What was Kate Bush’s best-selling album?
The best-selling album of Kate Bush is not the one you’d think; I’m saying that cause when I did the research, I spent the whole evening after telling anyone who would listen about it. In a way, it feels like a perfectly representative example of the music industry, and perfect proof of why Bush herself chose to step away.
In her career, Bush clearly cared about the sanctity of the album. On her debut album, The Kick Inside, even then, the musician, who was barely an adult, made the decision to make it all neat and cohesive. ‘Moving’ runs perfectly and satisfyingly seamlessly into ‘Saxophone Song’. The themes on the album of womanhood, love and longing all come together beautifully. The soundscape from start to finish works in harmony.
When she felt like that faltered on her second album, Lionheart, sharing later that she felt rushed and unhappy with the process, she refused to let it happen again. She taught herself how to produce exactly so her albums could stay cohesive, and so she could be the ultimate protector of the record, still caring deeply about the big picture of the whole LP.
She’s no stranger to a concept album. The second side of Hounds Of Love is a story, start to finish. The Red Shoes borrows inspiration from the movie of the same name, released alongside Bush’s own short film that forces you to engage with the album as a whole product. On her comeback record, Aerial, she again dedicated the second side to a story but did it all in one piece of music so skipping through originally wasn’t even an option.
Each one of her albums feels like its own world with a distinct identity. The way she chooses to group and present her songs was clearly always a carefully thought-out decision, but an artist with obvious admiration for the craft of an album.
That’s why it feels so surprising that none of those albums is her best-selling record. Initially, the assumption might be that Hounds Of Love would top the list as it’s undeniably her most well-known and recognisable record. However, cultural awareness and sales figures don’t always align. That 1985 album actually comes in at second place, having sold 1,374,800 units.
Instead, her best-selling record is merely a compilation, or a greatest hits album in some way. Her 1986 album, The Whole Story, tops the list with 1,560,880 sales. It’s a strange winner, but I guess it makes sense. At the time, Bush had just released Hounds Of Love, so her success was hitting a new peak, making it obvious that people clearly wanted more as they rushed out to buy this mixtape. But given that she wasn’t exactly an old artist then, and that she was still active, it’s always odd when a greatest hits release outsells the actual records themselves.
But The Whole Story does house the hits. All of her top tracks up to that point are on there, and perhaps the idea of the additional unreleased track, ‘Experiment IV’, was enough to draw even more people in.
Mostly, it feels reflective of the sad fact of how the industry works. Despite Bush’s clear care for a start-to-finish album experience, the masses will always crave a quick hit and so the compilation prevails.
What’s Kate Bush’s best-selling song?
On the flip side, the story of her best-selling and best-performing song still feels like a story of hope. In January 1978, a stranger appeared on television; it was a young Kate Bush, performing a strange, enchanting yet haunting song based on a classic novel. Not only launching ‘Wuthering Heights’ into the world, but also launching herself, with her unique vocals, people were hooked instantly.
‘Wuthering Heights’ didn’t just give Kate Bush her first hit and first UK number one, but the song made history. She became the first woman to top the charts with a self-written song, as the track became a victory for female songwriters everywhere.
