Customer Reviews for Hounds of Love [LP] [7/6]

Personnel: Kate Bush (vocals, piano, synthesizer); Bill Whelan, Michael Kamen (arranger); Alan Murphy, Brian Bath, John Williams (guitar); Donal Lunny (bouzouki); John Sheaham (fiddle, whistles); Paddy Bush (violin, fujare, dijeridu, balalaika, background vocals); Jonathan Williams (cello); Liam O'Flynn (Uilleann pipes); Kevin McAlea (synthesizer); Del Palmer (bass, background vocals); Eberhard Weber, Danny Thompson (bass); Morris Pert (percussion); Stuart Elliot, Charlie Morgan (drums); Brian Bath, John Carder Bush (background vocals).Additional personnel: The Medicci Sextet, The Richard Hickox Singers.Engineers: Del Palmer, Haydn Bendall, Brian Tench.Though not the most prolific of album artists, Kate Bush's works make up in impact what they lack in frequency. Her style and material has always been unique, eccentric even, but HOUNDS OF LOVE is probably the strongest mix of controlled musical experimentation and lyrical expression. It deals with big issues--childhood fantasy and trauma, conflict, sexuality--but rarely lapses into pretension. The intense arrangements are perfectly matched to the subjects: "Running Up That Hill" is climactically erotic, "Cloudbusting" broodingly triumphant, while "The Big Sky" is just big. And it's all her own work.