eMusic Review 0
Three songs into her third album, Kate Bush lists the imagined residents of her rock ‘n’ roll heaven. Buddy Holly, Sid Vicious and Keith Moon are all there, of course. But so are Minnie Riperton and Sandy Denny. What’s made explicit here — on Never For Ever‘s electric piano ballad “Blown Away (For Bill)” — has been implicit throughout Bush’s career. That is, here’s a female singer/songwriter with enough reckless ambition and unapologetic weirdness to compete for the glory that’s too often limited to rock’s boys’ club. And she’s not afraid to wield elements of traditional femininity (orgasmic cries, folk romanticism) just as flamboyantly as male rockers have tended to emphasize their machismo. As Bush would sing five years later on her greatest song, Hounds of Love‘s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” “Let’s exchange the experience.” Everyone from Björk to Gang Gang Dance’s Lizzie Bougatsos has tried following her lead.
Released in 1980, when Bush was only 22, Never For Ever was the first original studio record by a female solo artist to reach the top of the British album charts. It was also the first full-length for which Bush received a co-production credit. Her unconventional… read more »
