Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

This album could come out today and still be a hit. Again.

When we talk about truly great music — the kind that shaped entire genres and laid the groundwork for generations of artists — the conversation often turns heavy. You end up having to explain to modern audiences, raised on different sounds and sensibilities, why a decades-old album is still worth their time. Even the most revolutionary records can feel distant, strange, or even unlistenable to uninitiated ears.

But I don't think Hounds of Love really needs that kind of discourse.

Written, produced, and fully envisioned by Kate Bush herself, Hounds of Love is the very definition of progressive art-pop. Keep in mind — this is a 40-year-old album made in a music industry still dominated by men who loved taking credit and calling the shots. And yet here was Kate: with her own rules, her own sound palette, her unconventional voice, and her flair for blending tragedy and love into something unique.

The album is structured like two EPs forming one LP. The first half, the Hounds of Love side, is full of love-struck, emotionally precise pop songs — headlined, of course, by the brilliance of “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)”, now rediscovered by Gen Z thanks to Stranger Things. The second half dives into The Ninth Wave — a conceptual story about a person lost at sea, clinging to life and waiting for help.

Despite the thematic split, the album feels wholly cohesive. The Hounds of Love side delivers sharp, standalone pop anthems — every track a classic, whether taken individually or as part of the whole. The Ninth Wave, in contrast, unfolds like one extended piece, where Bush dives deeper into experimentation, narrative structure, and sonic risk — just take Waking the Witch as an example. But both sides radiate that unmistakable Kate Bush theatricality and emotional intensity.

Kate Bush’s delivery has a world-building quality. Listening to this album feels like entering a mythic epic — you’re right at the edge of something grand and surreal, whether it's a guitar howling or Kate harmonizing with herself. And she does this all without visuals — just the sheer force of sound and imagination.

But maybe the most magical part? Hounds of Love doesn’t come with a barrier to entry. Unlike many concept-heavy or avant-garde records, this one speaks clearly and powerfully from the very first listen. And then it pulls you back in for another go. And another. And with each spin, new layers reveal themselves.

Isn’t that the very definition of greatness?

10.0/10