Kate Bush - The Dreaming: Rock Classics

You could consider Kate Bush’s The Dreaming to be her finest moment, depending on whether you value the rejection of compromise and see that as a sign of authenticity. Or, you may see her Hounds of Love - equal-parts artful and accessible - as the benchmark for artistic integrity meeting commercial success: a slippery and completely unpredictable schizoid beast at the best of times. As much as The Dreaming seems to be viewed as Bush’s most difficult record to consume, it’s easy to forget that it was a top 20 album in multiple countries. In reality, it has a beautiful simplicity, if only for its intention to exist for its own sake - as they say, ’It is what it is’, and the rest is up to the listener. And what it is, is perhaps one of rock’s most pure examples of a musician doing their thing, simultaneously (and conveniently) operating at the top of their game, and not sweating the resulting views of others. That recipe transcends genre, and even field itself. Ultimately, The Dreaming is just art - music, yes, but I suggest it crosses the line into sculpture. You can walk around it, try to decipher it, and still be stumped. Isn’t that how art is supposed to be?

Peter Kearns is a New Zealand musician, independent recording artist and traditional producer. Since the 1980s he has performed live as keyboardist and/or recorded or co-written with a range of artists from in and outside of his home country. He is half of the duo Tabacco & Kearns, and also completely himself, mostly. As a writer he’s contributed regularly to witchdoctor.co.nz - New Zealand’s technology and music website for grown-ups, and this is his fourth book for Sonic Bond. He first heard Kate Bush in 1978 when he was 11, biking home from school, hearing ’Wuthering Heights’ blasting from someone’s house, and he stood there in the rain, transfixed, wondering if it was possible to equal something so unique. Funnily enough, he still feels that that’s what being a musician in a world with Kate Bush in it, is like.