jarno_m_l's Full Review: The Dreaming by Kate Bush
When you buy a Kate Bush album, the only thing you can be sure of is that you're in for some sort of a treat. Whether the flavours are bitter or sweet, whether your ears will be massaged with soothing sounds or charmed by hectic vocal acrobatics you'll never know. Kate has the habit of re-inventing herself with each album, always keeping fresh and new, and never fearing to venture into the dark alleys of unconventionality.
The 1981 album "The Dreaming" is one of the most fascinating of those musical adventures - it delves deep into dreamlike surrealistic soundscapes, taking us into the midst of the shady side of human existence, with stories of crime, betrayal, war and genocide weaved into curious, catchy and enticing musical patterns. Very likely you have never heard something quite like this.
Still, fear not; although unquestionably experimental, this is not one of those overtly artsy albums that are about as interesting as listening to an hour of instrument tweaking; no, The Dreaming will charm you with it's catchy tunes and strange, memorable musical imagery. If you didn't realise it before, you may just come out from listening to this album with the epiphany that music does not need to be mainstream, fit into genres or conform to what we consider safe and familiar to be entertaining, and really, really good.
With that said, I need to warn you against making hasty judgements with this record - mainstream music has the benefit of familiarity, a feeling that you won't get from an album such as this one. Mainstream music doesn't need to "grow on you", as it simply recycles the musical elements that you are already accustomed to. This is something new, and does demand a bit more listening to open up to you. A patient listener may just discover what makes this album a true masterpiece.
Regrettably, at the time of it's release, the average attention spans of the masses didn't quite meet the requirements of the album - most shied away from such an oddity, and the album didn't get the acclaim it clearly deserves. Unfortunately I can't say that I'm surprised...
But enough of that, let's dig into the feast that Kate has prepared for your ears.
The album starts with the beat dominated, vigorous song Sat In Your Lap; it's about the stray paths in the search for wisdom - the lyrics may not be obvious, but they are quite brilliant, and hold some truth in them if you ask me. In an almost angry, jerking, punctuated manner Kate sings "Some say that knowledge is something sat in your lap..." and "I want the answers quickly, but I don't have no energy. My cup she never overfloweth and 'tis I that moan and groaneth...."
Indeed it's true - the majority of people want their wisdom in a nicely wrapped package, ready chewed brain chow, no thinking required, simple acceptance without honest examination falsely made a virtue...
There Goes A Tenner is a curious song, a story about preparing for a robbery. The soft horns somehow bring to mind some of Tom Waits' music. The association may also be attributed to the subject matter, with lowlife characters playing the leading parts of the story. With the jumpy piano "beat" on the foreground, a musically more accurate comparison could be made to the British band Madness.
Comparisons aside, this is still quite distinctly Katesy stuff... The madness beat is punctuated by eerie interludes with Kate singing the simple chorus "We're waiting...". She uses at least three different singing voices in the song, a deep almost creepy one in the chorus, a "normal" voice through most of the lyrics with refreshing appearances of a high girlish voice singing in naive playground-tunes.
Yet darker imagery is painted in Pull Out The Pin, a song that brings the brutality of war, and the dehumanising of the enemy into words. A cello, percussion and striking metallic, hollow tunes frame the story told from the perspective of what to me seems like a Vietnamese soldier trying to justify taking a life - "...He's big and pink and not like me, He sees no light, He sees no reason for the fighting...." The enemy is not like him, not human really, and besides; "Just one thing in it, me or him, And I love life.... (Pull out the pin)" You hear the sound of a helicopter, and the sounds of children at times in the background.
Suspended In Gaffa is one of my favourites on the album - with a light tune Kate sings out the cryptic lyrics varying her voice from a "mature" one to the high piercing one she's best remembered for. Some lyrics are whispered, and the effect of the intermingling of the various voices of Kate has an intoxicatingly pleasant effect.
Leave It Open opens up with a drum beat, and Kate's voice electronically distorted... the "girlish" Kate punctuates the lyrics with the repeated line "but now I've started learning how". Male voices add flavour to the background and many a vocal effect is dispensed to perfect this beautiful, strange, memorable song. Some material for those who seek hidden meanings in songs to decipher towards the end - there are some lyrics played backwards, making it sound like some strange, new exotic tongue.
One of the most quirky songs comes next - The Dreaming is a song about Aborigines, with a dark message about genocide hidden in the lyrics; "Erase the race that claim the place and say we dig for Ore...." The lyrics are sung in a manner that makes them almost unintelligible, and the odd pronunciation and rhythm to the singing makes it sound almost like a different language altogether at points. There's a digerido making it's eerie buzz in the background, a percussion and an unobtrusive synthesizer with most of the soundscape being dominated by human voices.
It's hard to name any of the songs on the album as ballads, fast rock tracks, or anything else in available in my music vocabulary, but the next one "Night Of The Swallow" is somewhat of a ballad, and a beautiful one at that. It has delightful Irish influence in the faster interludes with Uillean Pipes on the background - I love this one! The lyrics are beautiful, slightly cryptic but still yielding to an interpretation that to me seems likely; it's a song about fleeing a miserable life, about seeking refuge in another country.
And the theme moves on... betrayal is the subject of All The Love. The lyrics are sung in exotic patterns, with quiet, fragile moments interluding. Is this a ballad? Well, I guess you could call it that in the absence of a better word. A piano dominated song, this one is reminiscent of Tori Amos.
Houdini continues in the slow vein to begin with, but changes with fast metamorphoses several times during the song, a predominantly acoustic piece, with strings and piano making up most of the music. A complex creature that requires a bit of listening to be properly appreciated.
Get Out Of My House finishes the album off in an appropriately curious manner - another changeling, here's a song very difficult to describe... The tunes, of which there are many, intermingling in the song are memorable and enticing. Male voices appear in the background, and are used as instruments. There's a strange interlude sung by a male voice in a way that I can only describe as snobbish, there's Kate making donkey sounds, there's... well you get the point. Though unusual, it's a brilliant song, a worthy finish to such an unusual album.
Conclusion
After having listened to this the first time, just before going to bed, in the morning I woke up with the memory of the most curious, strange and interesting dreams that I've had in years... with a name like "The Dreaming" to the album, this kind of makes me think... mere coincidence? We'll never know...
Why not find out for your self... The Dreaming is an exceptional album well worth your money.
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This is a sort of a tag-team review - posted more or less simultaneously with Teresa (tlimjoco). So head off to read her review, which, without having read it yet, I can say with confidence will be quite brilliant! ....
Later added: And I was quite right - as I now see, having read it. You can find the incredibly thorough review, writen in usual outstanding tlimjoco quality at http://www.epinions.com/content_20997312132
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