KATE BUSH - Hounds of Love (1985-2005) Mini LP / Limited Edition / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Kate Bush's strongest album to date also marked her breakthrough into the American charts, and yielded a set of dazzling videos as well as an enviable body of hits, spearheaded by "Running Up That Hill," her biggest single since "Wuthering Heights." Strangely enough, Hounds of Love was no less complicated in its structure, imagery, and extra-musical references (even lifting a line of dialogue from Jacques Tourneur's Curse of the Demon for the intro of the title song) than The Dreaming, which had been roundly criticized for being too ambitious and complex. But Hounds of Love was more carefully crafted as a pop record, and it abounded in memorable melodies and arrangements, the latter reflecting idioms ranging from orchestrated progressive pop to high-wattage traditional folk; and at the center of it all was Bush in the best album-length vocal performance of her career, extending her range and also drawing expressiveness from deep inside of herself, so much so that one almost feels as though he's eavesdropping at moments during "Running Up That Hill." Hounds of Love is actually a two-part album (the two sides of the original LP release being the now-lost natural dividing line), consisting of the suites "Hounds of Love" and "The Ninth Wave." The former is steeped in lyrical and sonic sensuality that tends to wash over the listener, while the latter is about the experiences of birth and rebirth. If this sounds like heady stuff, it could be, but Bush never lets the material get too far from its pop trappings and purpose. In some respects, this was also Bush's first fully realized album, done completely on her own terms, made entirely at her own 48-track home studio, to her schedule and preferences, and delivered whole to EMI as a finished work; that history is important, helping to explain the sheer presence of the album's most striking element -- the spirit of experimentation at every turn, in the little details of the sound. That vastly divergent grasp, from the minutiae of each song to the broad sweeping arc of the two suites, all heavily ornamented with layered instrumentation, makes this record wonderfully overpowering as a piece of pop music. Indeed, this reviewer hadn't had so much fun and such a challenge listening to a new album from the U.K. since Abbey Road, and it's pretty plain that Bush listened to (and learned from) a lot of the Beatles' output in her youth. by Bruce Eder 
Tracklist :
Hounds Of Love    
1    Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 5:00
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Balalaika – Paddy Bush
2    Hounds Of Love 3:02
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Cello – Johnathan Williams
3    The Big Sky 4:41
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Bass – Youth
Didgeridoo – Paddy Bush
Percussion – Morris Pert
4    Mother Stands For Comfort 3:07
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Bass – Eberhard Weber
5    Cloudbusting 5:10
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Strings – The Medicci Sextet
The Ninth Wave    
6    And Dream Of Sheep 2:46
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Whistle – John Sheahan
7    Under Ice 2:21
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Harmony Vocals [Harmonic Vocals] – Paddy Bush
8    Waking The Witch 4:18
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Synthesizer [Synthesiser Sequences] – Kevin McAlea
9    Watching You Without Me 4:06
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Double Bass – Danny Thompson
10    Jig Of Life 4:04
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Fiddle – John Sheahan
Uilleann Pipes – Liam O'Flynn
Vocals – John Carder Bush
11    Hello Earth 6:13
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Bass – Eberhard Weber
Guitar – Brian Bath
Uilleann Pipes – Liam O'Flynn
Vocals – The Richard Hickox Singers
12    The Morning Fog 2:34
Written-By, Producer – Kate Bush
Guitar – John Williams
Synthesizer – Kevin McAlea
Violin [Violins], Fujara [Fujare] – Paddy Bush
Credits :
Arranged By [Irish Arrangements] – Bill Whelan
Bass – Del Palmer (pistas: 1, 8, 12)
Bouzouki – Donal Lunny (pistas: 6, 10, 11)
Drums – Charlie Morgan (pistas: 2, 3, 5, 8, 10), Stuart Elliot (pistas: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 to 11)
Guitar – Alan Murphy (pistas: 1, 3, 8)
Orchestrated By – Michael Kamen
Piano, Synthesizer [Fairlight], Voice – Kate Bush