Sensual World

Kate Bush | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 1989)
• Original Release Date: October 17, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026IP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MiniDisc  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,803 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abstract, advant-garde, sensual., July 4, 2003

By 

P. Wilde "Picnic" (North east England, UK.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sensual World (Audio CD)

In her home country, England, Kate Bush's most famous song is probably Wuthering Heights and her most famous album is probably one that that song didn't come off- Hounds of Love (1985). However, abroad it seems to be a different story. The album that came four years after Hounds Of Love, The Sensual World (1989) appears to be most well-known, in particular in the US, where This Woman's Work appeared in a film once- way back in 1988!
Yes, as a shy Home Counties girl, Kate has never gone big on promotion and whereas, in society, it seems ok for a band like Radiohead to get away with left-field ideas, people are still scared by a powerfully sensitive woman with unusual ideas. Subconciously, with her mystical lyrics and wild-eyed flights of fancy, they think she might really be a witch.
Kate has done a few songs about witches- Waking The Witch on 'Hounds of Love' springs to mind. And Rocket's Tail on this album, which reaches a breathtaking crescendo and has references to pointed hats and flying sticks, hints at the same theme. Despite this album being regarded as her 'relationship' album, it is far from the safe channels of most female lyricists. It is as much about Kate's relationship with herself, her ideas and the 'world' as with any man.
Kate talks about things buried deep in her, both physically (self pleasure on 'The Sensual World') and past events on 'Love and Anger.' Communication is a big theme, on 'Deeper Understanding' where she develops a relationship over (and with) the internet and on Between a man and a woman where she speaks of love between two people away from 'modern Western pressures'.
'Never be mine' is like a negative of the chorus of the song 'Hounds of Love' from her earlier album. Instead of being consumed by emotion she now quietly mourns 'The thrill and the hurting...'(of love) '...will never be mine'.
Earlier on in the album, 'The Fog' and 'Reaching Out' seem most occupied with the theme of childhood that has stayed with Kate during her career, a mixture of innocence and worldly knowingness. There is always a fear and an tension in making her way in the big wide world, away from familiar things. This coincides with the theme of being excitedly scared of love.
That leaves Walk Straight Down the Middle, which is the weakest song on the album and Heads We're Dancing in which Kate, or a character of Kate's imagining, finds out only from a picture that she has actually been dancing with Hitler. You could read into this that we never know for sure who we have fallen in love with - that we fall in love with an idea and the idea is often enough.

The album is simply one of Kate's best and, to me, her most intriguing. The insrumentation and backing singers are sublime. It is a deeply mature work about woman's sexuality, love, childhood, fear. Each song is complete and contained in itself like a new thought or dream. Abstract, advant-garde but highly personal. Genius.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, Kate Bush. I remain eternally grateful..., January 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sensual World (Audio CD)

I originally bought this CD in 1992 right after seeing the movie "She's Having A Baby," with Kevin Bacon. "This Woman's Work" was featured in this movie, and I frantically searched for the artist and title of this song after seeing the movie. At the time, I, too, was pregnant with our first child. After I had our son, Aaron, in 1992, I remember laying him on the floor on a blanket and lying next to him, looking into his eyes, and holding his tiny fingers in mine while we listened to this haunting, bittersweet song. My eyes would fill with tears at the realization of the miracle that he truly was, and how truly blessed we were to have such a beautiful child. My son died from S.I.D.S. four months later. I now bring out this CD only when I want to relive those moments with my son --always on his birthday, his death anniversary, and sometimes simply on days when I really miss him. It's been eight years, now, and of course, the memories have faded with time. But whenever I want to feel close to my son, I turn on the song "This Woman's Work." This song is the only thing that enables me to relive those beautiful moments that I had with my child. "I know you have got a little life, in you yet. I know you've got a lot of strength, left... I should be crying, but I just can't let it show...Give me those moments, back. Give them back to me. Give me that little kiss. Give me your hand... All the things we should have done, that we never did..." The words are tremendously haunting, yet touch me so much within the depths of my soul. Although I can't listen to it daily (it's too hard, still...), I truly thank Ms. Bush for this "gift" of emotional perfection that she gives me, each time I hear it. I think this song will remain a part of me, forever. -An eternally grateful mother

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, erotic, evocative, if you only get one KB album, get this one, April 3, 2007

By 

Amazon.com-lover (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sensual World (Audio CD)

I have played this album then CD over 100 times, and it is better richer more gorgeous and perfect each time. Put on your earphones and let this magical mystical album take you places deep in your soul. I love it, if you can not tell. Kate is an underappreciated genius, lost in the shuffle of marketing ploys and teeny girl hyper sexuality... this is sexuality on a different level. A level beyond age time gender. Get it and be enriched, I mean it.