Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
I was actually introduced to her with The Kick Inside, because she was doing 'Them Heavy People' on Saturday Night Live, and Kristin and I used to sneak downstairs to watch SNL when we were kids. Kate being Kate, it was very theatrical and over the top, and I had never seen anything like that really. I remember saying, "What is happening? What are we ... What is she doing?" Just being so completely drawn into her thing. There has always been this goth in me. Not aesthetically, I never dressed the part, but I've always been drawn to very emotionally explicit music. I just fell in love with her that night, and continue to be. I picked Hounds of Love because that's the one I come back to. And I think it really comes down to vocal performance: the vocals on Hounds of Love just kill me. I just love listening to how she phrases things, and I feel like she's super-present for that album in every way. And I also love that she draws you in up top with these very strong songs, that stand on their own, and then iturns into this super-trippy landscape at the end. That's such a cool thing to do. It's like getting to know someone, and you're like, "here are my hits!" and then you're sort of like, "however… can you duke the rest of this out? I just love that.