DIRECTOR'S CUT

KB has maintained that some of the originals were not how she wanted them to be. And now with the recording license to revisit them in one form or another, she demonstrates a new found level of creativity as shown on Aerial and Director's Cut makes for an excellent listening experience. Sure the songs have all been done before but she has stripped them back to an almost minimalist point, and succeeds in every way. " Flower Of the Mountain" probably the highlight and remake of " Sensual World" What a lyricist and such a seductive script. Nice to revisit in a new mould. " Lily" possibly the most up tempo track on the album but there are other gems like the simplistic " Deeper Understanding" and one of my personal favourites " Red Shoes" Her remake of " Rubber Band Girl" seems much better than the original. Where we so often these days find many established artists doing cover versions of other artists and climbing on the orchestral band wagon and singing in vineyards, Kate Bush revisits her own tapestry of sounds and does a damn fine job too. Highly recommended. Notwithstanding a jaw dropping musician guest list too.

Completely pointless musical revisionism

Kate Bush released two albums in 2011, one perhaps a masterpiece and the other completely unnecessary. Lest you mistake me for a Kate-hater nothing could be further from the truth. I love Kate, I love "50 Words" and I adore most of her catalog. But when she drops the ball (Aerial and Sensual World), she really drops it. "Directors Cut" joins those two clunkers at the very bottom of the Kate discog. It was a great purchase for one reason however: playing it over and over along with Red Shoes and Sensual World to make the necessary comparisons, I realized just how good the original Red Shoes really is. It's head and shoulders above Aerial, Sensual, and even side one of Hounds. The songs are passionate and emotional with great hooks and intense construction. I'm astonished that my fellow reviewers have made Red Shoes the lowest rated Bush work, I can't imagine how they arrive at that conclusion.

I'm not sure why Kate felt the need to do this but apparently the mission was to rework the songs with a flat, lifeless production and vocals that have lost their urgency and vigor, occasionally even coming across as indifferent. Look to the "every old sock" line as an example. On the original she shares an incredibly intimate moment, her voice cracks just a bit, she becomes conversational with the listener ("ain't that a great saying") and it feels very special and genuine. The reworking is so much less potent that she doesn't even bother finishing it. There are several moments like that which go beyond just the conscious attempt to break down the tracks to something slower. But the major criticism is that the flat, middle-aged Starbucks lunch time crowd treatments do not drive Kate to the passionate deliveries of the original. It's quite similar to when Natalie Merchant attempts her "mature" live renditions of songs that were vein-busting passionate with her rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Neutering passionate songs to the point where they can be used for wedding jewelry commercials makes me want to claw my eyes out. But at least Merchant was doing it live, to bother with going through this exercise for a studio recreation is baffling.

Say what you want about the Red Shoes "big 90s" production that is so often decried, the fact is that production pushed Kate's vocals and pumped big time vigor into the songs, while also allowing the soft side when they would fall away to piano. It worked and it worked superbly. So this is why I'm mystified with the flat Director's Cut reworkings. Yeah, the increased depth given to some of the background vocals are nice, but any improvements I hear are on the superficial level. When it comes to the beef which is the impact of song on listener, there is nothing more passionate, poignant, or interesting being offered up. Middle-aged Kate can't beat younger Kate at her own game and she shouldn't try, she can't make the emotions and pain more moving now than they were as she was experiencing them. There's also a certain general arrogance to the whole notion of the artist believing they should revise or discredit their past work (ala the Floyd boys thrashings of their early work, which is fantastic!) Bush should not have fretted her old albums, rather, the amazing 50 Words for Snow proves she should be looking forward.

For fans only, Directors Cut should be the very last Kate Bush album you acquire.

In between the release of the amazing albums "Ariel" and "50 Words for Snow", Kate Bush released "The Director's Cut", which is an overlooked, yet still enjoyable "sort-of compilation" album. The songs on this collection were originally released on the albums "The Sensual World" and "The Red Shoes", two of Kate's most accessible albums. People that know Kate's music know that these two albums were probably the most affected by the record label to try to make her music a bit more appealing to the masses. Even though I still love both of those albums, I don't consider them her strongest works, yet I still enjoy listening to them for the ingenuity that exists on them, even if it might be to a lesser extent than usual.

On "The Director's Cut", Kate Bush re-visits some of the songs from those aforementioned albums, and she does it in a good way. Making them a bit more pensive, a bit more experimental and a lot clearer and cleaner than before, she approaches the sound and style of her newer albums of the time. For the most part, this works quite well and gives the songs more life.

I have to admit, though, that at first I had a hard time listening to this album as I had grown so accustomed to hearing these songs done a certain way. However, with time, this album has aged very well and I have grown to appreciate these renditions much more. I love the new, stripped down and simpler feel of "Lily", "The Red Shoes", "Moments of Pleasure" and "Never Be Mine". The biggest surprise is her re-working of "This Woman's Work", probably one of her most recognized songs. This is one I didn't think needed to be reworked, but the version on this album is simply beautiful and emotional. It feels more heartfelt and seems to reflect how the song was meant to feel. If you don't hear anything else from the album, make sure you hear this new version. Eric Clapton's contribution to "And So Is Love" is kept intact on this version and it pares quite well with the quieter and more atmospheric feel of the new version. It ends up sounding quite lovely.

There are a couple of songs here that I am not as enthusiastic about. "Flower of the Mountain" (originally known as "The Sensual World") is one that is okay, but it doesn't top the original, which is exotic, mesmerizing and one of my favorite tracks from Kate Bush. "Song of Solomon" also sounds better on the original album than it does in this form. "Top of the City" isn't too bad, but really didn't need to be re-done in my opinion. I actually loved the upbeat sound of "Rubberband Girl" in the original version, and while this one is upbeat, it seems unnecessary and a bit bland compared to the original.

So, overall, this is a pretty good collection of re-made tracks that I think most people will be happy to hear as many of her long-time fans were a bit disappointed by the albums that these songs originally came from. As for myself, the tracks I love far outweigh the ones that I am less excited about. The sound of the album (mine is on vinyl and sounds amazing) is excellent and the large booklet (which is full of beautiful artwork spreads for each track along with the lyrics is tastefully and amazingly put together) makes it all worth the purchase. These things elevate the package to a four star album, at least as far as the vinyl edition is concerned. Instead of the full size booklet, the CD edition comes with remastered versions of the original "The Sensual World" and "The Red Shoes" which probably won't appeal to the fans as much. I can't tell you whether the sound is as awesome on the CD as it is on the vinyl, so this rating applies to the vinyl package.