Track Listing

1. Wuthering Heights
2. Cloudbusting
3. Man With The Child In His Eyes
4. Breathing
5. Wow
6. Hounds Of Love
7. Running Up That Hill
8. Army Dreamers
9. Sat In Your Lap
10. Experiment IV
11. The Dreaming
12. Babooshka

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #787 in Music
• Released on: 1986-11-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
THE WHOLE STORY is a sampler of the early tracks that show the promise of Kate Bush, who never contented herself as an ordinary singer/songwriter. The always-experimental Bush hada knack for populating her songs with peculiar characters. There's Catherine of "Wuthering Heights"; there's Peter Reich of "Cloudbusting" (an extraordinary track in every way); there's the mother in the lilting "Army Dreamers"; and there's also the womb-confined baby who documents a nuclear blast in the moving "Breathing".
Bush also looks to eclectic sources for inspiration. "The Dreaming" was inspired by Rolf Harris's "Sun Arise" and the Aboriginal song "Aeroplanes, Aeroplanes". "Hounds of Love" took its inspiration from the film "Night of the Demon". This compilation covers the first decade of Kate Bush's career (until 1986) and is a great place for discovering her myriad talents. Many have followed in her footsteps, but few have matched her.

Customer Reviews

Definitive collection from a real musical innovator
The 10 years or so of silence since her last recorded works haven't helped, but it has to be said that Kate Bush's contribution to songwriting history and musical innovation since she burst onto the pop scene as a teenager in 1978 has been rather overlooked of late. I would urge anybody who likes their songwriting catchy and emotional but also intelligent and quirky, and their music intriguing and eclectic, to try this compilation, featuring most of the famous singles and a few minor ones from all but the last 2 albums of Kate Bush's career. Although not *quite* the whole story, this is an impressive journey over a huge range of musical ground showing a level of developing maturity and sophistication rarely heard since.

The ordering of tracks - neither chronological nor thematic - appears rather random at first, especially to those who might know the repertoire well, but holds together remarkably well. The early classics "Wuthering Heights" (here given a subtle re-working) and "The Man with the Child in his Eyes" show Kate as the wistful, impassioned teenager; "Wow" and "Babooshka" demonstrate growing vocal strength and a developing knack for telling stories in song; "Army Dreamers" and "Breathing" give a chilling reminder of the tense global situation in the depths of the Cold War and remain, years on, as outstanding protest songs in the grand tradition. With "Sat in your Lap" and "The Dreaming" a more experimental phase is reached, with at-the-time ground-breaking electronica, drum machines, sampling, and even the musical talents of Rolf Harris called in to complement the unerringly catchy, stirring melodies and bizarre lyrics. The high point of sophistication is reached with the three singles from the "Hounds of Love" album: the compelling title track; the eerie, relentless "Running Up That Hill"; and the spellbinding "Cloudbusting", a story-song mixing childhood memories with conspiracy theory, but with the sun coming out at the end. "Experiment IV", the latest work chronologically, is another conspiracy-theory-cum-story-song in which Kate's own music comes alive to wreak havoc on the military researchers trying to turn it to destructive purposes; and here, for this collection at least, the story ends. Another two albums of new material were to follow this one; but as an introduction to the repertoire of one of Britain's finest songwriters, this collection is complete in itself.

Without Kate Bush, I doubt that other innovators like Bjork or Tori Amos would have made much headway on the British music scene. More importantly, nor would a host of other talented women with their own songs and arrangements. Buy this record, and begin to glimpse the phenomenon.

Arty rock and pop
The Whole Story covers all of Kate bush's most memorable songs from the 1970s and early 1980s although it is by no means the whole story of her career. It opens with the re-recorded version of her spooky and atmospheric 1978 hit Wuthering Heights. This version has greater depth than the original single and still remains a most remarkable song based as it is on the novel of the same name.

Bush is a unique singer-songwriter with a gift for striking romantic imagery, although her work is not always immediately accessible. The Man With The Child In His Eyes is a complex and moving ballad, whilst Wow is a powerful atmospheric pop song.

Her music can be quite idiosyncratic and full of oneiric imagery, like Breathing and The Dreaming. On the other hand, Babooshka is a buoyant pop song with a catchy tune. This compilation is charming and very enjoyable. Overall, Kate's music can be described as a form of art rock, not always appealing on first listen, but very rewarding if you persist.

A good place to start
This is an enjoyable run through some of Kate's best moments, and if you are new to Kate Bush then it's a good place to start. The only drawback is that in almost every case the songs sound better as a part of the albums they came from, so if you know you like Kate Bush, skip this and go straight to the original albums as you'll end up buying them all in the end.