Customer Reviews

King of the Mountain

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love Kate, you will probably want get this single no matter what, and keep drooling all over it thinking about the upcoming album, but here's a quick scoop on why this is such a tasty release.
The sleeve design for starters: no glossy photos, just that beautiful drawing done by Kate's son, and the whole thing is printed on real cardboard paper, very shabby chic and very cool. Once you take the inner sleeve out, you get to see a beautiful photo of Kate, and the lyrics to King of the Hill are printed on the back of it.
The King of the Mountain is a great big song, trancey and building up to a kicking climax. It reminds me of Cloudbusting, but this is definitely new, different Kate. Her vocals start strange, with a very cotton-mouth, novocaine feel at first, but that makes perfect sense if you think about the lyrics and the Citizen Kane/Elvis story told in the song. Then she lets loose and her voice soars through these beautiful lines. I don't think Kate ever gets the full credit for how good she is as a singer, but as someone who runs in the classical music circles and spends a lot of time dissecting vocal technique, all I can say Kate's voice is top notch, perfectly controlled but so expressive at the same time.
The funky and trippy guitars and cool swooshy sound effects add flavor to the King of the Mountain. Fabulous song!
The B-side song on this single has Kate doing "Sexual Healing" and what a crazy version that is. Fast and springly, with a little touch of the swinging Roxy Music funk, and Kate sounding unbelievably girly. And it also has uilleann pipes jazzing in the background. If you never heard a Celtic flavoured take on that Marvin Gaye classic, here's your chance. It's as if Molly Bloom got plucked out of Sensual World and transported to a New York bar. Great stuff...
This single is a royal gift from Kate and a worthy herald for Aerial.

I was so nervous as I tuned in to BBC Radio (all the way from here in Bangkok via the internet) to hear the first play of King of the Mountain. We Bush fans have been craving new material for 12 years. For the first couple of years after The Red Shoes we had to be content with an occasional track here and there ('Mna Na Eiran, Rocket Man and all those bootlegged demo tracks) but when oh when was Ms Bush going to put little Bertie into creche and get on with her real task at hand? Well here in late 2005 she finally did it. Six weeks after hearing KOTM for the first time I still love it; the creepy, creeping beginning which builds up to an almost terrifying climax with wind whistling, ghosts howling, and thankfully, Bush at her dramatic best. Now comes the agonizing wait for Aerial, and the knowledge that once I've listened to it, I won't be hearing anything else from Ms Bush until 2023.

The other reviewers have eloquently stated exactly what I would say so I would only be paraphrasing them. I'm actually numb, waiting until Tuesday when I can hear new Kate songs. It's like a dream. I put her above all others (ok, maybe equal with Annie Lennox) in the pantheon of Goddesses, and I CANNOT wait to have more. KOTM is a great song. What you get from Kate is never expected, but unique. Sadly, American radio is terrible and will probably never play it. Thankfully, we have the internet and other areas to listen to music these days. I know there are others out there that are faithfully awaiting this album, and if this single is any indication, we are in for quite the treat. Welcome back, Kate darling. We missed you.

After an absence of twelve long years from the music scene, Kate Bush returns with "King Of The Mountain", the lead single from her forthcoming album entitled "Aerial". Life may have changed for Bush in the intervening years with the onset of motherhood, yet her trademark sound is assured. Opening with an indistinct vocal over a skittish electronic beat, the track gradually builds via a crisp guitar lilt and menacing percussion, in realization of the fact that 'the wind is whistling through the house'.

The lyrics, although still with more than a hint of ambiguity, are less inscrutable and, therefore, more accessible than some of her earlier work. A meditation on the personal cost of fame and fortune, and inexorable media speculation, the sense of enforced withdrawal and isolation - conjured amid a windswept climax on top of the mountain, is palpable. Bush has seemingly lost none of her experimental conviction, and this effort serves to whet the appetite for the already eagerly anticipated new record.

Kate Bush never does anything halfway. With King of the Mountain, her first new release in 12 years, she returns in true Kate style: ethereal, introspective, philosophical, and painstakingly precise. The track builds on a quiet folk note to rock drums to reggae guitars to a crescendo with wind howling in the background. And what tops it all off is THAT VOICE. Magic! If this is an indication of what her Kateness has to offer after the Great Sleep, then I can't wait to get my hands on Aerial!

this review is not for the content but to inform anyone interested of an error in the product description. it states that 'sexual healing' is over 10 minutes in length. just got a copy today and it is the better part of 6 minutes.

...unless there are two versions out there [which i doubt]

Here's the official single fo Kate Bush's new hit "King of the Mountain," which debuted at #4 on the UK pop charts. The flip side is Kate Bush's lucious take on Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing," which is a previously unreleased track under six minutes long, not 10 minutes as amazon.com's review indicates. This is a great CD for fans, complete with an inner sleeve with a lovely photo fo Kate.

This first single from Kate Bush's first album in twleve years is a welcome addition to her catalog. Although older in years, her voice has not aged, nor has her musical originality. "King of the Mountain" (yes, it's about Elvis) hearkens back to melodic expressions not seen since "The Sensual World" while at the same time revealing itself to be fresh and new. The tune has been haunting me since I first heard snippets of it on her web site. Now that the single is out, fans can savor it, eagerly anticipating more good things from the complete double album "Aerial" in a few weeks. Good work Kate! It's nice to have you back.

I love kate bush but didn't realize there were only 2 songs on this cd. A real disappointment...

I haven't ordered this copy of Kate Bush's 'Amazing' -King Of The Mountain- single, why would I?, for the art from what the other reviewers are saying about it,thats about all I can see thats new 'for me'. It looks like the same version as the album, and an old-tired 'sexual healing' track which we've all heard before. Where's the 'New' B-side/Extra tracks?, where are the cutting-edge remixes?....so it looks like if you want different artwork than the album,then buy it!,if you want the same song and more,buy the album!