Kate Bush

Eccentric and idiosyncratic, Kate Bush's work is an odd offshoot of English art rock, capturing much of its spirit while avoiding the worst of its instrumental indulgences. Despite an occasional flash of pop accessibility, her early efforts are easily dismissed. The Kick Inside, with its effusive arrangements and parade of dead lovers, seems almost a parody of rock romanticism; Lionheart was a rush job, and sounds it; Never for Ever, though stylistically adventurous, is undercut by uneven arrangements. Eventually, Bush discovered digital synthesis, and with it constructed a universe better suited to her songs. Unlike her early albums, the sound of The Dreaming and Hounds of Love is as focused as it is fantastic, lending credibility to her witches, sorcerers, and demon lovers. After The Whole Story, a greatest hits collection, Bush jettisoned such juvenalia altogether; though her music maintained its sense of aural adventure, she addressed herself assiduously (if less affectingly) to more mature (and markedly feminine) material in The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. This Woman's Work, an import-only box set, surveys her pre-Sensual World output with the completist ardor of a devoted fan; objective, it is not. (J. D. CONSIDINE)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide