Lionheart (album)

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Lionheart
Lionheart cover
Studio album by Kate Bush
Released November 13, 1978
Recorded 1978
Genre Art rock
Length 36:32
Label EMI
Producer Andrew Powell (assisted by Kate Bush)
Professional reviews
Kate Bush chronology
The Kick Inside
(1978)		 Lionheart
(1978)		 Never for Ever
(1980)

Lionheart is the second album by Kate Bush. It was first released in late 1978 (see 1978 in music) - just eight months after the singer's successful debut The Kick Inside. Lionheart reached Number 6 on the UK album chart.

The first single taken from the album, "Hammer Horror", missed the UK Top 40; however, the follow-up, "Wow", was a UK Top 20 hit, and became the target of parodies by both impressionist Faith Brown, and comedienne Pamela Stephenson (on the British TV programme Not The Nine O'Clock News).

Contents

[edit] Overview

Lionheart was rushed out of the studio (in Nice on the French Riviera), making this Bush's only album to be wholly recorded outside the UK. The album was produced by Andrew Powell, assisted by Bush. While it has its share of hits, most notably "Wow", it did not receive the same reception as her first album, reaching number six in the UK album charts.[1]

The album takes its title from the track, "Oh, England, My Lionheart", in which a pilot who has been shot down contemplates his homeland as his plane hurtles towards the ground, and to his death. It is a song that Bush has disparaged in later years [2] despite it being a firm favorite with many listeners. Literary references include J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan in "In Search of Peter Pan" (a song which also quotes "When You Wish Upon A Star" from the classic Disney film, Pinocchio), as well as a nod towards Arsenic and Old Lace in the song "Coffee Homeground", which despite being similar in plot to the play, was inspired by a taxi driver who drove Bush once. [3] Film references include "Hammer Horror", inspired by the Hammer Film studio, known for their gothic horror films. The British television show The Sweeney, a popular police drama, was mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Wow".

Notable for his work on all subsequent recordings by Bush, Lionheart is the first record on which Del Palmer worked as a bassist. Palmer went on to play bass, or to engineer and record every album since.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Kate Bush

[edit] Side one

  1. "Symphony in Blue" – 3:35
  2. "In Search of Peter Pan" – 3:46
  3. "Wow" – 3:58
  4. "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake" – 3:12
  5. "Oh England My Lionheart" – 3:10

[edit] Side two

  1. "Fullhouse" – 3:14
  2. "In the Warm Room" – 3:35
  3. "Kashka From Baghdad" – 3:55
  4. "Coffee Homeground" – 3:38
  5. "Hammer Horror" – 4:39

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Chart Performance

Chart (1978) Peak
position
USA Billboard 200 201 (in 1984)
UK Albums Chart 6
Norway's album chart 5

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kate Bush. NNDB. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  2. ^ Little Miss Can't Be Wrong. Q magazine. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  3. ^ Lionheart Promo Cassette. EMI Canada. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.


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