Album Title: Aerial
Artist: Kate Bush
Nationality: British
Year: 2005
Subgenre: Prog-ish
Player(s): Kate Bush (Vocals, Piano, Keyboards), Dan McIntosh (Guitars), Gary Brooker (Hammond), Peter Erskine/Steve Elliot/Pete Sanger (Drums), Eberhard Weber/John Giblin/Del Palmer (Bass), Rolf Harris (Didgeridoo and male vocal on “The painters link”), Chris Hall (Accordion)
Familiarity: Very familiar with Kate but not familiar with this album at all other than King of the Mountain.
Favourite track(s): How to be invisible with King of the Mountain or Aerial a close second.
Why? How to be invisible has a great pulsing groove to it. When I look at the songs I like best on here, they are the ones that are less piano/vocal based and more bass, guitar, drums, band sounding.
Least favourite track(s): Bertie
Why? Not really sure. I know it's a beautiful song written about her son but it just didn't work for me. A little too Baroque Ren fair sounding or something.
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? Very few. Always liked Kate Bush but never really delved deeply into any of her work.
Factoids you'd like to share? Kind of cool how David Gilmour was such a big help early in her career. I do admire how she puts family above everything.
End impression: I have a hard time calling this prog although it does have prog elements I guess.
Comments: Kate Bush is certainly one of the more lauded musicians of our time, especially in England, and for good reason. I have a hard time figuring out what to rate this album. It's quite a bit like Joanna Newsom in that I can see such clear artistry and talent yet it's just not something I am prone to listen to. I have never been a big fan of the piano/vocal/soprano combo in general and it's just so mellow (for lack of a better word). I don't mind mellow music so not sure why I feel that way. There are some beautiful melodies and lyrics throughout this album and I really need more time with it to really be fair. I had a hard time really giving this enough spins this week and there is a lot of material on here. But it is unlikely I will bother to listen to it enough to really let it sink in. I can admire it as an artistic statement and it does make me want to hear more Kate Bush but I would almost have to be forced again. Hard for me to explain. So much music and so little time. Glad I spent time listening to it and it was not time wasted but I will be moving on.
Rating: 4.0 - Clearly a great album