Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
KATE BUSH
Studio Albums: The Kick Inside (1978) | Lionheart (1978) | Never for Ever (1980) | The Dreaming (1982) | Hounds of Love (1985) | The Sensual World (1989) | The Red Shoes (1993) | Aerial (2005) | Director's Cut (2011) | 50 Words for Snow (2011) | Readers’ Poll Results
Add these classic albums to YOUR collection:
With a theatrical flair, literary sensibility and penchant for musical adventure rivaled by, well, no one, Kate Bush remains one of the most enigmatic and truly distinctive talents to emerge across the popular music landscape of the past forty-plus years. From signing her first record deal at age sixteen to her precociously sophisticated debut single “Wuthering Heights” in 1978 to her expansive late 2016 live album Before the Dawn, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who disputes the fact that this fiercely imaginative artist’s legacy can and will never be replicated.
“I don’t think she’s ever particularly wanted to play the game, has she?,” Suede’s Brett Anderson asks rhetorically when interviewed for the BBC’s 2014 documentary The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill. “But when you’ve done great work like she’s done, and then you retract from the public, people almost have to make up their own version of you, don’t they?” Indeed, while we each have our own conceptions of who Kate Bush is and what her music means to us, there’s no denying the profound and far-reaching impact that Bush has had on the world of music at large.
If you haven’t already taken the time, delving deep into the iconic singer-songwriter-performer’s career progression and magnetic mystique via her sterling discography is highly recommended for all music fans, with logical starting points being her 1978 debut LP The Kick Inside, 1985’s landmark Hounds of Love, 1989’s masterful The Sensual World, and 2005’s (don’t call it a) comeback effort Aerial.
Justin’s 3 Favorite Kate Bush Albums of All Time:
1. Hounds of Love (1985)
2. Aerial (2005)
3. The Sensual World (1989)
LISTEN & WATCH (Playlists):