Kate Bush - "The Whole Story" (1986)

This was Kate Bush's first compilation album, and consists of 11 of her previous singles. If you like Kate, it's hard to dislike this album. But even if the album contains singles, it doesn't mean it's the best songs. Personally, my Best Of record with Kate would look a bit different. In any case, it got the no. 1 spot on the UK chart, where it became the best-selling of her albums to date. And in 2014, when Kate shocked the world with a concert series at Hammersmith Apollo, the album returned to the England chart, and ended up on the 8th spot.

Personally, I already had the album's songs from her previous records and / or singles, so when I stumbled across it in one of the neighborhood record stores, I bought it the from a complementary motif. A small hole that was filled up in the collection. What you get / got on the record that was new, was a new vocals on the classic Wuthering Heights, since Kate was not completely satisfied with the original, as well as the song Experiment IV. Perhaps the main motive for this was to attract also those who already had everything from her previous releases. Experiment IV was released as a single some weeks before, to promote the album, however, it competed with Kate's and Peter Gabriel's duet, Don't Give Up, released at about the same time (and which became a very big hit).

If you don't have any of her early albums, or only a few, then the record is worth picking up. It provides an introduction and overview of her work 1978-1985. But if you have her early albums, there is quite frankly not any great reasons to buy it. Only if you are so fanatical that you just must have Wuthering Heights new vocals and / or Experiment IV, personally I don't think it motivates a purchase, though.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Wuthering Heights 4:57
2. Cloudbusting 5:09
3. The Man with the Child in His Eyes 2:38
4. Breathing 5:28
5. Wow 3:46
6. Hounds of Love 3:02

Side B
1. Running Up That Hill 5:00
2. Army Dreamers 3:13
3. Sat in Your Lap 3:29
4. Experiment IV 4:21
5. The Dreaming 4:14
6. Babooshka 3:29