I love this album!
It got 3 complete run throughs yesterday in my car player, and I'm almost entranced by it.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much when I heard the news of the forthcoming release, although such news was welcome of course. I've tried to avoid radio and internet 'spoilers' (although I was nicely surprised by what I had heard). I preferred to wait so I could absorb the recordings on my own terms and in my own space. And the results of Kate's efforts are superb and very moving I have to say.
I had to rebalance my stereo system first of all. The sound is so warm and rich that I had to add some treble for definition. Ditto on my home system. Ready to focus on the music..
Flower of the Mountain: delicious, but I miss the wider context of Kate's original. Lovely work though and the use of the full Joyce is highly effective. This languid sexual fantasy is now an
older woman's stream of conciousness, and you can tell.
Song of Solomon: even more exquisite than her first go. I miss the spine chilling moment of the "I'll do it for you" section, especially the music in that first arrangement, but there are moods and tones here that make up for that loss. This new version sounds so much more mature and adult than the TRS version.
Lilly: again I love the added maturity that this now has. (I'll keep coming back to this matter of maturity and reflection, because it sweeps right across the album. It is very noticeable and it vindicates the whole re-visiting excercise.) The new vocal is delightfully uninhibited. Kate rocks out on this one!
Deeper Understanding: one of Kate's '
enfant terrible' tracks for me, but this is so much better than the SW version. More reflective and a thinner arrangement pays dividends. Love the harmonica and Bertie's auto tune noddlings!
The Red Shoes: where has this been hiding? The best just got better! Love the slightly slower tempo and the new instrumentation. Feels like a new track almost, as many do on this album.
This Woman's Work: already sublime, what could Kate possibly do to this? So she strips the song bare and plays the basic chords on a Fender Rhodes with a tremolo effect treatment. Add real and synthesised abstract vocal sounds and bathe it in reverb. She turns what was a song, into a tone poem without the constraints of song structure. It's glorious and it's haunting, and like
The Coral Room, it just leaves you still and quiet and in a mood of complete reflection. Kate does this so much better than anyone else, except for Joan (Blue) Baez maybe.. She can always invest incredible emotion into her material, but sometimes she really hits the jackpot on one or two tracks per album (think
Coral Room, Dream of Sheep etc). She's never done it better than she has here. Just magnificient.
And does it tell us anything about Kate's own childbirth experience?Moment's of Pleasure: see above, but doesnt quite hit the same peak. The added maturity and self reflection hit you hard on this arrangement. Here she has essentially dispensed with the chorus of the original song, as she has on at least one other track on this album.
Never Be Mine: this track alone is worth the cost of the album. For me TSW is a difficult album because of the density of some of it's arrangements. No such worries here - but oh how I miss the glorious soaring heights of the chorus as it was originally done ("this is where I long to be" etc). Never mind, the improvements balance the loss, and the introduction of the electric guitar is lovely.
Top of the City: I don't yet know why I prefer the original, not when I hear something as good as this. The older Kate Bush voice - which reflects her greater life experience of course - is here again in this arrangement. It can only be a matter of time before this becomes the preferred version for me.
And So Is Love: calmer and more measured now. Again it benefits from maturity.
But a missed opportunity to rip out that synthesised Pan Pipe pad that continues to blight the song! (Sorry Kate, my problem not yours..)
Rubberband Girl: OMG!! WTF?
it's back to 1975 and the KT Bush Band are treading the boards at your local bar with it's scented summer beer.. Almost classic Rhythm n Blues conversion performed not in Diva mode, but by that strangely complelling, thin and tightly compressed voice, that is completely opposed to what you would expect to hear. Kate can rock out when she wants to, but here she chooses not to at a time when it may actually be required. Contains the best harmonica solo I've ever heard..
In truth, there are 2 tracks where I'd rather be listening to the originals, but I love the subtle changes in emphasis - and therefore expectation. In some of the original songs Kate kicks down the front door with a bang. Here she still comes in, but quietly through the back door. Also great to see that in her early 50s, her priceless voice is holding up beautifully. The Directors Cut is a huge success. KB just keeps getting better and better - just how high can this incredible artist reach?
Al (and anyone else), I'd welcome your comments on the drums. Steve Gadd's playing has replaced every contribution of Stuart Elliots.. I think that's significant. Certainly, we can speculate that Kate couldn't re-work the songs with her long standing friend on the skins. Or perhaps he wasn't available? Did she need an incredbile technician like the legendary Gadd to make these conversions?
)
The new version didn't give me the chills and the good feelings that the original did. The compu-phone is no longer a warm human entity but something cold and nonsensical. Not a favourite...
