LOVE AND ANGER

[Just added a bunch of Kate Bush singles.] This is probably her worst single ever (hopefully there aren't others as bad). 'Love and Anger' is an outtake from the album The Sensual World (1989). I bought the CD when it was just released, and I used to enjoy it quite a lot, despite some disliking for a couple of songs. Over the years it has become clearer that the album as a whole is a bit of a let-down and surprisingly average on her artistic scale (only the follower, Red Shoes from 1993, is notably worse). Especially considering that Kate worked on it for a long time, the results were not as good as they should have been. The listener simply doesn't feel the passion and inspiration so strongly felt on the previous album Hounds of Love (1985) which I cherish as a pop masterpiece. But yes, The Sensual World surely contains some very fine songs.

'Love and Anger' is among its weakest tracks. The song became quite popular in the States, where her stardom was notably smaller, and practically based on a handful of separate songs more than on complete albums. It is a decent, fairly listenable pop song if one compares it to the pop music of the time in general. But one really expects more from this individual art-pop artist. The vocals are all right, but the composition is among the least inspiring or original she has ever written. The single version is the same as the album version, only the end laughter has been cut off.

However, it's the B-sider that makes this single so bad. 'Ken' is an awfully noisy (supposed to be uplifting and joyous) pop song in the ugliest in-your-face production of the 80's, in the vein of Cyndi Lauper and other commercial mainstream pop featuring programmed drums. Not only the sharp brass sounds are nasty, also Kate's vocals get awfully screamy on this song that is a torture of nearly four minutes. The song was made for a comic strip film G.L.C. "Ken Livingstone, former leader of the GLC, Member of Parliament and the first democratically-elected Mayor of London is the official Labour candidate to succeed Boris Johnson as London Mayor in 2012", informs the YouTube page. The cover design is the best part of this release.