LIONHEART - KATE BUSH
YEAR: 1978
LABEL: EMI
TRACK LISTING: Symphony In Blue, In Search of Peter Pan, Wow, Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake, Oh England My Lionheart, Fullhouse, In the Warm Room, Kashka From Baghdad, Coffee Homeground, Hammer Horror
IMPRESSIONS: Usually knocked as Kate Bush's worst album . . . and it is. However, that doesn't make it a bad album. Kate Bush's worst of all her albums is still better than a great deal of artists' best albums. Yes, LIONHEART was rushed out by the studio to capitalise on the great success of Kate's first album THE KICK INSIDE. Yes, Kate's singing is probably more mannered here than it ever was and yes the songwriting is rather weak in places. Yet, this album still has some gold nuggets amongst the naff. The single "Wow" may seem ridiculous at first hearing (and indeed it was mercilessly parodied on NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS) but the song is actually quite good; it's only the rather (deliberately, I suspect) silly chorus of "Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow unbelievable" that raises a snicker from those not listening closely enough. There are great Kate Bush moments on this album -- the superb "Hammer Horror" for one. Kate's tribute to "The Studio That Dripped Blood" stands amongst the best of her early work. Then there's Kate's love letter to her home "Oh England, My Lionheart"; granted the album version is not as good as the live performance found on her one and only concert film "LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON" but it's still a wonderful song. Finally, the deliriously spiralling "Coffee Homeground" stands as a cracked murder ballad either emanating from the Folies Bergere or the Grand Guignol. And its very hard to dislike an album which features a cover shot of Kate wearing a fuzzy lion costume in her attic studio. Even the least of Kate Bush's albums offers quite a lot.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Symphony In Blue, Wow, Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake, Oh England My Lionheart, Coffee Homeground, Hammer Horror
GUEST ARTISTS: David Paton (bass)
FACT SHEET: LIONHEART is Kate Bush's second album. The album was recorded in Nice making it her only album recorded outside of the U.K. It was produced by Andrew Powell (with Kate's assistance). LIONHEART peaked at #6 on the UK charts; making it her only album not to enter the top five. LIONHEART is the first album to feature long-time band member Del Palmer on bass; he has played on all of her albums since up to 2011's Penguin Award-winning 50 WORDS FOR SNOW.
I love this album, possibly because it was actually my first Kate album.
ReplyDeleteI actually think the chorus of Wow is meant to be. It was if Kate was entering this world of entertainment only to be saying WOW everytime she came across someone she knew or had heard of.
Of course nothing will beat albums like Hounds of Love, Aerial and even 50 Words for Snow
I agree about WOW; there is a great deal of knowing humour in the song and the chorus is, I think, meant to be taken that way as well. Kate always knows exactly what she's doing even if some listeners missed it. HOUNDS OF LOVE is not only my favourite Kate Bush album but my favourite album of all-time full stop! But it just goes to show how great Kate is that probably her relatively least-successful album is still packed with riches and incredibly interesting! Thanks for the comment!
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