VIP – Judith Jamison

1982: Kate Bush releases The Dreaming. Panned by critics and dismissed by the public, it is a critical and commercial disaster. 2006: Having had over two decades to sink in, Bush’s self-produced and wildly ambitious album is considered by many to be her masterpiece. Mule braying, orchestrated car crashes, looming helicopters, and Rolf Harris on dijeridu are just a hint of the amalgam of sounds you’ll find seamlessly woven into The Dreaming. Equally focused and demented, precocious and ferocious, at its bare bones The Dreaming is storytelling set to music. Devoid of filler, each of the ten songs is a tour de force that must be heard to be believed. In “There Goes A Tenner,” Bush retells the story of a bank heist gone awry in her finest cockney swagger. “Pull Out The Pin,” a song about a Vietnamese soldier in combat who tracks American soldiers by scent, finds Kate in character screaming, “I love life!” to caterwauling voices and hovering aircraft. Having had more than a few production tricks up her sleeve, Kate even went so far as to compose a backwards vocal for the end of “Leave It Open,” offering two distinct messages for listeners to decipher. Chaotic, fantastical, unnerving, and painstakingly brilliant, The Dreaming is like nothing you’ve heard before and will be hard-pressed to forget.

Bruce Scott
katebush.com