The Dreaming is the fourth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 13 September 1982 by EMI Records. Recorded over two years, the album was produced entirely by Bush and is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release.<!--sourced in background section-->

The Dreaming peaked at on the UK album chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI. It initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception. Five singles from the album were released, including the UK "Sat in Your Lap" and the title track, "The Dreaming".

The critical standing of the album has improved significantly in recent decades. Slant Magazine listed the album at on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s". It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, the Mojo "Top 50 Eccentric Albums of All Time" list, and The Words "Great Underrated Albums of Our Time" list. Musicians such as Björk, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, and Big Boi of Outkast have cited The Dreaming as one of their favourite albums.

Recording and composition

thumb|left|Bush played the [[Fairlight CMI for this album.]]

Bush's third album Never for Ever had been a co-production between her and Jon Kelly. For her fourth album, she elected to produce the work entirely herself. With her newfound freedom, Bush experimented with production techniques, employing a diverse blend of musical styles. She made extensive use of the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, which she had first used on Never for Ever. She also collaborated with a variety of engineers, including Nick Launay, who had previously worked with artists such as Public Image Ltd and Phil Collins. Launay therefore took over for the Townhouse sessions.

According to critic Simon Reynolds, "armed with the Fairlight and other state-of-the-art machines, Bush pushed her existing maximalist tendencies to the brink of overload." After long days in the studio, Bush decided to take a break from the album in the latter part of 1981 and resumed work in the early months of 1982 – laying overdubs and other final touches throughout the period January to May 1982 at Advision Studios.

The Dreaming has been characterised as an experimental release. The album employs folk instruments such as mandolins, uilleann pipes, and didgeridoos, The Quietus suggested that "The Dreamings disparate narratives frequently seem to be tropes for Bush's quest for artistic autonomy and the anxieties that accompany it."

Release and commercial performance

thumb|Bush in 1982

The album was released on 13 September 1982. The album peaked at No. 3 in the UK. It however remained on the chart for only 10 weeks, making this Bush's lowest-selling album, being certified just silver.

In November the next (and final UK release) single, "There Goes a Tenner", was released in the UK. It is Bush's only single not to enter the UK top 75.

In November 2018, Bush released box sets of remasters of her studio albums, including The Dreaming.

Critical reception

Initial response

Upon its release, The Dreaming met with a mixed critical reception. Many were baffled by the unconventional techniques and dense soundscapes Bush had employed. Writing for Smash Hits, Neil Tennant described the album as "very weird. She's obviously trying to become less commercial."

Cashbox called the album "an imaginative array of avant garde experimental fare coated with a pop sensibility." Billboard said that the album was "disjointed, quirky, startling, often nonsensical, but always fascinating." American critic Robert Christgau wrote that "the revelation is the dense, demanding music", calling it "the most impressive Fripp/Gabriel-style art-rock album of the postpunk refulgence."

Legacy

In a later review, AllMusic called it "a theatrical and abstract piece of work", as well as "a brilliant predecessor to the charming beauty of 1985's Hounds of Love." Bush herself called The Dreaming her "she's gone mad album" and said it was not particularly commercial. On later revisiting the album she said she was surprised by the sound, saying that it was quite an angry record. Uncut said that it was a "multi-layered, polyrhythmic and wildly experimental album [and] remains a landmark work". In 2018 The Guardians chief critic Alexis Petridis wrote, "The Dreaming isn't Kate Bush's best album, but it remains my favourite; there's something very beguiling about the sound of an artist finally letting their imagination fully run riot. Not that Kate Bush's imagination was ever terribly constrained, but The Dreaming is marked by the sense that sampling technology had now enabled her to fully recreate the sounds in her head, and that she was now successful enough to please no-one other than herself."

In the 2010s, Björk and Big Boi cited The Dreaming as one of their favourite albums.

  • Kate Bush – vocals, piano, Fairlight CMI synthesizer (1, 2, 5–10), Yamaha CS-80 (2), strings (4)
  • Paddy Bush – sticks (1), mandolins and strings (4), bullroarer (6)
  • Geoff Downes – Fairlight CMI trumpet section (1)
  • Jimmy Bain – bass guitar (1, 5, 10)
  • Del Palmer – bass guitar (2, 4, 8), fretless and 8 string bass (7)
  • Preston Heyman – drums (1, 3, 5, 10), sticks (1)
  • Stuart Elliott – drums (2, 4, 6–9), sticks (4), percussion (8)
  • Dave Lawson – Synclavier (2, 4)
  • Brian Bath – electric guitar (3)
  • Danny Thompson – string bass (3)
  • Ian Bairnson – acoustic guitar (5)
  • Alan Murphy – electric guitar (5, 10)
  • Rolf Harris - didgeridoo (6)
  • Liam O'Flynn – penny whistle and uilleann pipes (7)
  • Seán Keane – fiddle (7)
  • Dónal Lunny – bouzouki (7)
  • Eberhard Weber – double bass (9)

;Other voices

  • Paddy Bush, Ian Bairnson, Stewart Arnold and Gary Hurst – backing vocals (1)
  • Paddy Bush – backing vocals (6, 10)
  • David Gilmour – backing vocals (3)
  • Percy Edwards – animals (6)
  • Gosfield Goers – crowd (6)
  • Richard Thornton – choirboy (8)
  • Gordon Farrell – "Houdini" (9)
  • Del Palmer – "Rosabel Believe" (9)
  • Paul Hardiman – "Eeyore" (10)
  • Esmail Sheikh – drum talk (10)

;Technical

  • Kate Bush – producer
  • Paul Hardiman – recording engineer at Advision and Odyssey Studios, all mixes at Advision Studios
  • Teri Reed, David Taylor – assistant engineers
  • David Taylor – mixing assistant
  • Haydn Bendall – engineer at Abbey Road Studios
  • Danny Dawson and John Barrett – assistant engineers
  • Hugh Padgham and Nick Launay – engineer at Townhouse Studios
  • George Chambers, Howard Gray and Nick Cook – assistant engineers
  • Peter Wooliscroft – digital editing
  • Ian Cooper – mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Initial weekly chart performance for The Dreaming

! scope="col" | Chart (1982)

! scope="col" | Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row" |Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 22

|-

|-

|-

<!-- -->

|-

! scope="row" | Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 36

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2014 weekly chart performance for The Dreaming

! scope="col" | Chart (2014)

! scope="col" | Peak<br/>position

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2019 weekly chart performance for The Dreaming

! scope="col" | Chart (2019)

! scope="col" | Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row" | UK Vinyl Albums

| 28

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Year-end chart performance for The Dreaming

! scope="col" | Chart (1982)

! scope="col" | Position

|-

! scope="row" | Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 77

|-

! scope="row" | French Albums (IFOP)

| 72

|-

! scope="row" | UK Albums (OCC)

| 93

|}

Certifications and sales

See also

  • Kate Bush discography
  • List of awards and nominations received by Kate Bush
  • List of 1980s albums considered the best

Notes

References

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • The Dreaming (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)