30 Years on and it still feels fresh, relevant and imaginative, Kate Bush’s début “The Kick Inside” is a CD that doesn’t fade with time.
From the opening wails of the bitter-sweet “Moving”, Bush’s quirky expressive voice soars and dips around like a sunrise to a sunset in one song. “The Saxophone Song” only compounds this where a no gimmicks song really works at its best with swirling pianos, acoustic guitars and gentle guitar wailing. Both songs were single material.
“Strange Phenomena” juxtaposes a stadium chorus and a quirky verse and this again sets up for what would end up being Kate’s charming musical talent, adding little pieces of the unusual to spice up songs. “Kite” may go a bit too far but back in the 1970’s over joyous songs were not frowned upon like today!
“The Man With The Child In His Eyes” however is the first real eye opener (excuse the pun) to show Kate’s depth however. Very rarely can you get such opposites in an artist (near pop and alternative depth) and squeeze it in just two and half minutes. An early gem which is followed by “Wurthering Heights” which I think is a bit of a misrepresentation of Kate as a whole, but a relatively good sound byte of the album.
“James and the Cold Gun” which follows was actually going to be the lead single until Kate asked it to be changed. This song is great too but doesn’t hold the novelty value of Heights with its rocking guitars. “Feel It” is just Kate and piano singing about being naughty with some interesting chord changes.
“Oh To Be In Love” rivals Heights as the novelty song with a fantastically catchy chorus and this was also released as a single. “L’Amour Looks Something Like You” however is the song I seem to forget from this album. All the other songs seem to cover what this song does and so it’s left behind for me. Its not bad at all, just forgotten.
The final trio starts with the would-be number 1 “Them Heavy People” with its upbeat verse and chorus and catchy bridges. Why this didn’t do better than it did is beyond me. “Room For the Life” sings about getting pregnant which would probably be banned in this day and age but features different percussive beats for the chorus. The album closes with the magical “The Kick Inside” with Kate singing like a pro with a toe curling story and an achingly beautiful melody.
Well 30 years haven’t dampened my spirit for the album so if you’ve delayed getting it – delay no more! Kate needs you, and perhaps she may knock out another album yet.