Rush & Bush
I've not posted for a while but 2 events in music have inspired me to come out of hiding !!
Firstly - a new Kate Bush album !! Well, not strictly "new" as her new album is basically rehashed versions of songs from previous albums 'The Red Shoes' and 'The Sensual World'. Still, some Bush is better than none, as evidenced by this album, 'Director's Cut', entering the charts at number 2 behind the unmoveable Adele. Overall I'm a bit disappointed as I don't think the new versions of the songs are that much different from the others, with a couple of exceptions, and I personally didn't think there was anything wrong with the originals anyway. The two exceptions are 'This Womans Work' and 'Moments of Pleasure' which are radically different from the originals and are two stunning pieces of work but the rest, although excellent, just seems a bit pointless.
Still, better to have below par Bush in the charts than none at all !! More interesting to me would be if she'd done new versions of some of her early songs - Kate, now 52, interpreting songs written and performed in her late teens and early twenties.Or perhaps if she made an album of cover versions and performed them her way similar to the Tori Amos 'Strange Little Girls' album.
On Sunday, Francis and I went to see a very different act from Kate Bush at the LG Arena in Birmingham, Canadian rock band Rush. This is the third time Rush have toured here in the UK since 2004 and that tour came after a 16 year gap of UK touring. A sell out crowd saw them perform for 3 hours - with a 20 minute interval "because we're old" said lead singer Geddy !!
This tour was called The Time Machine Tour and the band performed their 1981 album 'Moving Pictures' in it's entirety (including the 11 minuite track 'The Camera Eye') along with a mix of songs from across their career. For three guys with a combined age of 172 to perform for that length of time and put on an amazing show is unbelieveable. You're never short changed from a Rush gig !! And this is repaid by the loyalty shown them by the fans. Thanks to that concert I'm now listening to non-stop Rush, with a smattering of Kate Bush in between !!!!
Firstly - a new Kate Bush album !! Well, not strictly "new" as her new album is basically rehashed versions of songs from previous albums 'The Red Shoes' and 'The Sensual World'. Still, some Bush is better than none, as evidenced by this album, 'Director's Cut', entering the charts at number 2 behind the unmoveable Adele. Overall I'm a bit disappointed as I don't think the new versions of the songs are that much different from the others, with a couple of exceptions, and I personally didn't think there was anything wrong with the originals anyway. The two exceptions are 'This Womans Work' and 'Moments of Pleasure' which are radically different from the originals and are two stunning pieces of work but the rest, although excellent, just seems a bit pointless.
Still, better to have below par Bush in the charts than none at all !! More interesting to me would be if she'd done new versions of some of her early songs - Kate, now 52, interpreting songs written and performed in her late teens and early twenties.Or perhaps if she made an album of cover versions and performed them her way similar to the Tori Amos 'Strange Little Girls' album.
On Sunday, Francis and I went to see a very different act from Kate Bush at the LG Arena in Birmingham, Canadian rock band Rush. This is the third time Rush have toured here in the UK since 2004 and that tour came after a 16 year gap of UK touring. A sell out crowd saw them perform for 3 hours - with a 20 minute interval "because we're old" said lead singer Geddy !!
This tour was called The Time Machine Tour and the band performed their 1981 album 'Moving Pictures' in it's entirety (including the 11 minuite track 'The Camera Eye') along with a mix of songs from across their career. For three guys with a combined age of 172 to perform for that length of time and put on an amazing show is unbelieveable. You're never short changed from a Rush gig !! And this is repaid by the loyalty shown them by the fans. Thanks to that concert I'm now listening to non-stop Rush, with a smattering of Kate Bush in between !!!!