AERIAL

No doubt that from the dawn of her career, Kate Bush had contributed a lot to the feminine expression in rock music, and had opened new and vast horizons for women such as Bjork and PJ Harvey, among many others, all over the world. Nevertheless, something in her art has always been deterred for me, something that prevented me from devoting to her songs and albums completely.

However, this album is different. It sounds much more delicate, even exquisite, with a huge improvement at the vocals, and still, without loosing the edge, that unique Kate Bush style and expression. At least not in the first CD, that called "A Sea of honey". I'll relate to the second CD, "A Sky of honey", afterwards.

The subjects here are 'homely', such as laundry, little son Bertie, or philosophical thoughts about Pi number. As it seems, a mix that would hardly appeal to the average male progger. But it's Kate Bush here, in her own special way, and she manage to convince in a place that others might fall into a horrible kitsch, or just superficial boredom.

Seven delicate and charming songs are included in the first CD "A Sea", and listening to those songs feels like having some delicious pralines. What really adds to the whole result are the fantastic arrangements and production. But not 'production' in the bombastic or show off way, by any mean. 'Bertie' is performed by complete renaissance ensemble, include viola Da Gamba and percussions from that era, and the listener is invited to dance with little Bertie in a Renaissance flavor, at 3/4 time signature. In 'Mrs. Bartolozzi' (the 'washing machine' song) she accompanied herself with piano only, and both playing and singing are outstanding. At 'King of the Mountain' there is a buildup at the additive mode, where each instrument is added at a certain time. And what may seem to be a standard description of thousands and thousands of songs turns to be something unique under her hands. Each role is interesting and compelling, and each entrance makes its own special moment.

So far about the first disk ("A Sea") and the better one, according to my taste. Regretfully, the second disk "A Sky of honey", failed to reach the same heights and intense as the first one. IMO, the fact that few tracks got names such as 'Nocturne', 'Prelude' or 'Prologue' does not make it a concept creation, or even a good creation. This part sounds to me much more standard and mediocre, and apart from very few moments, didn't impress me deeply.

However, the reason for the three stars rating is not the second disk, because I tend to rate albums due to it's better moments, and 40 minutes of excellent music are more than enough, but due to the fact that this is not a 'progressive' product IMO. And on this site I prefer to save the higher ratings for more 'pure' progressive albums.

Anyway, this is not to reduce the value of the music for a bit. The value of the music is very high, and it is worth checking for those who are looking right now for a good, memorable, and up to date songs album.