THE KICK INSIDE

I have always admired Kate Bush from afar. Not as a sex object but as an artist. Her sophistication and her career is an example for everyone. She is a mythical person. Strangely enough because she refuse to be a mythical person. Instead, she is doing her weekly shoppings in just the kind of shops her fans use. She is mythical because she is normal. That says everything in a business where appearance and image is everything. Her long dark hair and very beautiful face and body also makes her pretty fascinating for a male. Yes, she has sex appeal. But she also comes across as a very strong person. In that respect, she is not considered to be a woman in the traditional sex symbol mould. Kate Bush is most definate her own woman and I admire her for that.

I bought Sensual World when I was in the army twenty years ago up in the far north of Norway. I do not remember much of that album. I still have it though and will review it later. I have chosen to start with her debut album. And what a debut album !

Kate Bush wrote some of the songs on this album when she was 13 years old and recorded it when she was 19 years old. Which makes her a genious in my view. This because the music here is mature pop/rock with some references to progressive rock bands like Genesis. Early Genesis, that is. Those are the prog rock references I find here.

The backing band is not that important on this album. But for the record: She used the Alan Parsons Project musicans as her studio musicans. They contribute with saxophone, piano, drums, guitars and bass. The main instrument here is Kate Bush and her voice. An instrument that blows me away. I have never ever heard a woman using her voice like this. Not even those who has tried to copy her is anywhere near Kate Bush. She sings with warmth, strength, sensuality, personality and a heck of a lot of attitude. Her voice is the main reason to buy this album.

There are some throw away pop songs here. But there are also some superb songs here too. The opening track Moving is one of them. Mature pop/rock which tells you a lot about her potential. The second outstanding song is The Man With The Child In His Eyes. A truly fantastic song and the second best song on this album. But it is getting overshadowed by the next song; Wuthering Heights.

What can I say about the monster called Wuthering Heights ? It is written by Kate Bush and that alone marks her out as a fantastic song writer. It was the first ever song written by a woman to top the single charts. It has some of the best vocals ever done by a female artist. She released this song as a single against the wishes of the whole EMI hierarchy........ and she was proven right. Their wish for a single, James And The Cold Gun, is a superb song, but nowhere near as good as her choice. That tells you everything about this 19 years old girl and her artistic visions. Wuthering Heights is simply a piece of genious songwriting and an icon in the pop/rock industry. It is a flawless song.

The quality of the album drops a bit after the superb James And The Cold Gun. Feel It is a good ballad. Oh To Be In Love is a quirky pop song in the Beatles mould. There are some uptempo songs here and some more ballads. But this album never becomes uninteresting. The strength of Kate Bush voice and songwriting captivates me and makes this one of the few song based albums I truly love. This is a truly stunning album and my respect for Kate Bush has risen to the height of Mount Everest. The rest of her albums has hereby been ordered.

4 stars