In 1985 Kate Bush released her fifth album titled "Hound Of Love". It is in fact also experimental like her previous album "The Dreaming" and introducing traditional folk music ("Jig Of Life"). The Fairlight CMI synthesizer was present again like on her previous album. The album was split into two parts: "Hounds Of Love" and "The Ninth Wave" and managed to reach #1 in the UK and the Netherlands. In the US the album reached #12.
It was the mid 80's and the era of MTV. Therefore video clips were important. Kate insisted on directing the video's herself.
Running Up That Hill - single cover
The first single of the album was "Running Up That Hill" and was good for a #3 in the UK and #6 in the Netherlands. The second single "Cloudbusting" with a video including Donald Sutherland moved to #20 in the UK and #13 in the Netherlands. This song was based on Peter Reich's "A Book Of Dreams" and the story was perfectly displayed in the video. This story was a true story where Peter Reich's father Wilhelm Reich (also psycho analyst) was really using a machine called a cloudbuster to make clouds gather together to make it rain and was arrested. The machine manipulating so called orgone energy in the sky. In 1985 Peter Reich received a copy of her album and a video cassette including the video. He is very impressed by how Kate has captured his story in the video.
Remains of a cloudbuster at Rangeley, Maine (USA)
It becomes clear that books give her inspiration. Don't forget her debut single was based on Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
Cloudbusting - single cover
The first side "Hounds Of Love" includes all the singles and the very personal "Mother Stands For Comfort". The title track from the album is about being afraid to fall in love, comparing the feeling to being chased by a pack of hounds. The track was also inspired by a horror film from 1957, Night of the Demon. The intro features a quote taken from the film, spoken by Maurice Denham.
A Book Of Dreams (Peter Reich) / The Coming Of Arthur (Alfred Ennyson)
The second side "The Ninth Wave" of the album is named after a line of a poem by Alfred Tennyson titled "The Coming Of Arthur". This side of the album tells about a woman seeing her life flash before her eyes as she drowns beneath icy waters. “And Dream of Sheep” sounds like a sleeping pill, “Under The Ice” is an icy witch ballad moving into “Waking the Witch”, “Watching You Without Me” is like she’s speaking some strange language that only she understands. “Jig of Life” is a typical folk song, “Hello Earth” with its Gregorian chant and melancholic climax and closing with "The Morning Fog".
Photo outtake album cover
Scene from Netflix series Stranger Things
In 2022 "Running Up That Hill" was released again on single and this time it even reached #1 in the UK and #3 in the Netherlands and US due to the appearance of the song in the Netflix series "Stranger Things" where the girl Max Mayfield becomes under the influence of a demon. Her only way out is to follow the sounds of the Kate Bush song to find her way back to the real world.
Original album cover
Hounds Of Love (1985) Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) / Hounds of Love / The Big Sky / Mother Stands for Comfort / Cloudbusting / And Dream of Sheep / Under Ice / Waking the Witch / Watching You Without Me / Jig of Life / Hello Earth / The Morning Fog
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