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.

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

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.

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.

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?!

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.

smashing

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

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

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.

"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.

KATE!

Genuinely original

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

wtf. i kinda love it.

I actually enjoyed that album

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.

epic, mysterious, ambitious, dramatic and singular

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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".

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

Noup

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?

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 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

An artful, whimsical delight. Gorgeous arrangements. Powerful, frequently surprising vocals. Unabashedly, unapologetically weird and all the more endearing for it. Kate Bush is an acquired taste, but she's also a once in a lifetime talent. I've been listening to her for 40 years and this album just gets better with every listen. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Suspended in Gaffa, Sat in Your Lap, All the Love, Houdini, Night of the Swallow, Get Out of My House, Leave It Open, The Dreaming, Pull the Pin Out, There Goes a Tenner

love love love

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".

👑

Kate Bush is magical and on The Dreaming she opens up her magical dreamland for all of us to enter. The record is ambitious, theatrical and full of sound bites and untraditional production fitting for a highly untraditional artist. 'Sat In Your Lap' is an incredibly powerful opener, but like a well-written piece of fiction, Bush makes sure to include both intense stretches and parts more suitable for reflection on the record. Baroque instrumentation floods the album with vocal inspired equally by Shakespearean readings as by Chinese operas ('Suspended In Gaffa'). And what vocal Kate Bush has. Dramatic, theatrical and with an incredible range. The vocal production is as adventurous as Bush ('Leave It Open') - her hoarse intensity on 'Night of the Swallow' is beyond belief. And what a tune! The Dreaming is simply a power performance by one of the most iconic voices ever. And just in case anyone had any doubt, it's quite evident: without Kate Bush, no Björk

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.

Wow this album is so original and unpredictable . It’s so weird and cool and It sounds way ahead of its time. She is a very expressive singer with a unique voice. The songwriting and arranging are great and there is some of the most beautiful fretless bass playing on this record.

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

Absolutely incredible and still only the third best Kate Bush album

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.

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.

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.

Стиль кайф, оч круто. Японские слова на фоне разъеб

I am someone who appreciates Tori Amos a great deal. And here is Kate Bush being Tori Amos a decade before Tori Amos became Tori Amos. This mlght also be one of, if not the first, times I've commented upon some album art. I love this. I'm very glad to say I caught glimpse of it on a big screen, rather than merely viewing it on my phone. Had I not, I may have missed the wedding ring on the tongue, in a classic Hammer vampire type pose. It's a great picture and I think I'd like to buy some wall art of it. Onto the music. I can totally accept that many people will hate this. Those people are entitled to their opinion, no matter how wrong that opinion is. This album is genius. Kate Bush is a genius. From what I know of her, she started out super-young. She was dissatisfied with the studio/label directions and producers often didn't quite keep up - and this album was the first she produced herself at her own studio. I can't help but think about Gary Numan. Also under twenty when he hit the music scene, also utterly unlike what had been seen before. Kate Bush took everything about being a singer/songwriter and said "this is too pedestrian for me" before doing her funky thing and just utterly blasting everything out of the water. This album is Bush in a position to self-produce, and it is wonderful to hear how she's able to push things further, go in uncomfortable directions and create music that can push boundary and inspire others. Clear as day, this album pushed two minor artists - Bjork and Tori Amos - into directions that yielded even more remarkable music. Yes, this album is just great.

phenomenal

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.

Haunting music about mundanity and more

Kate Bush is weird. Having said that, I absolutely adore this album. Her songs are mini suites with lessons in contrast, layering, and idiosyncrasy. He unusual lyrics and placement of vocal lines border on baroque and she is a master of building and releasing tension. Her interesting use of typical new wave instrumentation leads to interesting sounds that remind of some contemporary artists such as St. Vincent. Overall, this album is a experimental pop masterpiece and even if her seminal ‘Hounds of Love’ is better developed, ‘The Dreaming’ is still a phenomenal album.

One of Kate Bush's more challenging albums. There aren't a lot of pop hooks to latch onto so dont go in expecting the sensual world or hounds of love. This is active listening material - not something to put on in the background. What may appear chaotic at first listen is a brilliantly orchestrated album of sharp, rhythmic layers of drums, piano, synths, guitars, and multiple vocal tracks. Kate Bush is one of the greatest vocalists of our time and this album deserves multiple listens.

Freakin' the best

One of my all time favorites 10/10

With Aerial and Hounds of Love her best album, really underrated this one because people find it 'weird' I guess. But I love the way she uses her voice, the drama, the rawness. Brilliant all the way from Sat in Your Lap to the witchlike Get Out of My House. Best song I think the title song. 5 stars!

This is my favorite Kate Bush album, ever-so-slightly beating out Hounds of Love. I can't think of any music that sounds remotely like this album, and even if something else did sound like this, there's no way the songs would be this good. I love the chiming guitar in "Get Out of My House" and the bass throughout is so good.

lovely lovely lovely Kate Bush, she's like the UR/OG Bjork

Eclectic, unique, and worth a re-listening!

Eins vorab: Bloß kein schlechtes Wiedergabegerät wählen!!! Denn was hier musikalisch durchkommen will, ist keine leichte dafür aber für offene - oder lediglich von headphones verstopfte - Ohren sehr rewarding, üppig, krass das Attribut ‚vielschichtig‘ an seine Grenzen pressende Kost. Bei kongenialer/geistiger Schwester Laurie Anderson steht das erlebte Klang-Experiment im Vordergrund, doch Kate Bush schiebt ihre Kompositionsmonster wie bspw. „Houdini“ auf der zu engen Kleinkunst Bühne gen Pop-Song/Micro-Epos. Wurden viele Frauen in den letzten Jahrzehnten fremd- oder selbstbestimmt als ihre Inkarnationen gefeiert (Julia Holter) so erkenne ich in der Sparks’schen Theatralik als gegenwärtigste Entsprechung das Falsett Wild Beasts’ Hayden Thorpe und die eerie soundscapes vom The Knife Spätwerk „Shaking the Habitual“. Ein brutales Stück Kunst und ich hab da nicht mal die Texte beachtet. Fang ich gar nicht erst an, sprengt jeden Rahmen. Aber das Album so zu nennen und den Titeltrack auch an dieser aboriginalen Erinnerungskunst zu orientieren, um damit dem Album ein sehr exzeptionelles Stück zur Namensgebung zu verpassen, macht den inneren Sherlock aufmerksamer für jede falsche Fährte. Genius 4.8

Wowwowwow. Complicated and strange in the best possible ways, this album maxes out the scale for originality. Unsettling, beautiful, and totally badass.

This album is just cool. Kate Bush does all kinds of cool things with percussion, instrumentation, and her voice! Her songs each have cool stories. Cool cool cool.

I dreamed a dream and it was kinda great

I love Kate Bush.

This is so weird, I love it. Kate Bush is doing something exciting with her vocals all the way thru, theatrical vocal delivery annoys me sometimes but Bush is just so good at it. The band is doing so much and keeping things tight, especially on the title track which feels like a fever dream. Really enjoyed this, 5 stars

An album that confused many at the time - it wasn't what we expected from Kate Bush! But turns out, it was exactly what should be expected from Kate Bush. Ground-breaking and influential in so many ways, not just musically. I loved it at the time and I still do.

album before hounds of love. sat in your lap - so theatrical, dramatic. big synth there goes a tenner - bit kind of oompah. pull out the pin - maybe most conventional pop so far. love the bass (know this from hounds of love) suspended in gaffa - waltz thing. cute i'm enjoying this. so far - theatrical, less poppy than HoL but not irritating!

Really loved this album!! So ethereal and experimental! Every song felt like it was in a different genre, so unpredictable yet somehow works together. Her vocals are amazing. Saved songs: There Goes A Tenner, Pull Out The Pin, Leave It Open, All The Love, Get Out Of My House

This was an awesome Kate Bush album. So interesting musically and lyrically.

Cant believe I haven’t heard this full album before! Amazing

Pretty good 80’s album. I like it better than sinade O’Connor or other comparable artists

So far, this week is an exploration of my CD collection. I LOVE this album. I realize it may make some folks run for the hills, but not me. I discovered Kate Bush via Hounds of Love, at the time of its release, browsing through a record store — bought it on vinyl. I was immediately smitten, that album is genius. So I went out and bought this album on CD, the release that precedes Hounds, and I was forever a Kate Bush devotee. I was blown away by her willingness to follow every idea down the rabbit hole as far as it went. I was thrilled by her bravery as an artist, to go out on a limb over and over again. And in the end, I really just love these songs. The opening drums and stilted rhythm of the opening track is a great introduction to the album. So many elements that get featured in the course of the record are included here. I get chills during "Leave It Open," Night Of The Swallow," and "All The Love" (great opening line to that song); "Get Out Of My House" is an sonic journey from shimmering guitar to braying vocalists that slays me every time; I remember a buddy from college freaking out on me for turning him on to "Houdini" (it was like a horror film that got under his skin). Hell, every song on this album goes in a direction you couldn't have expected. There's not a track I don't love. Bush is a singular songwriter and producer who sits atop many an artists' list of influences, and this is her at her most manic and chaotic and inventive. If you didn't pick up on this already, I'm a Bushie through and through.

I'm still with Hounds of Love for peak Kate, but is this truly her most experimental album? Yes.

Not the best Kate Bush album, but a great album!

Hounds of Love & Sensual World gfallt ma bis dato iwie besser, aber still.. it's Kate Bush

What a great week it's been for 1001! We just got PJ Harvey's most commercial release and it's followed by Kate Bush's least commercial and most avant garde. This is such an original album, I keep wondering who her influences might have been. I was thinking Tom Waits maybe, but Tom didn't start his weird phase until 1983, a year after that this album was released. I know she had a Peter Gabriel producer and the overall rhythm reminded me a bit of the "Security" album - but in the end Kate is unique and doesn't really need any influences. I love someone who isn't afraid to sound different and the song-writing is strong. The first 7 songs are 5 stars for me. It eases up a bit from there and the last track is a jarring. I'm between a 4 and a 5 but I gave Hounds of Love a 4 and for me this is a more exciting and eclectic album.

Some of these hits have such great rifts, like running up that hill, her voice is so punchy and the music very dynamic. Really good

Art pop queen

I’m so glad I’ve listened to this many times before because my appreciation for it has only grown with each listen

You can definitely tell why Bjork expressed admiration for this album

At times quirky, at times dramatic, experimental music with a sense of craft. Right up my street. I can't figure out the meaning of the cover art though.