Tad: Hello, Brad! Brad recently pointed out that Kate Bush’s album, Aerial, has turned 20 which is a good excuse to have a conversation about it. I have enjoyed seeing all the new fans Ms. Bush has acquired thanks to the inclusion of “Running Up That Hill” in the soundtrack of Stranger Things. That song is off my favorite album of hers, The Hounds of Love, but Aerial is a close second, in my estimation.

The two discs have different titles: Aerial: A Sea of Honey, and Aerial: A Sky of Honey. Listening to them recently rekindled my love for this sprawling set of songs. As a math teacher, I have to express my love for the track, “Pi”, in which Kate recites the digits of that ineffable irrational number and makes it sound seductive.

Brad: Hello, Tad!  So great to be talking with you.  A pleasure and an honor.  I’m writing this on the Feast of All Souls, the weather is gorgeous, and I got to sleep in an extra hour this morning.  It all seems so appropriate as I praise Kate Bush.

I have fond memories of first hearing about Bush in 1985.  I had missed her earlier albums, but I very well remember the release of Hounds of Love in the early fall of 1985.  It was my senior year of high school, and I was utterly blown away not only by side one–especially “Running Up That Hill,” “Hounds of Love,” “Big Sky,” and “Cloud Bursting.”  It was side two, “The Ninth Wave,” however, that completely gobsmacked me.  Here was pure unadulterated prog, all from an incredibly talented pop mistress.  I was in love (it didn’t hurt that Bush is incredibly attractive and possesses an angelic voice).

A year later, during my first semester at the University of Notre Dame, the compilation, The Whole Story, came out.  It, too, was excellent, and it made me start looking through Bush’s previous albums.  

Then, my very close friend, Greg Scheckler, now a renowned professional artist in New England, made for me a mixed tape of everything prior to Hounds of Love, complete with Greg’s own doodles.  It was glorious, and I wore that tape out!  Too bad–given Greg’s subsequent fame, his doodles might very well be worth something.  

Two years later, in the spring of 1988, one of my favorite movie directors, John Hughes, came out with one of his best films, She’s Having a Baby, and during the most emotional moment of the movie, Hughes used (and commissioned, I assume) Bush’s “This Woman’s Work.”  As much as I had loved Bush prior to this, this song and scene solidified my permanent loyalty to Bush.  Yes, at that point, I became obsessed with her as an artist.  And, I remain so to this day.

Though I very much liked The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, it was 2005’s Aerial that, once again, gobsmacked me.  Disk one was truly clever prog-pop, artistic to the nth degree, but it was disk two that blew me away.  42 minutes of pure prog, akin to what Bush had done with “The Ninth Wave,” but perhaps even better.  I loved side two, “A Sky of Honey,” that I played it on my iPod night after night as I fell asleep.  At the time, I was working on my biography of Christopher Dawson, and I was having a heck of a time shutting down my brain and sleeping.  Aerial: A Sky of Honey worked wonders on me–calming me down and serving as a potent but non-addictive Ambien!

Tad: Well, Brad, I didn’t immerse myself in Kate Bush’s music as much as you did – I think I was negatively influenced by that infamous Rolling Stone Record Guide that panned her work and compared her voice to a vacuum cleaner! Needless to say, I’ve revised my opinion of practically every artist those small-minded critics at RS dismissed.

Anyway, my thoughts on disc one of Aerial are all positive (with the exception of “Mrs. Bartolozzi”, which is a little too maudlin for me). “King of the Mountain” starts off sounding like a Windham Hill album with its synthesized/indigenous rhythms, and I absolutely love the way it transforms into a straight-ahead rocker. It’s a fantastic opener! I’ve already mentioned how much I like “Pi”, and the other highlight of the first disc is “How To Be Invisible”, another great rock song with a snaky, bluesy guitar hook that is wonderful. Her vocals dance over, under, and around the other instruments and demand I pay attention to her. It’s a wonderful song that I can listen to over and over again. “Joanni” and “A Coral Room” lower the temperature a bit and are a nice way to close out the disc.

I wonder if Ms. Bush would say she’s been influenced by Joni Mitchell? “A Coral Room” in particular sounds like late-70s Mitchell to my ears. 

Brad, give us your thoughts on disc one of Aerial, and start the discussion of disc two!

Brad: It’s worth remembering that when Aerial came out in November 2005, Bush hadn’t released anything since 1993’s The Red Shoes.  That’s a huge gap.  Beautifully, Bush spent those years raising her family rather than pursuing her career.  

Still, that was a long, long time for her fans to wait.  To be sure, though, it was worth waiting for.  

I really don’t know which album is better, Hounds of Love or Aerial.  When I list my all-time favorite albums (and I always list them without letting any artist/band have more than one entry), I always list Hounds of Love.  Most recently, I listed it as my 12th favorite album of all time.  I could just’ve as easily named Aerial.  I guess, in the long run, they’re pretty interchangeable in the grand scheme of excellence.

Like you, Tad, I thoroughly love disk one.  The Elvis-like confident sway of “King of the Mountain,” the quirky intensity of “Pi”, the Renaissance sound of “Bertie,” the insistence of the washing machine of “Mrs. Bartolozzi,” the truly clever pop of “How to be Invisible” with its incredible basslines, the profound and fetching tribute to St. Joan of Arc in “Joanni,” and the deep despair mixed with hope in the melancholic “A Coral Room” all contribute to this masterpiece of a release.

I think that what impresses me most about Bush is that she is always her own person, her own artist.  She sounds only, gloriously, like Kate Bush, even when she’s playfully imitating Elvis on the first track of the album.

But, for me, it’s disk two that makes this album truly extraordinary.  At 42 minutes, “A Sky of Honey” is simply perfection itself.  When folks talk about albums that demand headphones for a full appreciation, this is that album!  

From the child whispers and bird sounds of the opening moments to the anticipatory keyboards and string to Bush’s lush vocals with meaningful lyrics to the spoken expositions, this is a complete and total celebration of life in all its varied mysteries and profound wonders.  

Tad, as you and I have talked about, it’s often the bass that makes a great album a great album.  The bass work on “A Sky of Honey” is spectacular.  Combined with Bush’s vocal lilt, everything builds and builds until the music itself is ready to explode–the tension as thick as can be–in the last 15 or so minutes of the album.  Stunning.  Just simply stunning.

If Bush had released “A Sky of Honey” as a stand-alone album, I have no doubt that it would rank up there with Close to the Edge or The Colour of Spring.

Tad: Brad, you hit on something crucial when it comes to understanding Kate Bush; you said “she is always her own person, her own artist”. I remember reading an article about the recording of Hounds Of Love, and her record label was worried about marketing it, because it was so different from her earlier work. I believe she recorded it in her home studio, and she completely disregarded her label’s suggestions (to our benefit, I would add!). She is an artist who is fearless and blazes her own trail, not giving any thought to current musical fashions. Will people be listening to Taylor Swift’s music 50 years from now? I doubt it. Will people be listening to Kate Bush’s? Absolutely!

As far as my thoughts on “A Sky Of Honey”, I am in complete agreement with you. I think of it as a musical suite that chronicles a day – the chirping birds in the intro are greeting the dawn, and it closes with “Nocturn”. However, I’m not sure how the title track, “Aerial”, fits in with my theory! It’s a fairly raucous track that, as you so aptly describe it, is ready to explode.

Also, thank you for pointing out that “Joanni” is referring to St. Joan of Arc. Once I understood that, it clicked into place. 

And so, dear readers, if you aren’t familiar with Aerial, we recommend you check it out. It is timeless and beautiful music!