Aerial
by Kate Bush
  • Record Label: Sony
  • Release Date: Nov 8, 2005
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. AllMusic
    80
    There's no pushing of the envelope because there doesn't need to be. Aerial is rooted in Kate Bush's oeuvre, with grace, flair, elegance, and an obsessive, stubborn attention to detail.
  2. Austin Chronicle
    67
    This is Kate Bush's domestic album. Listen to it stoned on a Sunday afternoon.
  3. Billboard
    80
    Despite her prolonged absence, Bush sounds as vital as ever.
  5. Blender
    70
    She balances her freakiness by matching her sublime chirp with grounded glories. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.93]
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  6. Dot Music
    70
    A more satisfying album intellectually than it is musically.
  7. E! Online
    75
    The songs don't always match the brouhaha surrounding their arrival, but there's no denying the exquisite craft on display.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    100
    Considering the length of her hiatus, this is a remarkable surprise.
  9. Mojo
    100
    Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. [Dec 2005, p.96]
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  10. musicOMH.com
    90
    Like all ambitious double albums, [Aerial] is not without its flaws, but even Bush's moments of failure are much more interesting than those of her contemporaries.
  11. Neumu.net
    90
    Over two CDs the music expands towards novel-like richness.
  12. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    'Aerial' has more than its share of static, but the highs are more than worth the lows. [12 Nov 2005, p.45]
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  13. Paste Magazine
    70
    It's great to have her back. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.100]
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  14. Pitchfork
    64
    Far be it from me to criticize happy endings, but in musical terms, a comfortable, even-keeled existence sometimes comes out as isolated and ordinary art.
  15. Playlouder
    100
    'Aerial' towers over the vast majority of even this year's embarrassment of riches.
  16. PopMatters
    70
    Even if Aerial doesn't set the world on fire, it's good to hear Kate Bush again, and to hear a record that sounds so organic and grounded.
  17. Prefix Magazine
    70
    Even without the quirky, theatrical pop she offered in the 1980s, she has held up beautifully after her long hiatus from recording, creating a record that is very much her own.
  18. Q Magazine
    90
    You could lose yourself for days here. [Dec 2005, p.142]
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  19. Stylus Magazine
    91
    Aerial isn’t perfect, but it is magnificent.
  20. The A.V. Club
    80
    It's a stirring return to that special place behind the eyes of Kate Bush, where every raindrop contains universes within universes.
  21. The Guardian
    100
    It is filled with things only Kate Bush would do.
  22. Under The Radar
    70
    At times Aerial feels like such a grandiloquent monument to sweetness and motherhood and baroque English chamber pop that it gets a bit queasy. [#12, p.94]
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Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best Album of 2005
12
#12 Most Discussed Album of 2005
17
#17 Most Shared Album of 2005

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 325 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 291 out of 325
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 325
  3. Negative: 26 out of 325
  1. TakisS
    Oct 19, 2009
    10
    A real experimental masterpiece! Only Kate can make songs like Aerial Prologue or Prelude in that Age. The album is the successor of Hounds A real experimental masterpiece! Only Kate can make songs like Aerial Prologue or Prelude in that Age. The album is the successor of Hounds of Love! A masterpiece!… Full Review »
  2. AdanR
    Jan 13, 2006
    10
    I don't know how this woman does it...with an album that focuses on domestic life and urges the listening to concentrate on the small I don't know how this woman does it...with an album that focuses on domestic life and urges the listening to concentrate on the small things in life (birdsong, the changing light of the day, domestic chores, the smile of a child), she has ended up creating a mind blowing album. Amazing. Listen with an open mind and be swept away...… Full Review »
  3. MintyZ
    Nov 9, 2005
    10
    Most excellent. Makes every other purchase in the past two years seem frivolous by comparison. Oh, if only the other 99.9999% of artists had Most excellent. Makes every other purchase in the past two years seem frivolous by comparison. Oh, if only the other 99.9999% of artists had the vision to make a disc like this. . . .… Full Review »
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