give it less than five stars.

Spooky! Not a huge serotonin generator but I love that she's doing what she wants.

Love the unique sound. Also, the album has a good progression, so it doesn't get repetitive.

Another easy five.

Totalmente desquiciado, esta joyita suena actual y tiene 40 años. Totalmente producido por ella misma, a veces suena a Bjork, a veces a M.I.A., siempre a Bush. Precursor de todo. Experimental al máximo. Fantástico.

hey i have this in my musicbee library!!!!

I am the concierge chez-moi, honey Won't let ya in for love, nor money Let me in My home, my joy I'm barred and bolted and I Won't let you in Get out of my house Its like a demented pop opera, way ahead of its time. 4/5

Genuinely original

I actually enjoyed that album

KATE!

epic, mysterious, ambitious, dramatic and singular

Kate Bush nous avait déjà bien surpris avec son album The Sensual World. Celle qui apparaît dans la section "inspiration" de n'importe quelle page Wikipédia existante dont celle de Toni Kroos ne déçoit pas sur The Dreaming. Après une entrée en matière qui se réserve bien de casser trois pattes chez un même canard, Kate lâche un cheat code avec l'apparition d'une cornemuse sur le morceau Night Of The Swallow. Pour notre plus grand plaisir.

wtf. i kinda love it.

A welcome relief after hearing ‘Running Up That Hill’ nonstop for the past year. Great to see an artist get weird with it and push the boundaries of what’s expected - not every track works here (the donkey sounds are a questionable choice, I gotta admit) but this is by far one of the most creative LPs I’ve had on this project in a while.

Ok album. Made me lose a lot of respect for Tori Amos as an innovator, she copied this whole aesthetic and style hard

This is gonna need some chewing. Some parts of it I absolutely adored, and other parts I could not stand. It’s getting a 3 for now, but that’s more of a stand in. This album deserves to steep for a while.

1982 fue el año de Thriller, 1999, Avalon, Pornogaphy, Nebraska y los debuts de Felt, Coucteau Twins, Laurie Anderson o Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Otros realmente buenos también fueron New gold dream, Glassworks, The days of wine and roses, Too Rye Ay, The lexicon of love... Este disco de Kate es una obra de arte que se aleja de estándares comerciales como los de sus tres discos anteriores o el posterior, Hounds of love, su disco mas completo y recomendable. Experimental y poliédrico, buscando los límites o atravesandolos, Kate asimiló The Wall y otras influencias como la experimentación y teatralidad de Peter Gabriel o David Bowie, y las pasó por su personal filtro para componer un disco lejos de su tiempo. Lógicamente fue un fracaso de ventas y crítica. Comienza con brío Sat in your lap, de la que tomarían buena nota artistas como Bjork o St.Vincent. Prosigue con uno de sus mejores temas There goles a tenner para proseguir con una terrorífica Pull out the pin y volver a un cauce menos experimental con las sugerentes Suspended in Gaffa y Leave it open. The dreamer tiene ecos de Cocteau Twins pero sin su gancho melódico y onírico. Night of the swallow es un viaje trufado de voces , teclados y coros que finaliza con una flauta new age que te deja atónito después de haber sido sometido a un meneo de más de 5 minutos. No es su mejor disco sino uno mucho mas experimental y complicado de escuchar. Ha sido referenciado como influencia por artistas diversos pero carece de la magia del eterno wutherin heights o las canciones de Hounds of love. Sin embargo el no tener un tema que capitalice toda la atención le dota de una coherencia que aumenta su valor como obra completa en sí misma que con el paso del tiempo lejos de perder valor se mantiene igual de recomendable. Son muy interesantes las percusiones y bajos en este disco, cercanos al Post Punk , donde Siouxsie Sioux supo asimilar los avances de este disco para sus obras con los Banshees. Get Outlook of my house podría ser un buen ejemplo de ello.

En este disco de 1985 Kate Bush protesta reflexivamente sobre un mundo dominado por los hombres. Pop-rock alternativo, con incursiones en el music hall o en la música teatral y melodías en ocasiones abstractas y extravagantes, pero siempre muy emocionales. No es el disco que más me gusta de la cantautora británica, pero si tiene momentos brillantes, como "Suspended in Gaffa" o la vivaz "Get Out of My House".

Rather eccentric album. It definitely sounds like something that would have been made in the 80s. The main thing that threw me off was the upper octave echo parts throughout most of the tracks. I skipped a few tracks when that started up. Won't listen again. 2/5

So this is the 3rd Kate Bush album and i thought i knew what to expect. She still has a great an interesting voice, but i feel like she took some notes here to channel some bizarre Bjork-like cadences and then choose unusual art-house style vocalizations to drive people away. It's pretty challenging, especially as it seems she's chosen a new way to try to annoy us on every song. Music was fine, but can't make up for the overall strangeness. Don't really want to listen to it again.

First time listening to any Kate Bush. I appreciate the uniqueness here, but it's a bit too weird for me to actually enjoy. She might be more of an acquired taste.

This album isn't for music lovers. Not music lovers in the traditional sense, anyway. This is an album made by a theater kid with dreams of working in show business, not the music industry. It's an audition for the West End. A beckoning to Broadway. I listen to all of these albums on YouTube. I mainly do this because I like watching the music videos. Each video for The Dreaming supports my "Theater Kid" theory. I don't remember seeing a single instrument being played in any of them. The music appears to be a secondary consideration to whatever the fuck Kate Bush is doing. Her "performance", I guess. Some may describe this album as "experimental". That's just a polite way of saying it sucked ass. Hard. 👎👎

Possibly the worst album I've ever heard. She should start a band with Yoko Ono.

I do not get Kate Bush. This sounds like a parody of a rock opera.

The summary of today's album states that it "is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release." and it "initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception." For fuck sakes, why are duds like this included in this fucking generator? If the album was shit then, it is shit now. I hate Kate Bush anyways, let alone an experimental album that sold poorly. I am not looking forward to this album at all. This album is literally as irritating as nails on a chalkboard. Kate Bush's voice is so fucking annoying. If she'd just sing the songs, that'd be one thing, but she opts to scream and moan quite a bit. She also puts her vocals in a range that I can only describe as Japanese geisha pop. She sounds like a pre-pubescent Japanese girl. In that range I have no fucking idea what she is saying, it could be japanese for all I know. Not that it matters, her vocals are nonsense anyways. Nowhere on this piece of shit album was there ever anything that resembled song structure, or music at all. It was all just noise, and random screeching. Overall, exactly what I thought it would be, pure garbage. Just because Bjork said she likes the album, doesn't mean it has any right to be on a list like this. This influenced nothing, and is just simply a huge pile of bullshit, just like everything else Kate Bush ever put to record. This was a waste of 43 minutes. Fuck Kate Bush. Favourite songs: Houdini.... I guess Least favourite songs: Sat In Your Lap, There Goes a Tenner, Suspended in Gaffa, Leave it Open, The Dreaming, All the Love, Night of the Swallow, Get Out of My House, Pull Out the Pin 1/5

I’m sorry, 20 seconds into the first song, I couldn’t stop laughing. I have a good tolerance for nonsense, but seriously?

Noup

Can never say anything bad about Kate Bush, the most creative influential singer/songwriter of a generation. Overall not her best album but still up there. Brilliant

Kate Bush utilizes emotion like she would a Fairlight; this time, she used mania. every song is filled with a histrionic turn, a swing of one's fists in the dark as they feel the walls closing in on them. it's cabaret, it's theater, it's drama, it's a dance in the misty grass. nothing like The Dreaming existed before it was released, and nothing like it will exist after. no notes. perfect, in every sense.

Is Kate Bush the best thing to come out of the 80's? I think so. And this is her best album

i keep trying to put down words about it and i just cant. im considering a full kate bush re-dive at some point so maybe ill try to be articulate than but all i can ever manage to say about this one is that it feels like ive unlocked the secrets of the universe while im within it and than am unceremoniously jolted awake. kind of like the ninth wave but even more disorienting and harder to connect in any way to the waking world. kate gives possibly the best vocal performance in pop music across this record, if u wanna call this pop music. i do, but in a strange partially-remembered way. if i hadnt gotten the downward spiral recently this would be the best record ive rolled in this whole project so far by a landslide and its not like it lacks competition

This album is beautiful, mysterious, weird, experimental, ahead of its time, and clearly an influence on several well-known musicians and bands that came later. And for all that it deserves 5 stars.

This is great. It's experimental but I found it to be easier to get into than other Kate Bush albums

Actually interesting, creative, progressive music.

The Dreaming, released in 1982, is one of the most original and eccentric albums of Kate Bush’s career. From its opening, with the title track “The Dreaming,” we are immersed in an experimental sound that blends elements of rock, pop, and folk music. Kate utilizes a variety of vocal and instrumental techniques, creating a sonic experience that defies the norms of pop music at the time. The production, which features innovative mechanisms and complex arrangements, makes each song feel like a new adventure, highlighting not only her talent as a songwriter, but also as an artist willing to take risks. The lyrics on The Dreaming are equally striking and reveal Kate Bush’s creative mind. She addresses themes of dreams, identity, and the human condition in poetic and often surreal ways. Tracks like “Sat in Your Lap” and “There Goes a Tenner” not only defy simple interpretation, but also invite the listener to delve deeper into their narratives, providing a continual reflection on dreams and the realities of life. The way Kate articulates her emotions and personal experiences is a testament to her originality, allowing listeners to connect with the essence of her songs in unique ways. Furthermore, the visual aesthetic of The Dreaming, reflected in its artwork and videos, complements the album’s eccentric musicality. Kate Bush has always been a figure who transcends convention, and this album is no exception. It encapsulates not only her individual artistic vision, but also a spirit of freedom and innovation that sets her apart in the music scene. With The Dreaming, Kate has not only delivered a body of work that stands out for its originality, but has also helped to upend expectations of what a pop artist could achieve, inspiring a new generation of musicians to explore uncharted territories.

This album is absolutely fantastic. So many great songs I can't pick a favorite. The songs fit seamlessly together and you can hear the ingenuity in the sound. She is so creative and has a real strong musical perspective. Perfect album!

kate bush is brilliant and to me, this is one of the biggest pieces of evidence. every song on here is dramatic as fuck and i love every second of it. her vocal range is great, as usual. everything about this album is so creative and out there, and yet, not really inaccessible (although admittedly, it's not her most accessible album). the production on here is pretty dated (full of of-the-era synth sounds that have not aged particularly well) but if you can get past most of this album sounding like an old video game, it is truly great. it's definitely an album that i'm sure most people think sounds like a cat getting its tail stepped on, but to me, that's part of the charm of kate bush. she's out of left field and unabashedly so.

En 1982, Kate Bush, la sorcière du son, nous offre "The Dreaming" qui reste sa plus belle porte d'entrée dans son mode onirique. Son 4e album, mais le 1er sur lequel elle exerce un contrôle artistique absolu, est une oeuvre singulière et personnelle où Kate Bush s’efforce de revenir aux origines du rythme. Celui du tam-tam, des battements de coeur, des sonorités tribales et slaves où violon, rhombe, mandoline, bouzouki et didgeridoo viennent se greffer sur des instruments électroniques et traditionnels. "The Dreaming" est un rêve éveillé, rempli de sons, de textures, de couleurs, mais "The Dreaming" malgré toutes ses qualités sera un échec commercial cuisant. Le disque deviendra par la suite un véritable objet de culte et tous les fans s'accordent aujourd'hui pour admettre que c'est le sommet de sa discographie. "The Dreaming" est une oeuvre d'art où Kate Bush change le registre sa voix, l’emmenant dans des tessitures graves, déchirantes, inédites, sur des morceaux d’une beauté fascinante. Un gros 5/5 qui j'espère vous donnera envie de rentrer dans le monde de Kate Bush.

Ir’s just wow

Historic - Kate's first self-produced album and her first efforts creating with a Fairlight CMI. A huge leap in her artistic maturity from her prior efforts. Fascinating, incorporating world music; truly unique and clearly influential for artists like Bjork. I've loved this album since I first heard it in 1983.

Classic

my favorite kate bush album i love everything about it

This is pretty great. I think that not only is it brilliant, but it will likely get better the more time spent with it. its weird, its atmospheric, its different, its just really really good. i think it's a 5, i think it might be better collectively than Hounds of Love but doesn't have those big hits that Hounds has. I think 5

I wasn't much of a fan of the first album of hers that was offered on this site. But this one was outstanding. I totally dig it. Especially the first half. Just the weirdness but in an artistic sense that makes sense, vs. weird for the sake of weirdness. This is still melodic for the most part.

-AHHH ONE OF MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME… Kate at her absolute most daring and creative. The storytelling aspects are incredible and every song feels like a whole new world. I wish she did more like this -Favorites are uhh all of them this album has zero flops. But if I had to choose, Sat In Your Lap, Suspended In Gaffa, Night Of The Swallow, Houdini, and Get Out Of My House

Well, Kate Bush officially joins the ABYD 5-star Club. Criteria seems to be an artist or album I’m not already very familiar ++ significant repeat value in that I feel like I could listen to it, intentionally, forever and don’t want to move on. I don’t want to move on after 2-3 listens. These rating are all relative, of course, so this one could have been influenced by the fact that its predecessor was Sade — meh — but The Dreaming is now in good company with Talking Heads Remain in Light and a near 5-star Eiensturzende Neubaten debut. Something about the production techniques and sensibilities of the time period seems to really be resonating with me, as both a music fan and hobbyist music maker. Hmmm…

💙 incredible. I liked this the first time I heard it, and then listened again and liked it more, and now it's definitely in the rotation. A very weird and cool album that she produced herself (werk). The effects she uses must've been wild in the early 80s. Even now, they're super unique to Kate Bush's sound. You can totally hear the influence Kate Bush had on Björk. Rad as hell

J’aime beaucoup Kate Bush, sa voix particulière, ses explorations singulières, une vraie artiste

An inspiration for many contemporary popular artists. She’s just perfect and this album is way ahead of its time.

Second album of Kate Bush on this list that I absolutely love. I think this list is converting me into a Kate Bush fan.

The album was so bizarre but in a very structured way. Absolutely fantastic.

Some fives are better than other fives. I read one guy who worked with Kate Bush who felt that this album was over cluttered with too many sounds but I think that's what makes it so great. Every time you come back you hear new things. Also some of her best lyrics and use of different styles of singing in the one song, line even.

WOW. Kate seems totally unhinged and unrestrained on this album, and just so over-the-top theatrical and dramatic. I love so many aspects about this album including the wild orchestral instrumentation, mix of Kate's and deep male (almost chant-ish) vocals and just how raw it all feels. Since starting this list I've gotten quite a bit into Björk and I can absolutely see this as a huge influence. Crazy fun! 9/10

9/10. Completely bonkers. Haven't heard anything like it before, not even from Kate Bush herself. I love it. Great opening track which immediately got me excited followed by two more bangers. After that it sometimes becomes a bit too slow or weird but it's all just too charming to fault it for that. Highlights: Pull out the Pin There Goes a Tenner Sat in Your Lap Night of the Swallow Get out of My House All the Love Suspended in Gaffa

This was the first Kate Bush album I bought myself. My father loved her and had the older ones. Although it was completely different compared to the older material, I was mesmerized. She is a phenomenal storyteller, often using different dialects to fit her role in her songs. Knowing the back story of the songs helps to understand them better (like e.g. Pull Out the Pin). My favorites are still The Dreaming and Night of the Swallow.

Insane

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a K-Town Banger!! Just perfect.

Yeah, this was cool then and its cool now. Kate Bush is an original.

I love this album. It’s so beautifully weird. I love how her songs don’t sound alike (or like anybody else) and yet they all sound like Kate Bush. Soooo creative! This is a good one.

This is what happens when you give an incredibly talented, weird musician carte blanche. I love the weird stuff.

I’d not heard this album before this. Hounds of Love is the only Bush album I have listened to before and I don’t love it, so I had lowered expectations for The Dreaming. It’s amazing though. Sat In Your Lap immediately announces that is album is different. This song to me would fit on Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters. From there it goes on a strange journey. This album is weird as shit! And wonderfully so. Pull Out The Pin is a bit of a creeper, and the screams add some horror to the sound. This is an incredible album from start to finish. A typical a sign of a masterpiece is when the album feels like it takes you on a journey. Five Stars.

Kate Bush used to make crazy, weird, genreless, sometimes genius music. I genuinely believe she would get less criticism if she were a man. She used innovative sampling techniques and interesting chord progressions. I really like Sat in Your Lap, it is truly a nuts song but there is nothing else like it. Her mockney accent (and donkey braying) did always make me cringe, and Hounds of Love is a better album but this one is still a unique work of art in my opinion, and I do love our Kate.

This is a masterful effort, and it's an actual masterpiece. So complexly imagined and executed at levels of musical intricacy rarely achieved. Just a little shy of giving it 5 stars because a couple of songs bleed a little into pop sounding. Yeah but you know what, I've rarely given any 5 star ratings so far, I'll do it it!!

absolutely no fucks given

Kate Bush can do no wrong

My intro to Kate Bush and a brilliant album that now resides under the shadow created by its successor, Hounds of Love. It still belongs on this list.

Not as experimental as Hounds of Love, but a wonderful and strange album nonetheless. I could see how someone would find her voice a little whiny and it took me a bit to get used to (over the years) but it’s so unique.

I found The Sensual World a bit underwhelming but this album far exceeded my modest expectations, it’s ace. I knew tracks 1 and 6 from a greatest hits CD but outside of that context I can better appreciate what mighty, deranged bangers they are, and the rest of the album lives up to them. It’s as nuts and experimental as you’d hope from Kate Bush (the line ‘we let the weirdness in’ from Leave It Open is a fitting mission statement/badge of honour for the album) but also far more listenable than many reviews suggest. There are frenzied, soaring vocal hooks in almost every song that may turn other people off, but they’re like aural opium to me. 4.5

I thought this was pretty great - she could teach Fiona Apple a thing or two. Best tracks; Suspended in Gaffa, Night of the Swallow.

Kinda fabulous

The Dreaming was a bold and daring move by an hugely popular artist. Without easily accessible singles, it wasn't going to win her new fans that way, and the theatricality and delving into dark depths probably had a lot of her fans scratching their heads. Of all her albums, it's the one that most needs repeated listens to grow on you, to see the intricacy of craft and revel in the diversity of styles. Essential for those who appreciate Kate Bush, though probably a little out there for those first coming upon her. (This 1001 list should come with side-notes or disclaimers for albums like this. "Not for Introduction to This Artist" - with a link to Hounds of Love. Like having Scary Monsters as your first Bowie album. ) Not as coherent as Hounds of Love, the risk-taking and resultant highs are worth it, and this remains my second-favorite Kate Bush record. A solid 9/ 10, rounded up for the sheer jaunting joy that is "Suspended in Gaffa".

Listened to this while playing Carnegie solo. I lost by a lot. This album, however, was an absolute homerun for me. I have only heard Running Up The Hill before, and that wasn't on this album. I was not expecting such a sonic adventure. I could hear how this majorly influenced Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Bjork, Bat For Lashes...the list goes on and on. I was so thoroughly excited by the songs. I was teetering between rating this a 4, or 5...but then the donkey chorus came in during the final minutes and absolutely cemented itself as a 5. This is the first 5 I've given out to an album I was completely unfamiliar with. Will totally come back to this one in the future.

👑

Стиль кайф, оч круто. Японские слова на фоне разъеб

My favourite Bush album so far. The title track includes contributions from well-known animal impersonator Percy Edwards, and well-known didgeridoo player Rolf Harris. Bush herself channels Kenneth Williams’ Rambling Syd Rumpo. She really embraces the music hall tradition, 60s and 70s light entertainment and novelty records. The whole thing is completely bonkers, loads of fun.

In this release, Kate Bush goes all-out on her crazy ideas, putting more energy and experiments than in any other album. She has a strong and versatile voice; one of the most memorable of the era. The music varies in style, but most of it is lush and atmospheric, often feeling like a mad house. The cabaret intro "Sat in Your Lap" that sounds like a tense musical number, the wacky ska-like "There Goes a Tenner", the space-age "Leave It Open", the British folky jig of "Night of the Swallow"... this album just keeps giving, and the ideas always nail. It's not overwhelming though. The first four tracks are the high-energy pop tracks. The next two are very dark and focus more on ambiance and mood with a sparser sound, which many can find off-putting but is just as if not more creative. From that, the mood gradually calms down and becomes more predictable. "All the Love" is the least experimental song, being mostly a piano ballad, but it's still overlayed with samples and atmospheric synths. "Houdini", another piano ballad, is overlayed with beautiful strings and a frenzied vocal performance. Finally, we close with the fan favorite "Get Out of My House" which is the least accessible track, also super dark but highly experimental and doesn't follow a standard song structure. It's an unforgettable closer. It's not as structured as her next album, Hounds of Love, and a lot of her ideas here are hard on the ear and require active listening. But when you do actively listen to it, it's some of the most fun you could have with an album. No filler or skippable tracks, which each one serving a well-defined purpose. Countless memorable moments, and some of the best songs in her discography. There were other art pop artists in that early 80s period, like ABC, Madness, and the Buggles. But this record really cemented no one was like her in the 80s.