slh@ut-emx.UUCP (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) (03/02/90)
In article <9002282240.AA26871@EDDIE.MIT.EDU> MTARR@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU writes: >And finally, although I've already e-mailed my reply to Ed, the two songs that >simultaneously turned me into a Lovehound were "Running Up That Hill" and the >version of "Wuthering Heights" on _The Whole Story_. After three years that >song still puts me into near-convulsions, as any of my dorm-mates will tell >you whenever I crank it up and introduce all of Wesleyan to Kate's incredible >voice. The original version doesn't do the same thing for me, although I still >like it, and it's the reason I bought TKI in the first place. How interesting that someone should bring this up, because I was about to make a posting on the very same subject. I just bought _The Whole Story_ two days ago, and I admit I spent fifteen dollars for two tracks. I was especially looking forward to the new vocal on "Wuthering Heights." The original version I first heard after having *only* heard _The Dreaming_, _Hounds of Love_ and _The Sensual World_, so I was a little nonplussed by the nineteen-year-old Kate. However, I quickly grew to love her, and "Wuthering Heights" became one of my favorites. So. I was all excited with the prospect of hearing this new vocal, and went straight home from the record store. It's a shame I let my anticipation build up like that. It started out okay, but the impression I got, the longer it went on, was that Kate was singing through the motions, so to speak. Parts of it were very good, yes, but the part that nearly made me throw the CD case across the room was "You know it's me, Cathy." The first syllable of "Cathy" was a miss. She didn't hit it. She overshot it by a mile. Now, this may seem like nitpicking to some, but I have this image of Kate as a perfectionist-- a well-deserved image, and not one I consider an insult. But this! I was awfully disappointed. Live, I could understand. But if they could go to all the trouble of editing some of the celesta parts and beefing up the drums, they could have had a voice track that was better than that. Furthermore, the strident voice of the original recording seems much more appropriate to the little virago that I've perceived Kate's Cathy to be. Anybody else out there feel the same way? I'm not trying to start a flame war; I guess I've just discovered that even Kate isn't perfect. Unless... did the record company make her re-record it so that they'd have another new track? Just a small glimmer of hope... >Meredith Tarr "Living in the gap between past and future..." >mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu -KT -- --------Susan L. Cecelia Harwood----------------------------------------------- The whims that we are weeping for our parents would be beaten for. --Kate Bush -----------(slh@emx.UUCP)------------------The University of Texas @Austin-----
ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi) (03/02/90)
Actually, I like both versions. They do sound different, but they are each unmistakably Kate. To me the new version sounds somewhat "cleaner", but that's not necessarily better. Interestingly, although I've heard the new version of "Wuthering Heights" on the radio lots of times, I've never heard the old one. As for whether the record company forced her to do this, I doubt it. She has said in an interview that if she would have had the time, she probably would have done the same thing to some of the other old tracks on _The Whole Story_. She said that the first version of WH sounded "like a little girl singing." Ed ed@das.llnl.gov
jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (Creep Debut) (03/02/90)
In article <25358@ut-emx.UUCP> emx.utexas.edu!emx!slh@cs.utexas.edu (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) writes: >if they could go to all the trouble of editing some of the celesta parts >and beefing up the drums, they could have had a voice track that was >better than that. "They" == Kate. She did all the changes herself, deliberately, to achieve a different effect. >Anybody else out there feel the same way? I'm not trying to start a >flame war; I guess I've just discovered that even Kate isn't perfect. >Unless... did the record company make her re-record it so that they'd >have another new track? Just a small glimmer of hope... Nobody forced her to re-record it. I think she's on record as having stated that she wanted to re-record ALL the backing tracks but just didn't have the time. I won't flame you for your posting, because you're entitled to your opinion no matter how misguided it is. There has already been a war on Gaffa a while back on this very topic, adn I'm sure nobody wants to start it up again. I just think the new vocal has more power to it. +---------------------- Is there any ESCAPE from NOISE? ----------------------+ | | |\ | jsd@gaffa.mit.edu | Fear the Government that | | \|on |/rukman | jsd@umass.bitnet | fears your computer. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
slh@ut-emx.UUCP (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) (03/02/90)
In article <50615@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> ed@das.UUCP (Edward Suranyi) writes: >As for whether the record company forced her to do this, I doubt it. >She has said in an interview that if she would have had the time, she >probably would have done the same thing to some of the other old tracks >on _The Whole Story_. She said that the first version of WH sounded >"like a little girl singing." It does indeed, and that's one reason it affects me so. It sounds to me like this selfish, spoiled and greedy little creature who wants her lover to follow her even into death because she's lonely... which makes sense in this context, I suppose. :-) I'll probably get used to the other one, but I don't think it'll ever give me chills like the original. >Ed >ed@das.llnl.gov -- --------Susan L. Cecelia Harwood----------------------------------------------- The whims that we're weeping for our parents would be beaten for. --Kate Bush -----------(slh@emx.utexas.edu)------------The University of Texas @Austin-----
dbk@.UUCP (David Kay) (03/05/90)
In article <25358@ut-emx.UUCP> slh@ut-emx.UUCP (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) writes:
[..about the version of Wuthering Heights on The Whole Story...]
It started out okay, but the impression I got, the longer it went on, was
that Kate was singing through the motions, so to speak. Parts of it were
very good, yes, but the part that nearly made me throw the CD case across
the room was "You know it's me, Cathy." The first syllable of "Cathy"
was a miss. She didn't hit it. She overshot it by a mile. Now, this
may seem like nitpicking to some, but I have this image of Kate as a
perfectionist-- a well-deserved image, and not one I consider an insult.
But this! I was awfully disappointed. Live, I could understand. But
if they could go to all the trouble of editing some of the celesta parts
and beefing up the drums, they could have had a voice track that was
better than that.
-- end inclusion --
If that were a mistake, I would understand your feelings. I shared
them the first time I heard the song: how could she have let that go!
Then I thought about it. You don't need to be a professional
critic to pick that mistake out. KaTe takes plenty of time on her
recordings. If she wanted it out, it would have been out. I think
she sang it that way because she wanted it to sound like that.
It's a pretty common thing for rock keyboardists to deliberately
add an adjacent note for a moment: the first time you hear it, it sounds
like a mistake, but as you understand the song, it starts to make sense.
Of course, sometimes things are mistakes, too, but it's generally pretty
easy to tell the difference, especially if you know something about the
group. A particularly effective version of this is in Zepplin's _All
of my Love_ from Coda, I think.
Back to _Wuthering Heights:_ you are right to notice that the
voice of the older KaTe is much fuller and more assured than in the original.
But one of the keys of the original is how the voice carries Cathy's
vulnerability. I think the new version uses the break on the first
syllable of "Cathy" to do the same thing. Because it is an obvious
mistake, it is emotionally and muscially wrenching. That's its job
within that song. In the context of the remake, it clearly demonstrates
KaTe's deliberation, control, and confidence.
I don't know if you sing, but if you do, try singing "You
know it's me...Cathy." A) it's not hard to do right, and B) it's
extremely hard to do it wrong the way she does and hit the second
syllable of "Cathy" dead-nuts on.
Of course, if I'm wrong and it really is a mistake, I'll be
very surprised and disappointed, 'cause it's a terrible one.
David Kay
dbk@esl.comtlh@PacBell.COM (Lee Hounshell) (03/06/90)
In article <25358@ut-emx.UUCP> emx.utexas.edu!emx!slh@cs.utexas.edu (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) writes: >I just bought _The Whole Story_ >two days ago, and I admit I spent fifteen dollars for two tracks. I >was especially looking forward to the new vocal on "Wuthering Heights."... > >It started out okay, but the impression I got, the longer it went on, was >that Kate was singing through the motions, so to speak... > >Anybody else out there feel the same way? I'm not trying to start a >flame war; I guess I've just discovered that even Kate isn't perfect. >Unless... did the record company make her re-record it so that they'd >have another new track? Just a small glimmer of hope... I also just bought The Whole Story two days ago, and also for only the two tracks. I was pretty dissappionted with the disk as well, for the reasons you mentioned and also for a different reason. I found the recording quality to be really *bad* on TWS in comparison to her other disks. I have a fairly high-end audio system at home, complete with two CD players (I know, I know, pure decadence :-) anyway, I wanted to compare the tracks of TWS against the same songs on her other disks. I'd play the same song on each player simultaneously (I started with "Running up that Hill") and sit back with a remote control and A/B them. My conclusion was that TWS is very poorly mastered. The songs are recorded at very low DB levels and do not have the "depth" and "imaging" presented on other disks with the same recording. Although I like Kate's music, I didn't like the way it was mastered here. Even for Experiment IV (the one song on the disk which seemed to be properly digitized) I can't recommend TWS. I don't know if the LP version of this album are as poorly made or not. Lee Hounshell