FEATURE:
An Impossible Choice
The Best of the Best: Kate Bush’s The Whole Story
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THE year 1986…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985
was a very interesting one in Kate Bush’s career. The previous year, she released her masterpiece fifth studio album, Hounds of Love. After promoting the album quite heavily (including interviews in America), she was one of the most popular artists in the world. Not to say that her previous four albums were overlooked. Hounds of Love was a huge declaration and incredible release that took her to new heights. It was her biggest album to date in America, and there would have been decisions as to what came next. I am going to do more features in the run-up to its thirty-fifth anniversary on 10th November. The Whole Story was what came in 1986. I feel like the greatest hits compilation was a definite end of a chapter. It would be three years after the album until Bush released another album. 1989’s The Sensual World was a new stage for Bush. I have spoken before about Kate Bush greatest hits collections. There have been others since 1986 – including 1990’s This Woman's Work: Anthology 1978–1990. Although The Single File 1978-1983 arrived in 1984, that was just an assortment of singles to that point rather than a greatest hits package. Hounds of Love’s success and brilliance inevitably led to calls for a greatest hits album. Bush might have been reluctant to put one out earlier in her career. Before continuing, here is some critical reaction regarding The Whole Story – in addition to some comments from Bush regarding the album:
“Roger Holland in Sounds (UK): "Over the last nine years and five albums, Kate Bush (...) has matured into quite the most sensual, expressive, and creative artist this country can now boast". Colin Irwin, Melody Maker (UK): "This glorious retrospective collection... she's playing a high-risk game, and more often than not her irrepressible flair, her instinct for a hook, and her gift for unusual and gripping arrangements carry her through." John McReady, NME (UK): "More useful and more enjoyable than the constipated jangling of a hundred and one little lads with big mouths and even bigger clothes allowances. Such people are not worth a carrot. Meat or no meat, Kate Bush is streets ahead." Andy Strickland, Record Mirror (UK): "A monumental tribute to this craziest, coziest girl-next-door. (...) One of the most refreshing compilation LPs it would be possible to put together."
Kate about 'The Whole Story'
Yes, I was [against the release of a compilation album] at first. I was concerned that it would be like a "K-tel" record, a cheapo-compo with little thought behind it. It was the record company's decision, and I didn't mind as long as it was well put together. We put a lot of work into the packaging, trying to make it look tasteful, and carefully thought out the running order. And the response has been phenomenal - I'm amazed! (Kate Bush Club newsletter, Issue 22, December 1987)
It wasn't chronological because we wanted to have a running time that was equal on both sides, otherwise you get a bad pressing. In America, where I'm not very well known, they didn't realise it was a compilation! ('Love, Trust and Hitler'. Tracks (UK), November 1989)”.
I am excited about the anniversary later in the year, as it will provoke questions whether it is time for another greatest hits album. I think, after ten studio albums and a career that has exceeded forty years, there is definite scope for an expanded collection that takes us from 1978’s The Kick Inside through to 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. In my view, it must have been exceedingly hard narrowing down the tracks to include on The Whole Story. What we do have with the twelve tracks is a representation of Bush’s incredible talent and progress.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a still from the 1986 Experiment IV video (which she directed)
I want to discuss the tracklisting and importance of The Whole Story. Before that, there is a review of the album from 2018. Marking forty years since Bush’s debut album arrived, this article examined a hugely important album:
“40 years ago, the world was blessed with one of the weirdest and most wonderful artists it has ever seen. The world was blessed with a frizzy haired 19 year old singing about Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights whilst dancing in a forest wearing fantastically bold red lipstick and green eyeshadow. The world was blessed with Kate Bush.
With five albums worth of material to work with, The Whole Story sees Kate take the best of her brilliant early catalogue and assemble it into one amazing compilation. 32 years on, this record has not aged a day, with every track still proving timeless, fuelling its listeners with all of Bush’s raw emotions.
The Whole Story takes the listener away on a musical ride through some of Bush’s most iconic moments from the beginning of her career. Hearing Bush’s early work in particular showcases the evolution of her wonderfully wavy vocals and wild imagination. From her softly sung piano ballad ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’, written at the age of just fourteen, to her spacey-orchestral experiment track ‘Wow’, taken from her second album Lionheart.
Bush uses The Whole Story to really showcase the formation of her now trademark quirkiness. With tracks like ‘Babushka’, (about a woman romantically fooling her husband) and the iconic pop anthem ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’, being flawless demonstrations of her ability to continually surprise listeners and push boundaries. Every track on The Whole Story shows the pure creativity and song-writing talent possessed by Bush – a skill heard in every one of her song’s piano notes and every drum beat.
Opening this compilation is the genius ‘Wuthering Heights’, which Bush remixed and re-recorded herself for this project. This remixing was done purely with the intent on giving the song a more mature sound, replacing Bush’s original vocals for the track when it was released in 1978, when Bush was just 19. This minor alteration in sound really does highlight the subtle change in vocal depth and resonance Bush developed in the eight years between the original track release to the polished and perfected iteration heard on The Whole Story.
Kate Bush creates magical worlds through her music, vocals and lyrics that has the fantastic ability to transport you away to a wondrous place where anything could happen. A place where Catherine and Heathcliff are together; a place where God will let you be another person to escape from the excruciating feeling of loving someone too much. The Whole Story is a vessel that ultimately transports the listener to the depths of Kate Bush’s imagination.
Kate Bush is not a singer, she is an artist. In fact, she is one of the most important artists of our time, and one that will continue to shape the music industry forever. Listening to The Whole Story is all the proof you need”.
It must be strange for an artist to have a greatest hits album out. They might feel like it defines them or is a bit of a full stop. It was clear Bush had a lot of material left in her. Rather than it being a chance to cash in on the success of Hounds of Love, it allowed new fans to discover her previous work. It also provided people the opportunity to see how Bush, from album to album, produced very different sounds and songs. I will explore Bush in 1986 a bit before the anniversary of The Whole Story. Although there were singles released and activity, it was a less busy and eventful year than the one previous (there was another 1986 release, The Hair of the Hound, which featured all four of her music videos from the album Hounds of Love. It was released on 16th June. Bush also appeared during the Comic Relief live shows in April, performing Breathing and singing the duet, Do Bears..., with Rowan Atkinson). Whereas greatest hits collections are meant to bring in the most successful singles and, to a degree, most accessible songs, I think Bush has some fascinating deeper cuts. With only two songs from The Kick Inside – the singles, Wuthering Heights (with a new vocal) and The Man with the Child in His Eyes -, some might have felt that album was short-changed. Some might say that including The Dreaming’s title track (which only charted at forty-eight) might have denied other tracks. That album’s Suspended in Gaffa would have been a good selection. Hounds of Love’s The Big Sky is also missing. Narrowing it down to a dozen tracks means that some cuts miss the grade. Listen to the five albums prior to The Whole Story, one realises that there are so many non-singles that are also worthy.
As it traditional with greatest hits collections, there is a new track. It is a chance for an artist to give a new song a home or give the listener extra incentive to buy the album. I have already spotlighted The Whole Story’s new track, Experiment IV. I may revisit it ahead of 10th November. I love the track and wonder where it could have sat if it was available for inclusion on Hounds of Love. I think the song has an element of Peter Gabriel’s Shock the Monkey (the first single from his fourth eponymous album of 1982) – an artist that Bush worked with several times. I forgot to mention that, in addition to The Whole Story, 1986 saw Bush appear on the Peter Gabriel song, Don’t Give Up. The powerful diet appeared on his So album. The single was released on 27th October (the same week as Experiment IV). I love the fact that Bush had two singles out from two different albums that are very different themselves. Although I said 1986 was fairly quite or Bush, she actually had quite a bit on! I wonder how much say Bush had regarding choosing songs to appear on The Whole Story and whether she would have preferred some non-singles being in the mix. I feel EMI could have stretched The Whole Story to fifteen tracks. That might have meant it needed to be a double vinyl/C.D. release. I will leave it there. As it is five months until the thirty-fifth anniversary of The Whole Story, I am going to pepper a couple more features in beforehand. If you have not heard the album then do so now. It gives new context to the songs and the albums they are taken from. It must have also been hard deciding which tracks to put where, but I feel like there is a great balance - so that tracks from the same album are not bunched together and there is nothing jarring and disjointed in terms of the sonic flow. It is a fitting tribute to an artist who, on her first greatest hits compilation, had a dozen of her finest songs…
ALL in one place.