Kate Bush News

Andrzej Lukowski on music site Drowned in Sound:

“Back then, in 1996, Britpop was at its lagery zenith and to some degree Bush appeared a relic of the golden age of AOR. Not that you’d find many with a bad word to say about her; indeed, the oompah oompah weirdness of 1982’s The Dreaming was clearly an influence on Britpop’s artier end. But it was over a decade since her tour de force Hounds of Love, and her most recent album, 1993’s The Red Shoes, was on the weak side, with a ghastly roll call of guests suggesting an artist mired in the past”

But this isn’t 1996. Since then, Bush’s legend has grown exponentially, her weaker albums fading out of collective memory as her great ones have grown in stature and reach … the fact Aerialwas a masterpiece also helped. But also, people want big stars to believe in; in the present musical landscape, there simply are no art-pop auteurs comparable to Bush.

… at its best Director’s Cut is a dazzling affirmation of Bush’s genius as songwriter, performer and producer. Maybe one day we’ll take her for granted again. But not today.“

In Yahoo Music Jason Draper says:

“Faced with ‘Director’s Cut’, you would, however, be forgiven for incredulously asking, “You’ve spent your time on this?” Deeper Understanding is “a mis-guided attempt at modification that results in this new version sounding more dated than the material it’s based on” Rubberband Girl is “a really badly-recorded take” and though Flower of the Mountain is  “a moment of true interest“, the   “aforementioned major flops, doesn’t actually offer enough of a difference from the original works to make it relevant to anyone other than the true completist”

Can’t please them all and why should you try?

Premier album of the week on Radio Helsinki …. 5/5 with the Slovak journal Kultura Pravda who describe it as “one of the best albums of this year” … More critical review from Swedish paper Svenska Dagbladet which thinks Rubberband Girl “has gone completely awry” … 5/5 from Polish mag Wirtulana Polska … 3/5 from Swedish site Sydsvenskan “dramatic, multi-layered pop songs” … Culturmag wants to know why Kate has destroyed some of her songs … enthusiasm from Mitteldeutsche Zeitung … Nojes Bladet thinks it strange other artists have not done a Directors Cut … Gazeta Wyborcza celebrates Kate doing her own thing …