1001 Albums Journey

By 1986 Kate Bush was eight years into a highly successful career which had seen her rise to be the preeminent British female pop musician of the age which an international reputation. The Hounds of Love was her fifth studio album, all her previous collections had seen remarkable changes in style. Hounds of Love continued in that vein. It benefits the listener to approach Hounds of Love as two separate collection of songs (the two sides as originally released) bound together by similar themes. Side one represents a more traditional approach to song writing with some very strong and compelling pop songs (Running Up That Hill and Cloudbusting stand out). Side two- often referred to as The Ninth Wave- represents a rich journey through musical experimentation and the lyrical exploration of life, death, and rebirth. Deliberately bold, the tracks have both a dramatic and dream like feel. Despite all of its experimentation, the female challenges to the idea of ‘progressive’ rock and the standout song writing, Hounds of Love is a reflection of some very traditional themes: love, loss and the challenges and comforts of childhood memory. It’s impossible to overstate its musical and lyrical pull. It stands at the head of the pantheon of what can be prosaically described as rock or pop music. Score: 5/5