I just spent about 40 minutes of my time reading about and listening to YouTube covers of Kate Bush’s "Running Up That Hill". The original Kate Bush version from the Hounds of Love album is definitely my favorite. This is a song that was the big hit on that album. Pretty powerful at the time but one that risks being overplayed, therefore contrary to what an audiophile might listen to.
I’ve been hearing one version by a female singer on the radio here a lot and it is no better than the original. None of the nuance or theatricality is preserved. And it is shortened in length for short attention spans. Just awful, and in a way disrespectful of the original. I don't mean to be so cranky, maybe the covers are actually OK. I did understand the lyrics a little clearer on a few of the covers thus absorbed the meaning of the song a bit better.
Which brings me back to the original with Kate Bush singing. I have been listening to the CD version and the sound quality is just OK. I have to use my imagination to ignore the muddy echo and moderate compression that I hear. I have not listened to the LP record in 20+ years. I am addressing that now and hope to be back to listening to my old vinyl records through my old Linn LP12 (which I am looking forward to modernizing this year).
So beside my specific comments about one Kate Bush song, its imitators and how sound quality is not quite where it could be, I would ask - have you encountered any of your favorite recordings that no matter how much you upgrade your system, or however intently you listen - the recording still disappoints in a way? In this instance, it is just that I am unable to cut through some of the over-production to get to the essence. Kind of a shame. I don’t mean to be negative, since I love this music but it is a slippery slope.
