Album Review: Kate Bush - The Kick Inside

Everyone knows Kate Bush. Well, at least her song Wuthering Heights. She's the singer with the witch-voice, or at least that's how I thought of her when I was a child. The original version of Wuthering Heights appeared on Kate's debut album The Kick Inside, which was released in 1978, 10 years before I was even born. For some of you, this may be a reason not to listen to the album. After all, old music is boring and it has bad quality, right? Well, this album is everything BUT boring and you can easily find a high quality version of it (even if you download the cd). I've read somewhere that there are versions of this album being sold on eBay for over $400. This is because the album was released with different covers in several countries. But of course it also says something about the album, because no one would pay $400 for a lame album just because of its cover!

British singer/song-writer Kate Bush is not afraid to speak her mind. This also became apparent in later songs such as Kashka from Baghdad (about homosexuality) and Breathing (about the consequences of using nuclear weapons). The Kick Inside is, in my opinion, not a controversial album, but it does tackle many different subjects.

You may know the song The Man With The Child In His Eyes, which was a big hit and is still played on the radio everyday. The song is about a young girl and her older, male friend. To her, this man is real, but others doubt if he actually exists. The song has outstanding lyrics, especially if you keep in mind that Kate was only 13 when she wrote it.

Another great song is L'Amour Looks Something Like You, which seems to be about a romantic one night stand. If you're in love, you will like this. Just like Oh To Be In Love, which is another nice love song (but in my opinion it's not as good as L'Amour...).

Feel It is about making love. You should look up the lyrics on the internet, because they are very beautiful. They are the reason I describe the subject as 'making love' and not 'having sex'. It actually reminds me of my first time, which is a good sign I guess...

Room For The Life is a song about the strength of women and their ability to carry a child inside of them. It's a bit feminist but at the same time not feminist at all because feminists actually fight against being seen as just baby-making machines!

Strange Phenomena is about premonitions, deja-vu's and other 'strange phenomena'. An interesting song.. Some people say it's about having your period, which I really don't understand (the only part that might refer to it is "Every girl knows about the punctual blues"). But it's possible.. That would be pretty funny. I don't get premonitions when I have my period.

One of my favorite songs on this album is The Saxophone Song. The sound of her wonderful voice singing to a saxophone melody is just perfect. The song seems to be a tribute to a saxophone, but there's also a love story in it. It describes the way she feels about the man who plays the saxophone. "You'll never know that you had all of me, you'll never know the poetry you've stirred in me."

The song The Kick Inside IS actually about a controversial, taboo subject. It's about a brother and sister who fall in love with each other. When the sister gets pregnant, she commits suicide. "This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind." The song reminds me of stories from the ancient Greek, it sounds almost mythical.

Moving is about expressing yourself by moving and dancing, and it's partly inspired by whales (which I'm not going to explain, but the song starts off with the whale song, which is how you call the sound whales make.

The first song I liked from this album is Kite. It sounds like a very happy song. It's about someone who becomes a kite (probably so that she can fly away and escape from the stress of everyday life). But after spending some time up in the sky, she realizes life as a kite isn't for her and she wants to get back on the ground.

James And The Cold Gun is obviously about guns. This is a nice song but it never got stuck in my head like the other songs on the album. Them Heavy People is about freeing yourself of stress and worry, about knowledge and spirituality. It's another happy song, but I don't like it very much.

Overall, this album is a masterpiece and everyone who likes female singer/song-writers like Tori Amos, Regina Spektor and Sarah McLachlan should listen to this. Kate Bush set the trend for many others to follow! Give this album a try.