 Kate
Bush is, both musically and personally, an anomaly. She wasn’t
the most conventionally beautiful woman, and she didn’t
sound at all like a pop star. But in 1978, a 19-year-old unknown
Kate released two full-length studio albums and had a #1 hit
single in the U.K. with a song inspired by the Emily Brontë
novel Wuthering Heights, published 131 years prior.
The following year she went on a European tour and, despite
actively recording for many years prior, never toured again.
Kate Bush, by all rights, should NEVER have been popular,
and yet she is considered one of the most influential women
in music history.
Now, nearly 30 years after her debut, her
career can be appropriately analyzed. As the latest part of
the Under Review series of discs (see also
our coverage of their Queen and Syd
Barrett) we get just that. It’s important to understand
this “analysis” as what it is. This is not a biography.
This isn’t a gushing critique made to pander to fans.
This is critical, and the participants have
little problem pointing out moments that aren’t quite
so bright in Kate’s history. Anyone new to Kate need
not start here. The film takes for granted that you have already
heard these albums and only provides narration to bridge the
continuity of discussion from one album to the next.
Kate
Bush is very British, and her popular impact was best felt
in the U.K. It comes as no surprise then that the speakers
on this DVD are British as well. Paul Gambaccini is probably
the heaviest contributor. He lived through the era working
at Radio 1, and with his enormous amassed-through-experience
musicalbrain he is easily the most entertaining and impressive
 of the group. Although he appears a bit biased in his appreciation
for Kate, he easily expresses why he likes certain tracks
more than others. He goes into great detail about attributes
of her music that others would easily overlook or believe
to be just quirks. Of all things, he is best at providing
great “industry” input; explaining his theories
on why certain songs had no potential to be hits, and what
made for great pop records. Anyone who can take a 45 sleeve
and break down why the image on it is significant to the song
(in this case, it’s “Army Dreamers”) using
multiple examples and strong reasoning obviously knows their
stuff. This analysis is fantastic based on his inclusion alone.
So impressive and passionate is he that I would look at any
other releases that he might be on.
 The
other presenters are interesting for a variety of different
reasons. Lucy O’Brien is fantastic for providing input
from a woman’s perspective. Her insight is particularly
welcome as we get to Kate’s later albums like The
Sensual World and, her most recent, Aerial,
which are very feminine and represent both Kate’s maturity
as a woman just as much as her maturity as a musician. This
documentary never directly focuses on the inspiration on women’s
music that Kate has had. But echoes of Kate can be heard on
musicians ranging from Paula Cole and Sarah McLachlan to Tori
Amos, and was an obvious inspiration on my inspiration, Milla Jovovich.
Thus, hearing analysis from a woman isn’t only appreciated,
it’s vital to get a rounded understanding.
That’s not to say there aren’t a few oversights
that fans will notice with glowing clarity. The chapter list,
which breaks apart the feature by album, incorrectly labels
the album Never For Ever as Never Forever.
During the discussion of the single Running Up That Hill
(A Deal with God) the video they play appears to be (although
it isn’t labeled as such) a live version performed with
David Gilmour for Amnesty International (from The
Secret Policeman’s Third Ball). The Christmas
single December Will Be Magic Again is completely
glossed over without comment. Not all the singles on The
Red Shoes are discussed, and the film follow up made
from that album, The Line, The Cross And The Curve,
is mentioned, and even discussed – but isn’t mentioned
by name.
 This
might all sound like nitpicking by a Kate Bush fan, and you
would be right. Still, I think that Kate Bush fans are the
target market for this documentary so I feel that my nitpicking
is all the more warranted. If you are going to spend 90 minutes
talking about eight albums, I think that you should be able
to cover a few album tracks or b-sides. Sadly, this documentary
doesn’t, and that is disappointing. However, the feature
is very efficient, and if you enjoy this type of presentation,
you will find a lot to love here. Lots of music video clips
and lots of song clips help illustrate the points that the
contributors make. But it is being used to illustrate their points and people going in should note this. You get no full
songs, videos or performances on this feature. What you do
get is an above average examination of her work – exactly
what this disc set out to give you.
Presentation
The video here is nothing special. It’s full frame,
which is how it was shot, how most of the videos were shot,
and how the concert footage was shot. They obviously didn’t
tweak any of the older footage to make it look remarkably
new. But this is a documentary, and the footage of the speakers
looks perfectly fine. The sound mix is 2.0, which is also
how the original videos were arranged, and it works well.
This isn’t a blockbuster film, and this feature looks
perfectly fine for what it is. There are no subtitles included,
which is upsetting, but I imagine that with the large amount
of lyrics and this documentary being “unauthorized”
they wouldn’t be allowed to reprint them.
 Extras
Paul Gambaccini Remembers – (3:06) Paul Gambaccini,
for those who don’t already know, was a host and disc
jockey for various programs on BBC Radio 1 which is quite
probably the most influential radio station that broadcasts
over the U.K. similar to our KROQ or, at one time, CKLW.
Here Gambaccini recollects two different stories about Kate.
It is obvious that he is quite fond of her, and his eyes glow
with nostalgia as he delivers his stories. This is the only
real video extra for the program, and while it is welcome
and worthy of being included, it comes off as odd, because
it feels as though it could easily be edited into the feature.
Still, if you are going to rent or purchase this DVD, you
will want to check out this feature.
Contributor Biographies -
Relatively self-explanatory, this feature is five text biographies
of the major participants in the feature; Paul Gambaccini,
Lucy O’Brien, Morris Pert, Phil Sutcliffe and Nigel
Williamson. These are very short, but give you a decent background
to their qualifications.
“The Hardest Kate Bush Interactive
Quiz In The World Ever” – Seemingly a standard
feature amongst the Under Review series,
this quiz covers 25 questions about all of the eras of Kate’s
history. Personally, I scored 23 on my first time through,
so I wouldn’t consider it especially hard. However,
I know a lot about Kate Bush and I imagine that newcomers
might feel like the kid that was stoned during his SATs. Relatively
few of these questions could be answered correctly after viewing
the feature, so you pretty much need to know your stuff. Answers
are provided if you get stumped, but they can’t be viewed
individually.
 The
Bottom Line
Kate Bush: Under Review is regrettably the
only Kate DVD in existence. It isn’t regrettable because
this is a bad disc, but it is regrettable because this really
isn’t the best place to start. Younger music fans who
are interested in finding out who this Kate Bush woman is
and what she’s all about would be better served picking
up a few of her albums (I would say, The Kick Inside, The Dreaming, and Hounds of Love).
Kate Bush fans will be interested, and they will be rewarded
with a mostly thorough analysis of her entire career from
the ‘70s to today. Hopefully soon someone will release
a video collection to which this would be an awesome companion
piece. As it stands though, this is a really solid documentary
for a really limited audience. I recommend it for fans of
Kate, British music from the ‘70s and ‘80s and
female vocalists, but if you are not REALLY into this scene, Under Review isn’t likely to hold your
attention.
Note: The distributor for this
disc has noted that this is not the final edit of the feature
that will be on the retail release. I was not expressed what
changes will be made, but this review may make mention of
footage not included in the final product.
|
