Here we have the stunningly original and utterly charming debut of one very young English lass, Kate Bush. While the piano-driven melodies are obviously inspired by Carole King, the rest belongs to Kate and Kate alone. This is definitely a product of the 70's and, as such, has a classic rock feel to it. As a result, many who might give it a first-time spin nowadays might find it a bit dated, perhaps even a bit corny, and that's a darn shame. In my old age (well, OK, middle age, I'll cut myself some slack for a change), I've become just as jaded and cynical as the next guy, but, in order to enjoy this masterpiece for what it is, you really need to just check all that baggage at the door and allow yourself to be enchanted. This now inspires me to hop up on my soapbox for a minute: I'd like to say that I am really, REALLY tired of all the young little divas in recent years who pretend to be all sexy, soulful, and world-wise. Like there's such a thing as a 19-year old from the `burbs who knows the first thing about life and how to live it! Please give me a break! I wish the current batch of diva-wannabees would go back and take a page out of Kate's book. Of course, that would require that they actually get creative and write some real SONGS, but that would involve real work and we certainly can't have THAT, now can we? It's much easier to have other people write a bunch of titillating drivel for you, and then have some producer lay down a cookie-cutter groove with everything altered by computers. Yawn, ho-hum, whatever. Whew, that feels better! I'll step back down from my soapbox now.

So, what's a teenage white girl (who's had a reasonably privileged, sheltered upbringing) supposed to write about if she's going to do it all herself and be honest about it??? Well, as it turns out, all sorts of things. She could pretend to be a character in her favorite novel. She could write about fantasy scenarios based on old movies. Or, as a thesis, she could start out with seemingly mundane, everyday events and imbue them with a sense of the mystical. The sky's the limit, really. Of course, there's the expected musings on love and romance, mainly in the wide-eyed sense of what the future might have in store. There is some sexually-oriented stuff, but it's quite honest and relates the clumsiness and awkwardness, as well as the beauty, of an early encounter. As far as the songs themselves go, there's not a clunker here. But, aside from the classic "Wuthering Heights", I'd like to say that I especially enjoy "Moving", "The Saxophone Song", "Oh to be in Love", "L'amour Looks Something Like You", and the haunting title track. "Them Heavy People" is lyrically very interesting and concerns her struggle with intellectualism, a theme to which she would return throughout her career.

While Kate would go on to make technically better albums (e.g. "The Dreaming" and "The Hounds of Love"), this would come at the price of at least some degree of solipsism and artistic pretension. Also, her voice hadn't quite developed yet into the powerhouse it would later become (refer to her re-recording of "Wuthering Heights" on "The Whole Story" compilation - wow, what a difference!), and a little weakness is evident as she occasionally has to strain to sing over some of the arrangements. However, her debut is tough to beat in terms of outright charm. Finally, if you dig this, be sure to get a copy of her "Live at Hammersmith Odeon" video and you'll be able to see many of these songs performed onstage as little theater-pieces.