Photo: slydogmania, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Our Kate Bush Album Covers Ranked article takes a look at the album covers released by one of the most unique original and beautiful musical artists of all time. Kate Bush arrived on the music scene in 1978 shaking up the music world as a young female artist still in her teens releasing music way beyond her years. Most young teens release music that attract teeny boppers. Not Kate Bush, her first single release entitled “Wuthering Heights,” went all the way to number one on the UK music charts. Pat Benatar covered the song a year later on her debut album. It was a song of depth, meaning, and a wondrous melody and lyrics that was also an original piece of music written by Kate Bush herself. In an instant, Kate Bush had become a musical star. The United Kingdom fell in love with her. It wasn’t long before she became a worldwide sensation, but not on a huge mass cultural level. Kate Bush became a star of music critics and fans who loved great music that did not necessarily have to be great pop singles.
Kate Bush released her first album in 1978 simply titled The Kick Inside. It was released with two different album covers. That same year just nine months later Kate Bush released her second album entitled Lionheart. It took two years before she released her next one called Never for Ever in 1980. The Never for Ever album would become Kate Bush’s first number one album in the UK. It took another two years before Kate Bush released an album that was her most original yet entitled The Dreaming. Originality doesn’t always lead to commercial success. The Dreaming did not sell well, but was still a critic and fan favorite.
In 1985, Kate Bush returned with the album Hounds of Love which was indeed a commercial success. It was her biggest album yet. The longest stretch of time between Kate Bush albums would occur when it took her four years to release her follow-up album entitled The Sensual World. Another four years would pass before the release of the album The Red Shoes. Recorded at the legendary Abbey studios in London where The Beatles recorded some of the greatest music of all time The Red Shoes would become her highest-charting album to date on the US Billboard Top 200.
It would be some time before Kate Bush would release another album. She pretty much drifted out of the conscious of music fans for a long time as it took 12 years before she released her next album entitled Ariel in 2005. Six more years would pass before Kate Bush released her ninth studio album entitled Director’s Cut in 2011. The Director’s Cut album was basically a retelling album in which many of her older songs were written with new lyrics and arrangements. It was an interesting album. However that same year, Kate Bush did not disappoint her fans as she did release an album of all new material entitled 50 Words For Snow. That 2011 album would be the final Kate Bush album released as of this writing in 2021.
Our Kate Bush album covers ranked article takes a look at some of these amazing album covers. The ten album list only includes her studio albums. Kate Bush released many 12-inch singles in the UK with some extraordinary covers. These covers will be looked at in a separate article because there are just so many. We think you will enjoy this Kate Bush album cover list which also serves as a discography for her studio albums.
# 10 – Directors Cut
We open up the Kate Bush album covers rank list with her 2011 LP Director’s Cut. Not one of our favorite Kate Bush covers, but it sort of makes the point of what the album is all about. A retelling of some legendary Kate Bush songs.
# 9 – Aerial
We love the colors of Kate Bush’s album Ariel which was released in 2005. The image moving across the sunset is actually a waveform of a blackbird singing. This is an outstanding musical album that must be heard.
# 8 – 50 Words For Snow
50 Words for Snow is Kate Bush’s final studio album. The album cover depicts the story of the song “Snowflake,” about a Snowman who melts way after making love.
# 7 – Never For Ever
Continuing with our Kate Bush album covers list we turn to the album Never For Ever. This is a wild cover that reminds me a bit of Elton John’s Captain Fantastic. The cover was designed by Nick Price. It’s an interesting concept of all the monsters and animals coming out of Kate Bush’s skirt. It was meant to signify all the good and bad that comes from the individual. A brilliant cover, a brilliant artist.
# 6 – The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes album cover was based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen and also the film The Red Shoes which was released in 1948. The story is based on a dancer who was so addicted to her art she could never take off her dancing shoes. Quite a telling album cover for a musical artist like Kate Bush
# 5 – Hounds Of Love
Like many of her singles, the Kate Bush album cover for Hounds Of Love simply showed off the mesmerizing beauty of Kate Bush. For this one it was pretty appropriate given the title Hounds Of Love.
# 4 – The Kick Inside
I remember walking into a record store in 1978 and seeing this huge poster depicting the album cover The Kick Inside. I didn’t even know who Kate Bush was, all I knew was I loved the the poster and brought it immediately. I stared at her everyday, I eventually became curious and went out and brought the album. I’ve been a huge fan ever since and every time I see this album cover it reminds me of being 14 years old again. I am sure there are many like me.
# 3 – The Sensual World
The Sensual World is simply a stunning album cover. Those eyes pierce right through you as you can almost feel the rose touching your face. The flower has deep meaning within the album.
# 2 – Lionheart
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I can tell you that it was pretty tough choosing between the top two Kate Bush albums on this Kate Bush album covers list. This extraordinary album cover in which Kate Bush wears a lion costume defines pretty much all the literary references that were included on the album from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Peter Pan to Pinocchio and more, Kate Bush’s second album Lionheart truly defined her status as an artist’s artist.
# 1 – The Dreaming
Our favorite Kate Bush Album cover will always be the stunning cover for the Kate Bush Album The Dreaming. This one is just a work of art. Beauty, mystery, fear, mysticism and more can all be seen or interpreted from this cover. Of course the title alone lends itself to All the Above if you are unaware of the real meaning behind the album cover. If you look closely there is a key in Kate Bush’s mouth. She’s playing the role of us who was Harry Houdini’s wife. It’s based on the song Houdini which is on the album. However we’ve always had more fun interpreting the cover on our own than really knowing the meaning behind it. The sepia tone really embellished the art behind the photo.
Kate Bush Album Covers Ranked article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business or any organizations is allowed to republish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission.
