Aerial (album)
Encyclopedia
Aerial is the eighth studio album by British singer-songwriter and musician Kate Bush
.
of a blackbird song superimposed over a glowing photograph.
Aerial is one of Bush's most critically acclaimed albums. Musically, the album is a multi-layered work, incorporating elements of Folk
, Renaissance
, classical, reggae
, flamenco
, and pop
. As with 1985's Hounds of Love
, the album is divided into two thematically distinct collections. The first disc, subtitled A Sea of Honey, features a set of unrelated songs including the hit single "King of the Mountain", a Renaissance-style ode to her son "Bertie", performed with period instruments, and "Joanni", based on the story of Joan of Arc. In the song "
", Bush sings the number
to its 137th decimal place (though she omits the 79th to 100th decimal places). The piano and vocal piece "A Coral Room", dealing with the loss of Bush's mother and the passage of time, was hailed by critics as "stunning" in its simplicity, "profoundly moving" and as "one of the most beautiful" pieces Bush has ever recorded.
The second disc, subtitled A Sky of Honey, consists of a single piece of music reveling in the experience of outdoor adventures on a single summer day, beginning in the morning and ending twenty-four hours later with the next sunrise. The songs are saturated with the presence of birdsong
, and all refer to the sky and sunlight, with the sea also featuring as an important element. Beginning with solo piano, doves cooing, and Bush's son saying, "Mummy, Daddy, the day is full of birds," the piece begins with an early morning awakening to a beautiful day of sun shining "like the light from Italy"; it proceeds through a visit with a painter who is working on a new piece of sidewalk art ('An Architect's Dream and 'The Painter's Link') and then passes on to a crimson 'Sunset.' The interlude 'Aerial Tal,' consists of Bush imitating various samples of birdsong, while 'Somewhere in Between' celebrates the ambiguous nature of dusk. 'Nocturne,' features a pair of lovers bathing in the sea after dark under a star-studded "diamond sky." The song cycle ends with 'Aerial' and its euphoric welcome of the following morning's sunrise with the refrain "I need to get up on the roof...in the sun."
A Sky of Honey features Rolf Harris
playing the didgeridoo and providing vocals on 'An Architect's Dream' and 'The Painter's Link.' Other guest artists include Peter Erskine
, Eberhard Weber
, Lol Creme
and Procol Harum
's Gary Brooker
. In one of his final projects before his death in 2003, long-time Bush collaborator Michael Kamen
arranged the string sections, performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra
.
for Best British Female Solo Artist and Best British Album for Aerial. On 27 January 2006, the album went up against Demon Days
by Gorillaz
and Coles Corner by Richard Hawley
in the pop category of the South Bank Show's Annual Arts Awards, but was beaten by Hawley. UK music magazine Mojo named it their third best album of 2005, behind I Am a Bird Now
by Antony and the Johnsons
and Funeral
by Arcade Fire. Rob Chapman, writing in The Times of London stated that "...its closing triptych, Somewhere In Between, Nocturne, and Aerial, represents the most joyous and euphoric finale to an album that you will hear all year."
Links to reviews:
and the film Citizen Kane
. The track was played for the first time on BBC Radio 2
on 21 September 2005, and was made available for download on 27 September. The B-side (or second track) of the single was a Marvin Gaye
cover, "Sexual Healing
", and is not available on any of her albums. The single entered (and peaked in) the UK singles chart at no.4, and gave Bush her first top five hit for twenty years and her third highest singles chart placing. The song also peaked at no.6 on the UK download chart.
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
.
Overview
Aerial is Bush's first double album, and was released after a twelve year absence from the music industry during which Bush devoted her time to family and the rearing of her son, Bertie. The anticipation leading up to the album's release was immense, with press articles devoted to Bush being printed months, even years before. Like Bush's previous album, The Red Shoes, Aerial does not feature a cover photograph of Bush, but rather one that is emblematic of the album's celebration of sky, sea, and birdsong. The cover image, which seems to show a mountain range at sunset reflected on the sea is in fact a waveformWaveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
of a blackbird song superimposed over a glowing photograph.
Aerial is one of Bush's most critically acclaimed albums. Musically, the album is a multi-layered work, incorporating elements of Folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
, classical, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. As with 1985's Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love is a 1985 album by the British singer Kate Bush. It was Bush's fifth studio album, and her second no. 1. It has since been certified Double Platinum in the UK...
, the album is divided into two thematically distinct collections. The first disc, subtitled A Sea of Honey, features a set of unrelated songs including the hit single "King of the Mountain", a Renaissance-style ode to her son "Bertie", performed with period instruments, and "Joanni", based on the story of Joan of Arc. In the song "
", Bush sings the numberPi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
to its 137th decimal place (though she omits the 79th to 100th decimal places). The piano and vocal piece "A Coral Room", dealing with the loss of Bush's mother and the passage of time, was hailed by critics as "stunning" in its simplicity, "profoundly moving" and as "one of the most beautiful" pieces Bush has ever recorded.
The second disc, subtitled A Sky of Honey, consists of a single piece of music reveling in the experience of outdoor adventures on a single summer day, beginning in the morning and ending twenty-four hours later with the next sunrise. The songs are saturated with the presence of birdsong
Birdsong
Birdsong may refer to:* Bird vocalization, the sounds of birds* Birdsong , a 1993 novel by Sebastian Faulks* Birdsong, Arkansas, USA* Birdsong , a channel on the UK Digital One digital radio multiplex...
, and all refer to the sky and sunlight, with the sea also featuring as an important element. Beginning with solo piano, doves cooing, and Bush's son saying, "Mummy, Daddy, the day is full of birds," the piece begins with an early morning awakening to a beautiful day of sun shining "like the light from Italy"; it proceeds through a visit with a painter who is working on a new piece of sidewalk art ('An Architect's Dream and 'The Painter's Link') and then passes on to a crimson 'Sunset.' The interlude 'Aerial Tal,' consists of Bush imitating various samples of birdsong, while 'Somewhere in Between' celebrates the ambiguous nature of dusk. 'Nocturne,' features a pair of lovers bathing in the sea after dark under a star-studded "diamond sky." The song cycle ends with 'Aerial' and its euphoric welcome of the following morning's sunrise with the refrain "I need to get up on the roof...in the sun."
A Sky of Honey features Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
playing the didgeridoo and providing vocals on 'An Architect's Dream' and 'The Painter's Link.' Other guest artists include Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
, Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, Weber is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing...
, Lol Creme
Lol Crème
Lol Creme is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards.-Biography:...
and Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
's Gary Brooker
Gary Brooker
Gary Brooker, MBE, is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder of the rock band Procol Harum. Brooker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.-Early life:Brooker was born in...
. In one of his final projects before his death in 2003, long-time Bush collaborator Michael Kamen
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
arranged the string sections, performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra
London Metropolitan Orchestra
London Metropolitan Orchestra , founded in 1994, is a London-based studio orchestra whose primary function is to record music for film, television, and other multimedia projects...
.
Album reception
On 13 November 2005, Aerial entered the UK Albums Chart at number three, selling more than 90,000 copies in its first week on release. In Canada, the album was certified Platinum (100,000 copies sold). On 10 January 2006, Bush was nominated for two BRIT AwardsBrit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
for Best British Female Solo Artist and Best British Album for Aerial. On 27 January 2006, the album went up against Demon Days
Demon Days
Demon Days is the second studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released in May 2005. The album features contributions from De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF DOOM, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder, Dennis Hopper, the London Community Gospel...
by Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
and Coles Corner by Richard Hawley
Richard Hawley
Richard Hawley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker...
in the pop category of the South Bank Show's Annual Arts Awards, but was beaten by Hawley. UK music magazine Mojo named it their third best album of 2005, behind I Am a Bird Now
I Am a Bird Now
I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Music Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize...
by Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
and Funeral
Funeral (album)
Funeral is the debut full-length album by the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 in North America by Merge Records and on February 28, 2005 in Europe by Rough Trade Records...
by Arcade Fire. Rob Chapman, writing in The Times of London stated that "...its closing triptych, Somewhere In Between, Nocturne, and Aerial, represents the most joyous and euphoric finale to an album that you will hear all year."
Links to reviews:
- Allmusic [ link]
- BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
(very favourable) link - BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
(favorable) link - The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
link - The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
link - MojoMojo (magazine)MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Link - New York Daily News (favorable) link
- The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
link - Pitchfork MediaPitchfork MediaPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
(6.4/10) link - PopMattersPopMattersPopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
(7/10) link - QQ (magazine)Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
link - Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
link - SlantSlant MagazineSlant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
link
Single
The only single from the album was "King of the Mountain". The song makes references to Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and the film Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
. The track was played for the first time on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
on 21 September 2005, and was made available for download on 27 September. The B-side (or second track) of the single was a Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
cover, "Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing
"Sexual Healing" is a 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year...
", and is not available on any of her albums. The single entered (and peaked in) the UK singles chart at no.4, and gave Bush her first top five hit for twenty years and her third highest singles chart placing. The song also peaked at no.6 on the UK download chart.
iTunes release, and CD re-release
As of mid-May 2010, Aerial was released for the first time on iTunes. The second disc, A Sky Of Honey, now runs as one continual track. In August 2010, the CD version was reissued by Sony Legacy in the United States.Track listing
Chart positions
| Chart (2005) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
25 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 23 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 11 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
20 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 8 |
| Dutch Mega Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
7 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 2 |
| French SNEP Albums Chart | 12 |
| German Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... Media Control Albums Chart |
3 |
| Irish Albums Chart | 6 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 9 |
| Japanese Oricon Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
53 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 22 |
| Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
4 |
| Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
3 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
7 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
12 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
3 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
48 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2005) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 63 |
Certifications
Personnel
- Kate Bush – vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Peter ErskinePeter ErskinePeter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
, Stuart ElliottStuart Elliott (drummer)Stuart Elliott is an English rock drummer, who has played along with David Byron, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Al Stewart, The Alan Parsons Project, Kate Bush, Paul McCartney and Keats....
, Steve Sanger – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Eberhard WeberEberhard WeberEberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, Weber is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing...
, John GiblinJohn GiblinJohn Giblin is an internationally renowned session bassist who has worked with the following artists:*Eric Clapton, Sting, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins * Peter Gabriel...
, Del PalmerDel PalmerDel Palmer is a British bass guitarist and sound engineer, best known for his work with Kate Bush, with whom he also had a long-term relationship between the late 1970s and early 1990s.-Biography:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Bosco D'Oliveira – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Dan McIntosh – electric and acoustic guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Gary BrookerGary BrookerGary Brooker, MBE, is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder of the rock band Procol Harum. Brooker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.-Early life:Brooker was born in...
– hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard... - Rolf HarrisRolf HarrisRolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
– didgeridooDidgeridooThe didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"... - Lol CremeLol CrèmeLol Creme is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards.-Biography:...
, Gary BrookerGary BrookerGary Brooker, MBE, is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder of the rock band Procol Harum. Brooker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.-Early life:Brooker was born in...
, Paddy BushPaddy BushPaddy Bush is an English musician, instrument maker, and artist. He is best known for his work with his sister, Kate Bush, and has appeared on all of her studio albums. Bush often plays standard instruments such as the guitar, mandolin, and harmonica, along with more exotic and unusual...
– backing vocals - Michael Wood – male vocal on "A Coral Room"
- Chris Hall – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Richard Campbell, Susan Pell – violViolThe viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s - Eligio Quinteiro – renaissance guitar
- Robin Jeffrey – renaissance percussion
- Rolf HarrisRolf HarrisRolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
– as The Painter (a character in "A Sky of Honey") - Bertie (Kate Bush's son) – as The Sun (a character in "A Sky of Honey")
- Del PalmerDel PalmerDel Palmer is a British bass guitarist and sound engineer, best known for his work with Kate Bush, with whom he also had a long-term relationship between the late 1970s and early 1990s.-Biography:...
– recording and mixing engineer - James GuthrieJames Guthrie (record producer)James K.A. Guthrie is a British recording engineer and record producer best known for his work with the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, having served as a producer and engineer for the band since 1978...
– mastering - Bill Dunne – "Bertie" stringString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
arrangement - Michael KamenMichael KamenMichael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
– orchestral arrangements; London Metropolitan OrchestraLondon Metropolitan OrchestraLondon Metropolitan Orchestra , founded in 1994, is a London-based studio orchestra whose primary function is to record music for film, television, and other multimedia projects...
conducted by Michael Kamen at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner... - Simon Rhodes – engineer
- Chris Bolster – assistant engineer
- Josephine Bartolinni – ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
translationTranslationTranslation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
External links
- Official website
- 'I'm not some weirdo recluse' (The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
28 October 2005) - This Bush's mission finally gets accomplished
- Aerial by Kate Bush: Music review (National PostNational PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
22 December 2005)