"Hounds of Love" is the fifth studio album by English musician Kate Bush, released on September 16, 1985, by EMI Records. The album marked a commercial resurgence for Bush following the relatively low sales of her previous album, The Dreaming (1982).
The album's lead single, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)," became one of Bush's biggest hits, reaching number one in the UK in June 2022. The album's first side also produced three additional singles: "Cloudbusting," "Hounds of Love," and "The Big Sky." The second side of the album, titled The Ninth Wave, is a conceptual suite that tells the story of a woman drifting alone in the sea at night.
Hounds of Love received widespread critical acclaim upon release and is frequently cited as Bush's best album. It has consistently been voted as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album topped the UK Albums Chart and reached the top 40 on the US Billboard 200. It is Bush's best-selling studio album, achieving double platinum status in the UK with 600,000 sales and selling 1.1 million copies worldwide by 1998.
The album was nominated for Best British Album at the 1986 Brit Awards, with Bush also nominated for Best British Female and Best British Single for "Running Up That Hill." In 2022, Hounds of Love re-entered various charts, including reaching number one on the Billboard Top Alternative Albums, thanks to the renewed popularity of "Running Up That Hill" from its feature in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
In the summer of 1983, Kate Bush began preparing for Hounds of Love using her home studio setup, which included an 8-track recorder, a LinnDrum, a Fairlight synthesizer, and a piano. She wanted to maintain the intimate and atmospheric qualities of these early recordings, so they were transferred to 24-track for further development when formal recording sessions commenced in November 1983. Additional sessions took place in Ireland during the spring of 1984. The album was mixed and overdubbed over the course of a year, culminating in its completion in June 1985.
The recording sessions featured a diverse array of instruments and techniques, including the Fairlight CMI synthesizer, piano, traditional Irish instruments, and layered vocals. Notably, the chorale in "Hello Earth" includes a segment from the traditional Georgian song "Tsintskaro," performed by the Richard Hickox Singers. Additionally, the lines "It's in the trees! It's coming!" at the start of the title track are sampled from a séance scene in the 1957 British horror film Night of the Demon, spoken by actor Maurice Denham.
Hounds of Love was structured as two distinct suites. Side one, titled Hounds of Love, comprises standalone tracks, while side two, called The Ninth Wave, is a seven-track conceptual piece. The album has been labeled post-progressive due to Bush's exploration of themes of love and feminine passion, contrasting with the male-centric perspectives often found in progressive rock.
The Ninth Wave employs a wide range of musical textures to convey its narrative, reminiscent of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Arthurian poetry. The concept explores themes of death and rebirth, featuring a journey through various emotional and sensory states, from warmth and comfort to danger, icy water, and spiritual trial, ultimately leading to a reawakening and renewal. The experimental nature of "The Ninth Wave" and its embrace of European musical traditions, without American influences, has been described as "classically prog" by Ron Moy.
