The Dreaming (album)

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The Dreaming
The Dreaming cover
Studio album by Kate Bush
Released September 13, 1982
Recorded 1980 and 1982
Genre Alternative Rock, Art Rock
Length 43:25
Label EMI
Producer Kate Bush
Professional reviews
Kate Bush chronology
Never for Ever
(1980)		 The Dreaming
(1982)		 Hounds of Love
(1985)

The Dreaming is the fourth album by Kate Bush. Following Bush's production assistance on Lionheart, and her co-production of Never for Ever with Jon Kelly and John L Walters, The Dreaming was the first album Bush produced on her own.

Contents

[edit] Overview

With her newfound freedom, she experimented with production techniques, creating an album that features a very diverse blend of musical styles and that is known for its near-exhaustive usage of the Fairlight CMI.

The Dreaming met with a mixed critical reception at first. Many were baffled by the dense soundscapes she had created. The album was not considered to be a financial success, although it still reached number three in the UK album charts.[1] “Sat in Your Lap” was the first track released. It predated the album by nearly a year and peaked at #11. The following singles fared worse. "The Dreaming", the album's title track featuring the talents of Rolf Harris and Percy Edwards, stalled at number 48, whilst the next single, "There Goes a Tenner", failed to chart at all, despite promotion from EMI and Bush.

Bush was in her early twenties when making the album and tended to look outside herself for sources of inspiration. She drew on old crime films ("There Goes A Tenner"), a documentary about the war in Vietnam ("Pull Out The Pin"), the plight of Indigenous Australians ("The Dreaming"), the life of Houdini ("Houdini") and Stanley Kubrick's film of Stephen King's novel The Shining ("Get Out Of My House"). There are a few more personal tracks, though: the lead single, "Sat In Your Lap", examines feelings of self-doubt versus burning self-confidence and the search for a balance between the two, while "Leave It Open" speaks of the need to acknowledge and express the darker sides of one's personality (within the greater context of maintaining an open mind).[2] Bush herself has called The Dreaming her "I've gone mad album".[3]

The album may be seen not so much as an extension of the innovations that could be heard on Never for Ever, but rather as an experiment in new (and frequently scary) musical sounds and textures.

Many fans have claimed that The Dreaming is Bush's best record. It remains her lowest-selling album, despite having reached No. 3 on the UK albums chart and fared worse in other markets where she was already established. However, it was her first album to dent the Billboard Top 200, largely due to the growing influence of college radio.

The iconic album cover depicts a scene described in the lyrics to the song "Houdini". In the picture shown, Bush is acting as Houdini's wife, holding a key in her mouth which she is about to pass on to Houdini.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Kate Bush

[edit] Side one

  1. "Sat in Your Lap" – 3:29
  2. "There Goes a Tenner" – 3:24
  3. "Pull Out the Pin" – 5:26
  4. "Suspended in Gaffa" – 3:54
  5. "Leave It Open" – 3:20

[edit] Side two

  1. "The Dreaming" – 4:41
  2. "Night of the Swallow" – 5:22
  3. "All the Love" – 4:29
  4. "Houdini" – 3:48
  5. "Get Out of My House" – 5:25

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Chart Performance

Chart (1982) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 157
UK Album Charts 3
Australia 22
Norway's album chart 12

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kate Bush. NNDB. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  2. ^ Bush, Kate. Kate's KBC article Issue 12. KBC Newsletter. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
  3. ^ Gaffaweb - Kate Bush - REACHING OUT - Q - "Hounds of Love Sleeve Notes" by Phil Sutcliffe
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