Kate Bush - Butterfly Kisses (1988)

Scorpio Butterfly Kisses is essential for Kate Bush aficionados. This ten-year retrospective of live material spends most of its time covering The Kick Inside and Never For Ever periods, but does so quite successfully. Highlights on the disc include performances of non-album compositions: "Do Bears," "Under the Ivy," and two Beatles tunes, "The Long and Winding Road" and "She's Leaving Home." "Do Bears" is a humorous piece, noted for its chorus "Do bears sha la la la in the woods?". The Beatles covers are good, but too brief. And the lesser-known "Under the Ivy," a beautiful, minimal piece, is performed exquisitely here. Bush's voice and piano playing are quite good throughout Butterfly Kisses. The piano really stands out in these fairly spare performances, many of which feature Kate unaccompanied on the instrument. Unfortunately, the sound quality throughout the disc is only so-so, with minimal dynamics and occasional hiss. The instrumentation lacks clarity and is at times muffled and overwhelmed by Kate's voice.

Most of the cuts are performed as they are on the studio versions, with the exception of "Kite," which is slightly expanded here. Also, there are two performances of "Wuthering Heights," an earlier version with acoustic guitar, and a later rendition featuring electric. Butterfly Kisses is a very worthwhile listen and good for the collector. The cover art is rather striking and provocative, depicting Kate in banshee garb from her Never For Ever days.