> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

74 Absentee
69 AC/DC
72 Ryan Adams
66 Trace Adkins
67 The Aliens
66 All That Remains
93 Amadou & Mariam
80 Amon Amarth
66 Anastacia
46 Brett Anderson
75 Theresa Andersson
66 Annuals
79 Antony And The Johnsons
76 Apollo Sunshine
58 David Archuleta
76 Aterciopelados
72 Attic Lights
75 Joan Baez
80 Belle & Sebastian
61 Beyonce
80 Blitzen Trapper
69 Bloc Party
83 Bound Stems
73 Brightblack Morning Light
64 The Broken West
64 The Bronx
74 Ane Brun
50 Buckcherry
77 Lindsey Buckingham
92 Buena Vista Social Club
78 Calexico
73 Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
64 Castanets
69 Catfish Haven
66 Chairlift
63 Tracy Chapman
73 The Chemical Brothers
60 Kenny Chesney
66 Tony Christie
82 The Clash
66 Cold War Kids
69 Coldplay
67 David Cook
70 Nikka Costa
51 Cradle Of Filth
60 Crooked Fingers
78 Rodney Crowell
75 Crystal Stilts
77 Rivers Cuomo
70 The Cure
59 Kimya Dawson
72 Dead Confederate
72 The Dears
81 Deerhoof
81 Deerhunter
70 Brett Dennen
78 Department Of Eagles
73 Angela Desveaux
68 Devin The Dude
73 Dido
79 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
82 DJ/rupture
66 The Donkeys
54 Dr. Dooom
61 Dragonette
79 Dungen
86 Bob Dylan
82 Eagles Of Death Metal
78 El Guincho
57 Electric Six
74 Brian Eno + David Byrne
64 Everlast
75 The Fireman
62 Ben Folds
69 Free Blood
74 Friendly Fires
84 Fucked Up
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
77 Gang Gang Dance
78 Morgan Geist
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
69 Girls Aloud
82 Glasvegas
67 Gojira
83 Grails
61 Growing
67 Guns N' Roses
67 Gym Class Heroes
76 Hauschka
65 Her Space Holiday
75 High Places
49 Hinder
71 Jolie Holland
79 David Holmes
81 Horse Feathers
64 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
78 Hush Arbors
70 I'm From Barcelona
68 Jack's Mannequin
72 Jake One
73 James
59 Japanese Motors
64 Jem
80 The Jesus And Mary Chain
81 Johann Johannsson
68 Grace Jones
60 Tom Jones
75 Damien Jurado
69 Kaiser Chiefs
64 Keane
76 Toby Keith
70 The Killers
63 Kings Of Leon
79 The Knux
78 Koushik
74 Lady GaGa
72 Ladyhawke
75 Lambchop
73 Ray LaMontagne
74 Land Of Talk
68 John Legend
75 Jenny Lewis
71 Little Joy
60 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
81 Los Campesinos!
76 Love Is All
81 Patty Loveless
73 Ludacris
79 Luomo
73 Madlib
65 Margot & The Nuclear So And So's
68 Mercury Rev
78 Metallica
70 Metronomy
57 Ingrid Michaelson
76 Mogwai
77 Juana Molina
67 Monkey
79 Mount Eerie
46 Mudvayne
73 Murs
61 Nelly
51 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
79 Ne-Yo
51 Nickelback
57 Nightmares On Wax
60 The Nightwatchman
62 Noah And The Whale
66 Oasis
68 O'Death
70 Of Montreal
79 Okkervil River
77 Old Crow Medicine Show
54 The Organ
65 Joan Osborne
77 Brad Paisley
82 Pale Young Gentlemen
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
76 Parts & Labor
74 Passion Pit
67 Peter Bjorn And John
66 The Peth
51 Kellie Pickler
69 Pink
73 Benoît Pioulard
70 Pivot
54 Plain White T's
40 Daniel Powter
74 The Pretenders
51 Pussycat Dolls
84 Q-Tip
42 Queen + Paul Rodgers
71 Rafter
74 Raglani
57 Razorlight
69 Lou Reed
74 Religious Knives
62 Rex The Dog
65 Rise Against
76 Roots Manuva
74 The Rosebuds
66 Darius Rucker
83 Arthur Russell
80 Raphael Saadiq
60 Sam Champion
68 School of Seven Bells
75 The Sea And Cake
60 Seal
69 Seasick Steve
65 Secret Machines
81 Pete Seeger
71 Serena-Maneesh
68 The Shaky Hands
72 Blake Shelton
58 Jessica Simpson
89 The Smiths
72 Todd Snider
68 Snow Patrol
62 Spinto Band
68 Squarepusher
65 Starfucker
82 Marnie Stern
62 The Streets
73 The Subways
81 Taylor Swift
74 T.I.
66 Talkdemonic
64 James Taylor
66 Ten Kens
72 Robin Thicke
67 Thievery Corporation
79 Tindersticks
88 Shugo Tokumaru
75 Emiliana Torrini
70 T-Pain
65 Travis
70 Tricky
66 Trivium
88 TV On The Radio
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
74 Chad VanGaalen
76 Vivian Girls
78 Volcano!
84 Butch Walker
57 Scott Weiland
73 Kanye West
73 White Denim
78 Wild Beasts
78 Wilderness
71 Hank Williams III
72 Lucinda Williams
67 Michelle Williams
70 Brian Wilson
73 Lee Ann Womack
75 Women
63 XX Teens
72 Rachael Yamagata
60 Yo Majesty
72 Young Jeezy

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Aerial
by Kate Bush


9.2

based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 247 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

This double-disc set is the influential singer-songwriter's first album in a dozen years.

LABEL:	Sony
RELEASE DATE:	08 November 2005
DISCS:	2 discs
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Playlouder

'Aerial' towers over the vast majority of even this year's embarrassment of riches.

100

The Guardian

It is filled with things only Kate Bush would do.

100

Entertainment Weekly

Considering the length of her hiatus, this is a remarkable surprise.

100

Mojo

Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. [Dec 2005, p.96]

Stylus Magazine

Aerial isn’t perfect, but it is magnificent.

musicOMH.com

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.

Q Magazine

You could lose yourself for days here. [Dec 2005, p.142]

Neumu.net

Over two CDs the music expands towards novel-like richness.

All Music Guide

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.

Billboard

Despite her prolonged absence, Bush sounds as vital as ever.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

It's a stirring return to that special place behind the eyes of Kate Bush, where every raindrop contains universes within universes.

E! Online

The songs don't always match the brouhaha surrounding their arrival, but there's no denying the exquisite craft on display.

Dot Music

A more satisfying album intellectually than it is musically.

PopMatters

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.

Prefix Magazine

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.

New Musical Express

'Aerial' has more than its share of static, but the highs are more than worth the lows. [12 Nov 2005, p.45]

Blender

She balances her freakiness by matching her sublime chirp with grounded glories. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.93]

Under The Radar

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]

Paste Magazine

It's great to have her back. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.100]

Austin Chronicle

This is Kate Bush's domestic album. Listen to it stoned on a Sunday afternoon.

Pitchfork

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.

Uncut

A madly ambitious, darkly despondent and goofily exuberant grand folly of a record. [Album of the Month, Dec 2005, p.98]

New York Magazine

Too much of Aerial fades into a soft-focus background of soothing synthesizers, murmuring bass, and twittering birdsong.

The average user rating for this album is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 247 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tomasz S gave it a10:
Hopefully, she is back for good.

Piyu T. gave it a10:
Simply put, one of the best albums I have ever had the fortune of listening to. Just shows how much KB has matured as an artist and a person.. her vioce is deeper and if it is possible, more mellifluous than it was twelve years ago. Just one thing Kate - please don't go into a sabbatical again, EVER (or atleast not one lasting twelve years)!

Anya Z. gave it a10:
Buying this album was best spending of money ever!!! Aerial is amazing album, great work of art and music. One of Bush's best.

Bill M. gave it a0:
I can't understand the rave reviews some people gave this, they must be listening to something very different to my copy of the album. This is drivel of the first order. There is not one redeeming song on the entire double album, not one that is actually spending any time listening to (I listened to it several times when I got it as I couldn't believe just how bad it was, I've just listened again having convinced myself I must be wrong - I'm not).

Robbie C gave it a10:
Simply stunning.

Chris P gave it a10:
The second CD, a Sky Of Honey, grew and grew on me. and is now one of my very favourite albums. Think of it as a single piece as it's full of cross-references. And it's introspective yet ecstatic, everyday yet transcendent, full of secrets and wonderful from beginning to end.

Olav L gave it a10:
Soundscape is like traveling my own country's landscape!

Aerial by Kate Bush

Aerial
by Kate Bush