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Editorial Reviews
2011 album from the British songstress. On Directors Cut, Kate revisits a selection of tracks from her albums The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, a process that presents a fascinating portrait of an artist in a constant state of evolution. She has re-recorded some elements whilst keeping the best musical performances of each song - making it something of a director's cut but in sound, not vision. All the lead vocals and drums are new performances, some of the tracks featuring guests including Steve Gadd, Danny Thompson and, on backing vocals, Mica Paris. Three songs have been completely re-recorded, one of which is 'This Woman's Work.' EMI.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
91 of 108 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music
Clearly anyone who adores Kate Bush is simply happy to have "a" new album in their hands. The pyramids were built in less time than it takes for Kate to come down the mountain with new material. Just because I have every piece of vinyl and CD she has ever released (including Hounds of Love on marbleized vinyl and marbleized cassette), doesn't mean every single item is a home run. Look no further than that yawn from The Golden Compass.
The Director's Cut is a shoo in for "Album of the Year", not in my annual Best of list, but rather The Onion's annual ranking of Least Essential Albums: albums neither good or bad, but simply had no reason to exist in the first place.
It's always a dicey proposition to tinker with cherished artistic works. From George Lucas adding distracting special effects to Star Wars Episodes 4-6, New Order releasing Blue Monday 88, Real Life trumping them with Send Me An Angel 89, or Peter Hook touring England playing the songs of Joy Division. Why Kate was possessed to mess with two of her most perfect albums is anyone's guess, if only she kept those red shoes on and kept on dancing instead. Perhaps she sipped one of Bertie's Mountain Dews and decided to take her music to the EXTREME!
The problem with The Director's Cut is as technical as it is artistic. On Flower of the Mountain, Song of Solomon and And So Is Love, her "new" vocals are so loud and over-modulated in the mix, it's like she recorded them with a Mr. Microphone on a car radio out in the driveway. In other cases, the extra vocals (echoes here, a few new lyrics there) add as much to the integrity of the original song as Natalie Cole's vocals do when taped over her father's.
Deeper Understanding just goes on forever and has all the charm of Kate dueting with Stephen Hawking instead of Peter Gabriel or Prince. She throws so much tinkering into the long fade to black that it's almost like she was in the basement teaching herself how to use GarageBand. At some points, so much extraneous junk is swirling around the mix, you half expect Christopher Walken to stop everything and demand more cowbell.
Elsewhere, on Top of the City, the extra percussion is so jarring, it's like Kate snuck into a quiet kitchen and accidentally knocked down all of her hanging pots and pans. Rubberband Girl's indie rock remake is flat out weird (strumming electric guitars, Duran synths, harmonica?), almost as if she's trying to top The Baltimores' bizarre and hysterical cover of Running Up That Hill from I Wanna Be Kate.
On And So Is Love, Eric Clapton's guitar shines brighter, but she added dreadful backing vocals. I think she was going for a Trio Bulgarka vibe by slowing and warping them, but it sounds like a Basset Hound howling at a TV.
It's not all bad. In a shocking twist, her most sacred song, This Woman's Work, absolutely shines with a complete redo. Slower, deeper, quieter - Kate connects with 16 years of emotion, memories and the life lessons of motherhood - it's a passionate work, absolutely essential to her catalog. Moments of Pleasure is also a gem, as if Kate invited you into her piano room and sang it to you and you alone.
I purchased, and highly recommend, the 3-disc special edition of Director's Cut. Exquisite packaging - and it includes a remaster of the entire Red Shoes album from the analog masters. It sounds fresher and warmer and reminds me of how exquisite and absolutely essential her music is to my life, pop culture and the greater good.
If nothing else, this album gives Kate fans something to enjoy, analyze and debate until her real NEW album "50 Words For Snow" drops in November, 2011.
The Director's Cut is a shoo in for "Album of the Year", not in my annual Best of list, but rather The Onion's annual ranking of Least Essential Albums: albums neither good or bad, but simply had no reason to exist in the first place.
It's always a dicey proposition to tinker with cherished artistic works. From George Lucas adding distracting special effects to Star Wars Episodes 4-6, New Order releasing Blue Monday 88, Real Life trumping them with Send Me An Angel 89, or Peter Hook touring England playing the songs of Joy Division. Why Kate was possessed to mess with two of her most perfect albums is anyone's guess, if only she kept those red shoes on and kept on dancing instead. Perhaps she sipped one of Bertie's Mountain Dews and decided to take her music to the EXTREME!
The problem with The Director's Cut is as technical as it is artistic. On Flower of the Mountain, Song of Solomon and And So Is Love, her "new" vocals are so loud and over-modulated in the mix, it's like she recorded them with a Mr. Microphone on a car radio out in the driveway. In other cases, the extra vocals (echoes here, a few new lyrics there) add as much to the integrity of the original song as Natalie Cole's vocals do when taped over her father's.
Deeper Understanding just goes on forever and has all the charm of Kate dueting with Stephen Hawking instead of Peter Gabriel or Prince. She throws so much tinkering into the long fade to black that it's almost like she was in the basement teaching herself how to use GarageBand. At some points, so much extraneous junk is swirling around the mix, you half expect Christopher Walken to stop everything and demand more cowbell.
Elsewhere, on Top of the City, the extra percussion is so jarring, it's like Kate snuck into a quiet kitchen and accidentally knocked down all of her hanging pots and pans. Rubberband Girl's indie rock remake is flat out weird (strumming electric guitars, Duran synths, harmonica?), almost as if she's trying to top The Baltimores' bizarre and hysterical cover of Running Up That Hill from I Wanna Be Kate.
On And So Is Love, Eric Clapton's guitar shines brighter, but she added dreadful backing vocals. I think she was going for a Trio Bulgarka vibe by slowing and warping them, but it sounds like a Basset Hound howling at a TV.
It's not all bad. In a shocking twist, her most sacred song, This Woman's Work, absolutely shines with a complete redo. Slower, deeper, quieter - Kate connects with 16 years of emotion, memories and the life lessons of motherhood - it's a passionate work, absolutely essential to her catalog. Moments of Pleasure is also a gem, as if Kate invited you into her piano room and sang it to you and you alone.
I purchased, and highly recommend, the 3-disc special edition of Director's Cut. Exquisite packaging - and it includes a remaster of the entire Red Shoes album from the analog masters. It sounds fresher and warmer and reminds me of how exquisite and absolutely essential her music is to my life, pop culture and the greater good.
If nothing else, this album gives Kate fans something to enjoy, analyze and debate until her real NEW album "50 Words For Snow" drops in November, 2011.
26 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Polar Bear
Format:Audio CD
"Director's Cut" is Kate Bush's first album in six years, and while it's been way too long, it was well worth the wait! On her latest release, Bush revisits earlier songs she recorded from two previous albums (The Sensual World and The Red Shoes) which did not reflect her original vision. Some tracks have been reworked completely: for example, the opening track The Sensual World is now called Flower Of The Mountain, and has been expanded to include a passage from the James Joyce novel Ulysses. On others, she has re-recorded the drums and her vocals - an experience which, she explains, felt initially "like trying to open a door with the wrong-shaped key. So I changed the key and the door began to open." Bush's vocals may be lower pitched but other elements remain untouched to discover afresh: that wonderful plangent bass sound which is all over her albums, her world of esoteric influences, from the Bible's love poetry to Hindu mantras, from dark, demented fairytales to classic cinema, and her lyrical meshing of the spiritual, sexual and sensual. While a certain amount of re-mixing has gone on, Director's Cut goes beyond mere technical tweaks. If you love her earlier work, you'll love this!
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music
I have been in love with Kate Bush's music since the mid 1980's. She can be odd, eccentric, enigmatic, and exciting. This album strips most of that from her. It feels like a bad experiment or a pressing to meet the demands of a recording contract. How in the world does anyone justify a remake of "This Woman's Work?" The result is pleasant but devoid of the original emotional punch of raw passion. So are the rest of the songs on this album. Its sad to think this is a tad of a wink toward making KB dentist office friendly under the guile of artistic reinvention. Kate Bush is better than this, fans know it, newcomer please take this advice and listen to her original recordings, of most import "The Hounds of Love"
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
So disappointing
I have loved Kate since New Years Eve 1986 after friends played the Hounds of Love album. On January 1st 1987, I swung over to a record store and bought a copy of every album they... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Gina Guillotine
4.0 out of 5 stars
A little weird...
...but definitely worth a listen! Some songs are better than others on this one. Recommended at least, do get it!
Published 4 months ago by M. Terhune
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kate Bush - thanks for the love
You give me joy and pleasure and vibes of desirable character and happiness and rythms and your feminine guts and inspiration. Thanks Kate
Published 11 months ago by J. Tjernsli
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pointless and sad
As a major Kate Bush fan, I really want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but taken in conjunction with the lackluster and tedious "50 Words for Snow", this pointless... Read more
Published 12 months ago by psychedelephant
2.0 out of 5 stars
CASH COW
It's always disappointing when your teenage heroes let you down. I would actually have preferred not to have this album at all, because it's clearly been made as a money-spinner to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Aerialgirl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deeper Understanding
I am a Kate Bush fan for many decades now, although have not been that fond of her post 80's work (Red Shoes, Aerial). Read more
Published 16 months ago by Michael Escamilla
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dawn of a new era...Kate turns full circle...
I think it is sad that fans seem divided about the merits of this album.
Kate was never happy with much of the Red Shoes, both the music and the arrangements. Read more
Kate was never happy with much of the Red Shoes, both the music and the arrangements. Read more
Published 17 months ago by andydeepcar
3.0 out of 5 stars
For hardcore fans only; fails to surpass the original recordings
In "Director's Cut," Kate Bush takes tracks from her albums "Sensual World" and "Red Shoes", tweaks some of the lyrics (or so I've been told -- I really didn't notice), adds new... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Michael Lichter
1.0 out of 5 stars
snoozerville
Huge Kate Bush fan here...but unfortunately, this album is the pits. Kate's voice has weakened considerably and it's difficult to understand how one can think re-recording the... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Stonelove
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent
director's cut is excellent , as is any kate bush recording . you can not go wrong with kate, she is a genius in our time.
Published 19 months ago by Burton Viall
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