Aerial was Bush's first double album, was released after a twelve-year absence from the music industry during which Bush devoted her time to family and the raising of her son, Bertie.
The anticipation leading up to the album's release was immense, with press articles devoted to Bush being printed months, even years before.
Like Bush's previous album, The Red Shoes, Aerial does not feature a cover photograph of Bush, but rather one that is emblematic of the album's celebration of sky, sea, and birdsong.
The cover image, which seems to show a mountain range at sunset reflected on the sea is in fact a waveform of a blackbird song superimposed over a glowing photograph.
Aerial is one of Bush's most critically acclaimed albums. Musically, the album is a multi-layered work, incorporating elements of folk, Renaissance, classical, reggae, flamenco, and rock. As with 1985's Hounds of Love, the album is divided into two thematically distinct collections.
The first disc, subtitled A Sea of Honey, features a set of unrelated songs including the hit single "King of the Mountain", a Renaissance-style ode to her son Albert "Bertie" McIntosh performed with period instruments, and a song based on the story of Joan of Arc named "Joanni".
In the song "", Bush sings the number to its 78th decimal place, then from its 101st to its 137th decimal place.
The piano and vocal piece "A Coral Room", dealing with the loss of Bush's mother and the passage of time, was hailed by critics as "stunning" in its simplicity, "profoundly moving" and as "one of the most beautiful" pieces Bush has ever recorded.
The second disc, subtitled A Sky of Honey, consists of a single piece of music reveling in the experience of outdoor adventures on a single summer day, beginning in the morning and ending twenty-four hours later with the next sunrise.
The songs are saturated with the presence of birdsong, and all refer to the sky and sunlight, with the sea also featuring as an important element. Beginning with blackbirds singing in the dawn chorus, a woodpigeon cooing, solo piano, and Bush's son saying, "Mummy, Daddy, the day is full of birds," the piece begins with an early morning awakening to a beautiful day of sun shining "like the light in Italy"; it proceeds through a visit with a painter who is working on a new piece of pavement art ("An Architect's Dream" and "The Painter's Link") and then passes on to a crimson "Sunset".
The interlude "Aerial Tal", consists of Bush imitating various samples of birdsong, while "Somewhere in Between" celebrates the ambiguous nature of dusk.
"Nocturn", features a pair of lovers bathing in the sea after dark under a star-studded "diamond sky". The song cycle ends with "Aerial" and its euphoric welcome of the following morning's sunrise with the refrain "I need to get up on the roof...in the sun."
In the album's initial release, A Sky of Honey features Rolf Harris playing the didgeridoo and providing vocals on "An Architect's Dream" and "The Painter's Link". Following Harris' 2014 conviction for indecent assault, his vocals were replaced on the 2018 remaster with new recordings by McIntosh.
Other guest artists include Peter Erskine, Eberhard Weber, Lol Creme and Procol Harum's Gary Brooker.
In one of his final projects before his death in 2003, long-time Bush collaborator Michael Kamen arranged the string sections, performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra.
The only single from the album was "King of the Mountain". The song makes references to Elvis Presley and the film Citizen Kane.
Disc one: A Sea of Honey
1. King of the Mountain - 4:53
2. π - 6:09
3. Bertie - 4:18
4. Mrs. Bartolozzi - 5:58
5. How to Be Invisible - 5:32
6. Joanni - 4:56
7. A Coral Room - 6:12
Disc two: A Sky of Honey
1. Prelude - 1:26
2. Prologue - 5:42
3. An Architect's Dream - 4:50
4. The Painter's Link - 1:35
5. Sunset - 5:58
6. Aerial Tal - 1:01
7. Somewhere in Between - 5:00
8. Nocturn - 8:34
9. Aerial - 7:52
All tracks are written by Kate Bush.
Personnel
- Kate Bush – vocals, keyboards (1 –3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 –16), piano (4, 7, 9, 12)
- Dan McIntosh – electric and acoustic guitar (1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 –16)
- Del Palmer – bass guitar (1, 5, 6, 14, 16)
- Paddy Bush – backing vocals (1)
- Steve Sanger – drums (1, 16)
- Stuart Elliott – drums (2, 5, 12, 14)
- Eberhard Weber – electric upright bass (2, 9)
- Lol Creme – backing vocals (2, 15)
- Eligio Quinteiro – renaissance guitar (3)
- Richard Campbell and Susanna Pell – viol (3)
- Bill Thorp – string arrangement (3)
- Robin Jeffrey – renaissance percussion (3)
- Chris Hall – accordion (5)
- Michael Wood – male vocal (7)
- Albert McIntosh (Bertie – Kate Bush's son) – "The Sun" (8), "The Painter" (10, 11, in 2018 edition)
- Peter Erskine – drums (9, 10, 15)
- London Metropolitan Orchestra strings (9, 11)
- Michael Kamen – orchestral arranger and conductor
- John Giblin – bass guitar (10, 12, 15)
- Rolf Harris – "The Painter" (10, 11), didgeridoo (11) (first release only)
- Gary Brooker – backing vocals (12, 14), hammond organ (14, 15)
- Bosco D'Oliveira – percussion (15, 16)
- Production
- Kate Bush – producer
- Del Palmer – recording and mixing engineer
- Simon Rhodes – engineer (Abbey Road Studios)
- Chris Bolster – assistant engineer (Abbey Road Studios)
- James Guthrie – mastering
- Joseph Southall – "Fishermen" painting
Notes
Released: 7 November 2005
Recorded: 1996–2005 Studio Abbey Road Studios
Genre: Art rock, Progressive pop
Length: 79:58
Label - EMI / Columbia (US)
No comments:
Post a Comment