Kate Bush - Hounds of Love [2018 Remaster, Raspberry Beret] (LP) Vinyl

Hounds of Love is the fifth studio album by Kate Bush, first released on EMI in September 1985. It reached number one in the UK, peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200, and stands as the record on which Bush took complete control of both writing and production. This is the exclusive indie edition from her own Fish People label, pressed on 180 gram Raspberry Beret coloured vinyl and cut from the 2018 remaster.

The Album

Bush wrote and produced the album herself, working principally at her Wickham Farm home studio in Welling, with further sessions at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and Abbey Road Studios in London. Del Palmer handled the Linn programming, Michael Kamen contributed the orchestral arrangements and Bill Whelan the Irish arrangements. Four singles were drawn from it: "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", "Cloudbusting", "Hounds of Love" and "The Big Sky".

The record is built as two distinct halves. Side one, titled Hounds of Love, carries the singles and the album's most direct songwriting. Side two, The Ninth Wave, is a seven-track concept piece following a woman adrift alone at sea through a night of hallucination and rescue, its title drawn from the passage of Tennyson's "The Coming of Arthur" quoted on the rear sleeve.

This Pressing

Fish People's indie exclusive edition presents the album on a single 180 gram disc in Raspberry Beret mixed colour vinyl, a blend of solid pink, solid purple and solid white. Because the colours are combined during pressing, the finish varies from disc to disc, so every copy is individual.

The audio is taken from the 2018 remaster, remastered by James Guthrie, Joel Plante and Bernie Grundman, with the lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Pressing was carried out by Record Industry in the Netherlands.

Packaging

The record arrives in a single pocket, spot varnished sleeve carrying John Carder Bush's cover photography and the Bill Smith Studio design. Inside is a two sided colour inner sleeve printed with photographs, credits and full lyrics. A matte obi strip exclusive to this reissue sits on the spine and states the vinyl pressing date.

Tracklist

Side One: Hounds of Love
1. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
2. Hounds of Love
3. The Big Sky (7" Mix)
4. Mother Stands for Comfort
5. Cloudbusting

Side Two: The Ninth Wave
1. And Dream of Sheep
2. Under Ice
3. Waking the Witch
4. Watching You Without Me
5. Jig of Life
6. Hello Earth
7. The Morning Fog