Was there ever a more talented female music artist than Kate Bush?

I was molested behind the bushes in a park once.

Joni Mitchell.

R2- Agreed.

r2 Her blackface era was very bold.

Kate Bush is an absolute gem. She said last year that she’s working on new music. Very curious what she’ll release.

She could've been much bigger in the US but she wouldn't tour or do promotional work here.

Jesus Christ, OP, it's like you're begging the Janet Jackson troll to appear

Judy Garland.

Fuck you, OP.

She is a brilliantly original writer and performer. The only female musician who comes close to her is Bjork. I’ve been lucky enough to see them both perform live. A collaboration between them would be quite something.

R9, what do you think of them both as vocalists?

It’s too bad that it takes something like Stranger Things to introduce an iconic artist to younger generations, but you know—whatever it takes. I hope they were inspired to dive deeper into her catalog.

Joni mitchell may be more talented but her music is also way more boring. Kate's music is way more interesting. And although I never really understood the Tori Amos and Kate Bush comparisons, I think Tori is another extremely talented artist. She deserved more critical acclaim than she got.

They both have a distinct musical ambition. They were never going to be American radio friendly,

R12- agree about Tori. I preferred her strongly over Kate, and also never got ANY comparison. of the two. Two completely different artists-

Its a shame that Tori's voice is utterly gone.

How has Kate's voice held up? (I have not seen/heard anything of Kate's since I was a kid in the 90's

R14, right? Someone on DL suggested that Tori was never fully appreciated because her music was distinctly feminine versus the other 90s female artists; I think there is truth to that. Tori writes more intimate music than Kate does. And I have no idea how someone would hear Kate singing, say, "Running Up the Hill" and confuse that with Tori singing, for instance, "Past the Mission."

Do we know why Tori lost her voice so badly? I have no idea about Kate's voice.

Moms Mabley.

R15- No- I think Tori had node issues for years, and that, combined with aging has really fucked her up. It's so sad as she was a superlative live performer and supremely underrated in that respect as well- Even her speaking voice is very croaky. Its crazy.

Tori definitely deserved grammy recognition for Scarlets Walk. She is an amazing songwriter. I particularly love Native Invader in terms of her later work.

Tori and Joni are far more alike than Kate and Tori-

The only answer is Madonna.

R18 = Madonna

What does everyone think of Kate Bush as a SINGER?

R17, that's very true. Tori is introspective in a similar way to Joni.

R20, I think she has a very good voice. I love how she sings Running Up that Hill, Suspended in Gaffa and This Woman's Work in particular.

Her voice gets on my last fucking nerve.

R22, why?

EEP ZORCH, R9!!

I would say PJ Harvey, with her extraordinary imagination, songwriting, and gift for reinvention, is *as* talented.

She had two hits 40 years ago.

Um, excuse me, OP?

Another fuck you to you OP.

Though of course a superb performer, Streisand is not a born artist in the way Bowie (sorry, male) and Kate Bush are. Bush and Bowie--have to slip in a self-own MARY! here--created worlds and characters with their art--soundscapes and sound design were only a small part of it. Could Streisand have written a lyric as simple yet affecting as: "But he didn't have the money for a guitar/What could he do?/Should have been a politician/But he never had a proper education/What could he do?/Should have been a father/But he never even made it to his twenties/What a waste/Army dreamers"

Kate Bush was one of the most talented singers ever. She also had a lot of pain and struggle throughout her life. Despite that, she had a good heart, which is hard to encounter in Hollywood. At a time when gay people were oppressed beyond belief, they identified with her struggles and she theirs.

Kate Bush is maybe the greatest female British poet of the latter part of the 20th century.

Similar to how Leonard Cohen is the great Canadian poet of the latter part of the 20th century. And Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan.

And I only call out the female aspect because of the way it informs the subject matter of her songs.

I’d also argue Christie McVie is one of the great British song writers of the late 20th century. Christie’s songs are both commercially successful and achingly beautiful. I’ll die on the hill of Songbird is Fleetwood Mac’s best song.

R27. If EGOTs included special non earned Tonys.

“Whom”, OP. NNTM.

[quote]She could've been much bigger in the US but she wouldn't tour or do promotional work here.

She appeared on SNL to promote her first album. And she did a lot of promo work in the US for Hounds of Love. (Including this Live at Five interview with Sue Simmons.)

She was too avant guarde in the beginning to really make it big in the US. I can't imagine Wuthering Heights besting the MOR or disco hold that was on the top 40 at that time. Europe has a wider appreciation of that kind of music. Debby Boone or Streisand fans in the States were not going to take to it in droves.

Tori Amos is heavily inspired by Kate Bush in my opinion, at least her first few albums.

I understand why Tori was never popular. She never had too much of a jingle in her songs and the production always seemed not commercial enough for radio.

No, "who" is correct here. It's "than" (as opposed to "then") that the OP got wrong. "If so, then who?" (not that it matters).

[quote] Tori Amos is heavily inspired by Kate Bush in my opinion, at least her first few albums.

I thought I read that Tori didn't even know who Kate was until after Little Earthquakes was released. People kept saying she sounded like Kate Bush so she listened to her music and loved her. I just don't see the big similarities between Tori and Kate.

Yes, ME!

[quote] Could Streisand have written a lyric as simple yet affecting as: "But he didn't have the money for a guitar/What could he do?/Should have been a politician/But he never had a proper education/What could he do?/Should have been a father/But he never even made it to his twenties/What awaste/Army dreamers"

There's more to musical talent than writing the lyrics. In my opinion, it's not all that important whether or not the artist wrote the lyrics. It's also about how the artist interprets the song with their voice and how they bring the lyrics to life. Very few people can argue against Streisand's ability to interpret a song and how she paved the way for so many women in the industry who came after her and not just with singing either. Could Kate have directed herself in a musical like Barbra has? If you're going to call someone the greatest of all time, especially in the entertainment industry, that artist should be more than niche.

Rita Coolidge

I agree with most of what you said, R39, but what *I* meant to say is that the kind of artistry that Bush and Bowie possess(ed) is more rare: they are/were *complete*, extremely complex, multi-talented artists and storytellers who were involved in all aspects of their art: lyrics, music, album artwork, dance, stage design, video. They are/were visionaries (similar to David Byrne of Talking Heads). Streisand has dabbled in a lot of that as well, but (shall we say) with more mixed results.

You could just as easily imagine Bush having become a painter, choreographer, or avant-garde film director as a musical artist. Her "Aerial" album from 2005 is such a multi-layered work. It has elements of Renaissance, classical music, folk, reggae, flamenco, and even rock. Her (and Bowie's) music will be studied in the future in ways that Streisand's, I think, wouldn't. Bush's obvious influences range from Emily Brontë to fairy tales ("The Red Shoes") to mystical Irishness to the films of Powell and Pressburger to Roman Catholicism to "Ulysses" ("The Sensual World"). There's such a richness and depth of imagination in her work.

I recognize, of course, that Streisand (and Aretha Franklin, for that matter) is also sublimely talented beyond all measure, but I just see her as more conventional.

PJ Harvey is right up there as well. Streisand couldn't have created an album as introspective and genre-blending as "Let England Shake," while Harvey could probably could not have played Rose Morgan in "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (kidding, kidding).

Years ago, a music journalist covered a meeting/mutual interview between then-supermodel Linda Evangelista and Replacements singer Paul Westerberg. He wrote that it struck him that both were artists in their own way, and that he was happy that each was doing at what they excelled: "Clothes wouldn't hang as well off Westerberg, but then Evangelista couldn't have written "Left of the Dial."

TL;DR: they are talented in different ways; we can love them both.

Liza Minnelli of course!

Annie Lennox

r34 she rarely traveled to the US and didn't do the promonotional work required, and she didn't tour.

R30 what are the pains and struggles that Kate has had in her life?

R45- That is the Judy Garland troll- They trot that beautiful tribute out whenever they can. They just swap Judy's name for whoever-

(It always cracks me up and never gets old)

Christine McVie never did a thing for me. No appeal in voice, songwriting, or otherwise.

I did like Isn't It Midnight and thats about it.

Never understood her appeal.

I did like how no nonsense she appeared to be...

All of those Fleetwood Mac boomers have turned me off for good with their fighting and egos since that Stevie debacle. (specifically Stevie and Mick, and I was not a fan of how Christine kind of betrayed Lindsey who she has an amazing working relationship with) Just ick- all of them.

The late great Laura Nyro was amazingly talented. Definitely the equal of Kate Bush, at the very least.

Kate is one of the very best, but there have been others, thankfully.

Nana Mouskori

To the Barbra Streisand fan above: I appreciate you (especially if you're the long-time DL poster known as 'charlie'!) and totally get what you're saying. I always loved Kate Bush for the (sometimes obscure) historical, literary, and cinematic references she always incorporated into her music. She introduced many of her young (and not-so-young) fans to all kinds of art they wouldn't have discovered otherwise and brought so much of what she loved in the arts to her own work. I love and admire her for that. I don't think Streisand is as deeply literate (especially in folklore and mythology and poetry) as Bush, but that may just be my ignorance. I'd like to be wrong.

Too many to name OP

That’s the thing about Bush to me, R51. Her music seemed so esoteric. Say what you will about Barbra, her music is type O - for everyone.

Alison Moyet

Kate Bush is definitely an acquired taste. Running Up That Hill is, in spite of its very interesting syntax and harmonies, one of her most mainstream songs. Everything else is so unique, you either like it or you don’t.

I tried her Sensual World album but could only handle so many “oooh yes” stuff.

And then there’s her song about her relationship with a computer - pre-Internet so not like there was much she could do besides prehistoric word processing and Shoot the Wumpus.

Don't forget Oregon Trail r56.

Her 1985 song "Cloudbusting" (and the accompanying video, featuring Donald Sutherland) is like nothing else. Unique composition.

You like the deep stuff r29.

R29- Well said. But I guess this describes why I am not a Bowie or Bush fan (both Bush's- actually all 3 Bush's)

I don't need theatre or high concept in my music.

Between Joni, Tori, Lana, Josh Tillman, and The Weeknd and some of my old school shit, I am good.

I am a basic bitch but I do appreciate artistry and talent- so I totally get the Kate Bush praise- a true original. (And at her peak- what a voice- also, one of a kind. Kind of like Karen Carpenter- but totally different.

[quote]I understand why Tori was never popular. She never had too much of a jingle in her songs and the production always seemed not commercial enough for radio.

What are you talking about? She was hugely popular in the 90s.

R61- As a -massive- Tori fan, she was popular for maybe 6-7 years. 93-99? By 99, the bloom was already off the rose.

I would say Tori peaked in 1996.

2021 Scarlets Walk was a classic, did well, had her biggest single ever (A Sorta Fairytale) but she was not even particularly popular at that point either. We had entered the Britney/Christina era.

She was massively underrated and also got very little Grammy love.

She ruins her own beautiful song "Wuthering Heights" with a silly Minnie Mouse vocal. Pat Bentar out sings her and gives the song the dignity it deserves.

Benatar

I’d say Tori peaked in 1998-99 when “Jackie’s Strength” was remixed.

Her EP with the cover of “Smells like Teen Spirit” and “Crucified,” “Angie,” and “Wi there” is killer.

*Winter. Dammit.

OP = That One

R65- Shit, From The Choirgirl Hotel was amazing. Probably 1998 was the peak- I think you are right, not 96.

The first tour with the band, she played Madison Square Garden.

1998.

Belinda Carlisle

Laura Nyro

Tori was never, ever "massively popular". She had some popularity but it's not like she had a bunch of albums going multi-platinum. Her best-selling album sold about 2 million in America. That's not massive by any means. That being said, does anyone else love To Venus and Back? I actually find it to be a better album that From the Choirgirl Hotel. The production is incredible, there is not a single bad track on that album.

R71- TVAB was Tori's best -production quality/style- EVER. Her husband has definitely been a long term blight in this regard.

All of those electronic landscapes- it's amazing. And more immersive than even Choirgirl.

I particularly love Juarez, Spring Haze, fucking DATURA-- that tip of your star bridge may be the single best "moment" on her albums- it's stunning. They should have repeated it later in the song.. Lust is so dark and amazing. Glory of The 80's.. The only weak moment is the closer 1000. Oceans, and even that is a great song- also well produced.

Any fans here of Armand van Helden's Star Trunk Funk Mix of Tori's "Professional Widow"?

R72, I love 1000 Oceans. I think, in a strange way, it's the perfect closer, because it brings us back to earth. The rest of the songs could be about the mirror-image of earth while 1000 Oceans is back here on our planet (if that makes sense). I think the production on Choirgirl sounds a bit compressed versus TVAB. TVAB sounds way more modern and there is more depth to the soundscapes and instrumentation. I find it more interesting each time I listen. Ironically, it may be her most Kate Bush album of all her 90s output.

R73, I'm a Tori fan that has a hard time with Boys for Pele. I love the opener, one of her strongest songs ever. And I love a couple of other songs like Hey Jupiter. Bu tof rthe most part, it just perplexes me. But the remixes of Professional Widow are all excellent.

R74- Well said. And that song does ground an album that sounds like it was from space! I will never forget( on release day) going to Borders first thing. I was SO excited, especially for the live side. I was 19. I think was late Sept or October.

Who?

I love that Susan Boyle.

R76, I haven't given the live side much attention. Based on what you are saying, I should give it a lesson.

R78- Purple People and Sugar- both from Soundcheck are impeccable.

Space Dog and Waitress are epic.

R79, definitely will give those a listen. Btw, I haven't heard anything after To Venus and Back. What would you say are the best of her subsequent albums?

Debbie Harry

R80- without a doubt- Scarlet's Walk- which was written around 9/11-- It still resonates now.

And for me, I love Native Invader- This one was written after Trump won the first time (2017) and its one of my favorites- also resonates for me today.

Tanita Tikaram

Stevie Nicks

Alanis Morrissey

Bjork wins for the weirdest female singers contest, Kate Bush and Yoko come in 2nd and 3rd

Aimee Mann

Grace Slice

Tori's version of Smells Like Teen Spirit is eerie. And I like how I can actually understand the words (unlike the Nirvana version).

Kate Bush could maybe sing like this