Kate Bush on Vinyl

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Originally posted by alex95:
I've stopped buying new vinyl as have been fed up with poor pressings, warps and the like.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. Why wasn't Kate pressed on 180 gram vinyl - I wonder. The CD packaging wasn't that great either - however, the music is great.

It Is. However tonight the gatefold cover came apart at the seams. Considering I only picked this up yesterday, it is not good value for £19.99 (when originally purchased). The CD was down to about £9 when I was in the store, I was tempted to pick up a copy instead. Wish I had now. I Will continue to buy "old" vinyl second hand.

Nic

Fed up, I've taken the replacement copy back and picked up a CD version instead. Not the same, having got used to the sound of the good sides, but nice to hear the faulty ones without the distortion and crackling finally. A mate who works for EMI is investigating getting a decent copy for me.

Nic

The CD(s) are around for under £9 now. I can recommend Ms Bush only to old people who were young when she started. Thank goodness I kept her 1st album on vinyl. Most of the rest is better IMO on CD etc.

"I can recommend Ms Bush only to old people who were young when she started"

Uh?!? How about recommending her to anybody with ears?

All of her work upto Never for ever sounds great on vinyl. Things took a turn for the worst in absolute quality terms when she used for the first time the (then) newly installed digital desk at Abbey Rd. The outcome was Hounds of Love which is a sublime album but does not match sonically what had come immediately before.

Having got nearly all of her albums on both CD and vinyl I feel that the bulk of them (esp the analogue recorded) are at their best on the black stuff. The CD mastering of the sensual world (digital recording) is nothing to write home about. The US pressing I have kills it.

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Having got nearly all of her albums on both CD and vinyl I feel that the bulk of them (esp the analogue recorded) are at their best on the black stuff.

Simon,

You may well be right, but when I did get decent enough pressings (usually after returning the vinyl at least twice) I remember The Kick Inside not being that good soundwise. The 70s and early 80s were truely awful for the quality of the black stuff.

The CDs of those early albums do leave a lot to be desired and could do with re-mastering. Having said that, they are far from a disaster on a decent set up.

The CD of Aerial is pretty good and jeeze, how good it is not to be forever (geddit) taking LPs back.

"The 70s and early 80s were truely awful for the quality of the black stuff."

In terms of rock and popular music I would say that the seventies represent the golden age of vinyl reproduction.

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In terms of rock and popular music I would say that the seventies represent the golden age of vinyl reproduction.

Yes indeed, my memory is going it's me age! Late seventies into the mid 80's was poor - rice crispies!

I was averaging 3 duff copies to every 1 that was OK. Vinyl shortage or wrong type of vinyl - usual tales.

Vinyl is always more of a lottery - esp with a lot of the latest 'commercial' pressings.

Having said that - when they get it right it is a great reminder of the benefits of the medium. Agreed that there is a threshold point of pleasure Vs returns!

I've got all her albums on vinyl up to "Hounds of love" (crackle crackle, that one, but still better than the CD) and all the CDs.

I don't get on with "Sensual world" to be honest, and "The red shoes" is patchy, but with moments of pleasure

Shame my copy of "Never for ever" on vinyl gets so "staticky" right towards the end of "Egypt" as that song is awesome. And as for the comment about not recommending Kate to "younder people", errr, why? "Never for ever" came out the very day I started at school, at the age of five Admittedly I didn't get my first Kate Bush album until about 1992 though

I was 25 when I bought Ms Bush's first LP and I like/buy her stuff, even the not good (musically or sonically) output.

As I said, there is little reason for anyone who has no historical/nostalgic interest in her 'career' to buy/listen.

I advise new-comers to listen to e.g. her first album AND a good version of 'Hounds...' before buying into her creative vision.

I did, and I like it, but cannot recommend most of it to others who missed out/are discovering their own favourites.

Well we shall have to agree to disagree there.

To my ears she is one of the most important artists of any age and I make it a life mission to pass on the 'secret' of her brilliance to whoever wants to give it a shot! There are a lot of contempory acts who claim that Kate has been a big part of their musical education and that is not a surprise.

I suppose I should tell everybody to not bother with Maria Callas, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billy Holiday and Elvis Presley simply because they are all dead and therefore no longer relevant to a contemporary audience.

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As I said, there is little reason for anyone who has no historical/nostalgic interest in her 'career' to buy/listen.

Steady on. I wasn't around when Beethoven & Mozart were alive - but I'm aware of their work.

I would have thought that an enduring artist such as Kate Bush was worthy of consideration by anyone. What's age got to do with it? Are kids not allowed to listen to the Beatles, 'cos they were not in the Cavern?

IMO e.g. Beethoven-Mozart-Beatles are very nice too, and I enjoy-hear-buy recordings by the latter and of the first two.

I like/enjoy/buy Kate Bush recordings, but do not feel in truth that she is as influential as the 3 names in the first paragraph.

I am not attempting to ban people from listening to her/or anyone else.

I am not trying to convert people to my way of thinking, which is simply that I enjoy Kate Bush recordings because I bought them when they were released, and remind me of other things in the world then. If I had not heard her back in 1977-ish/bought into her I doubt whether I would feel aurally deprived.

As such, I cannot recommend her ouevre to people who hopefully will find their own special reasons for choosing what they buy/hear.

Excuse me while I go to listen to someone doing the laundry/reciting numbers.

As regards the original topic of this forum, I shall not buy vinyl 'Aerial' until I know it is a good product, (I like the CDs etc) and I enjoy my vinyl of her first album as well as CDs of all her other stuff (on which there are some duffo things).

I hope that people who want to buy her output on whatever media obtain good copies and enjoy their purchases as I do.

Amongst other artistes' production, I enjoy the manifold output of Rolf Harris for personal reasons, but do not recommend most of it to others, but do not deny them the right to purchase/try it.

Interesting how Rolf turns up on at least 3 Ms Bush tracks ...

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Excuse me while I go to listen to someone doing the laundry/reciting numbers.

Laundry? The song's about sex, isn' it?

You're right of course, Ms Bush's lyrics could be taken from the phone directory and I'd still be happy.

On the wider point though, any artist's with a catelogue of several successful albums and a willingness to try new things can only be welcomed - even if we don't end up caring for their music personally.