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Hounds of Love

Pop / Art pop · 1985

Hounds of Love

Kate Bush

Why listen

A propulsive song can open the door to a much quieter, stranger story. This album lets pop immediacy and extended drama work at different speeds.

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Tracks · previews

English editorial edition

Album story

If you know “Running Up That Hill”, you already have a way into this record. Its momentum does not, however, describe everything that follows. The first part invites you to choose songs and follow their pulse; the second asks you to stay with a voice in a changing situation. These are different kinds of attention, and you can enjoy one before becoming comfortable with the other.

Released in 1985, Hounds of Love reached number one on the UK album chart. It was not an unknown record waiting for television to discover it. Its original vinyl layout placed five songs on the first side and the seven-part sequence The Ninth Wave on the second. In a streaming list, pause mentally between “Cloudbusting” and “And Dream of Sheep” to hear that change of scale.

A steady floor under a restless voice

In the opening song, the repeating pulse remains dependable while the vocal becomes increasingly insistent. Try following just the beat, then the length and force of the phrases. The title track and “The Big Sky” offer other ways for a voice to occupy the same musical space. Instead of treating Bush’s individuality as a reputation to accept, notice when she seems close and when layered voices enlarge the scene.

Two moments of recognition

“Running Up That Hill” reached UK number three in 1985, then number one after its use in Stranger Things in 2022. Bush welcomed the new audience in a message on her website. Neither discovery invalidates the other. Television memories can travel with you into the album, while the surrounding songs offer another setting in which to hear that familiar pulse.

A quiet entrance is not necessarily a safe one

“And Dream of Sheep” brings piano and voice closer after the first side’s outward energy. Knowing that its character is lost at sea makes the quiet feel less settled. Follow the later changes as scenes rather than a plot examination. Notice when a voice seems alone and when other presences appear. You can leave the second side for another day without losing your foothold in the first.

The album through its tracks

Compare the dependable pulse of the opening song with the piano and voice of track six. Listen to the two halves separately if that makes their different kinds of attention easier to enjoy.

  1. Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)

    A repeating pulse stays in place while the voice seems to ask for more. Hear repetition as a support for rising emotion rather than an unchanging backdrop. The question of exchanging places with another person can connect with an ordinary failure to understand someone close. Its UK number three peak in 1985 and number one return in 2022 belong to different encounters with the same recording. It is neither new music suddenly created by television nor the exclusive property of an earlier generation. Keep the screen’s associations if you like, then try listening without images. The relationship between the steady beat and the changing vocal can carry the song beyond one scene.

    Reference · Official Charts: Running Up That Hill, 1985 and 2022

  2. And Dream of Sheep

    The close voice and piano may initially suggest a resting place. Knowing that the character is lost at sea changes the stakes: sleep and safety are no longer interchangeable. As the entrance to The Ninth Wave, the song begins a situation rather than resolving a self-contained ballad. Bush later made a separate filmed performance in a water tank for the project associated with Before the Dawn; that is not an account of the 1985 recording session. On the original album, attend to the piano and space remaining after a phrase. Large effects are unnecessary when a quiet arrangement already makes you lean towards the voice, waiting for what happens next.

    Reference · Kate Bush: The Ninth Wave and the later And Dream of Sheep performance

Listen next

Purple Rain offers another balance between immediate songs and sustained drama. Compare how a singer leads a scene and how an arrangement changes its scale, rather than expecting the same sound.

Purple Rain ↗
References & editorial note

Written for English readers. Album facts are referenced below; listening suggestions are editorial interpretations. AI-assisted editorial review; not independently human-reviewed.