Album of the Day

Among the most precocious talents in British musical history, Kate Bush started writing songs at age 11 and was all of 13 when one of her demos reached the hands of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who recommended her to EMI. THE KICK INSIDE followed on the label in 1978, and it's a remarkably assured debut. All 13 songs were penned by Kate and cover a broad stylistic range from rockers (“James and the Cold Gun”) to sweeping ballads (“Wuthering Heights,” a U.K. No.1 hit) and the subject matter is just as diverse, encompassing literature, philosophy and sexuality among other topics. Bush's soprano vocals are both beautiful and eccentric, and producer Andrew Powell spotlights them with progressive rock-influenced arrangements that sound even sharper on the album's 2018 remaster. We'll give THE KICK INSIDE another spin now to wish Kate Bush a happy birthday.