Before the Dawn (Kate Bush album)

Before the Dawn is the second live album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, credited to The KT Fellowship. The album was released on 25 November 2016[1] by Bush's label Fish People, and is distributed in the United States by Concord Records. It was recorded in 2014 during Bush's sell-out 22-date residency, Before the Dawn, at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, which saw her return to the stage following a 35-year absence.

Before the Dawn
Live album by Kate Bush
Released	25 November 2016
Recorded	August–October 2014
Venue	Hammersmith Apollo, London
Genre	Progressive rock progressive pop art pop art rock
Length	155:07
Label	Fish People Concord (North America)
Producer	Kate Bush
Kate Bush chronology
50 Words for Snow (2011) Before the Dawn (2016) Remastered Part 1 (2019)
Kate Bush live album chronology
Live at Hammersmith Odeon (1994) Before the Dawn (2016)
Singles from Before the Dawn
"And Dream of Sheep (Live)" Released: 18 November 2016

The album has been certified Gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.

Overview

As with the residency, the album is split into three parts, comprising seven miscellaneous songs, the complete Ninth Wave suite from Hounds of Love, and A Sky of Honey from Bush's 2005 release Aerial. Presented in the same order as the original show, the album's performances are culled from various shows throughout the residency.

Before the Dawn contains the song "Tawny Moon", performed by Bush's son, Albert McIntosh. It also contains the track "Never Be Mine", which did not feature on the Before the Dawn residency, but was recorded when the show was performed without an audience for the purposes of filming the production.

Following two years of speculation, the album, released as three-CD and four-record pressings, was officially announced on 29 September 2016; the track "Prologue" was also shared. Bush commented:

It was an extraordinary experience putting the show together. It was a huge amount of work, a lot of fun and an enormous privilege to work with such an incredibly talented team. This is the audio document. I hope that this can stand alone as a piece of music in its own right and that it can be enjoyed by people who knew nothing about the shows as well as those who were there. I never expected the overwhelming response of the audiences, every night filling the show with life and excitement. They are there in every beat of the recorded music. Even when you can't hear them, you can feel them.[2][3][4][5][6]

The track "Prologue (Live)" was made available for streaming on 28 September, before "King of the Mountain (Live)" was released as a promotional single on 21 October, and "And Dream of Sheep (Live)", along with an accompanying piece of film used during the concerts, was made available as the album's official single on 18 November 2016.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Kate Bush, except where noted; all tracks produced by Bush.

Disc 1: Act I

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lily"	4:50
2.	"Hounds of Love"	3:29
3.	"Joanni"	6:09
4.	"Top of the City"	5:13
5.	"Never Be Mine"	5:57
6.	"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)"	5:39
7.	"King of the Mountain"	8:08
Total length:		39:32

Disc 2: Act II

No.	Title	Length
8.	"Astronomer's Call" (spoken monologue; writers: Kate Bush and David Mitchell)	2:38
9.	"And Dream of Sheep"	3:35
10.	"Under Ice"	2:59
11.	"Waking the Witch"	6:42
12.	"Watching Them Without Her" (dialogue; writers: Kate Bush and David Mitchell)	2:01
13.	"Watching You Without Me"	4:25
14.	"Little Light"	2:04
15.	"Jig of Life" (performed and written by Kate Bush and John Carder Bush)	4:09
16.	"Hello Earth"	8:00
17.	"The Morning Fog"	5:19
Total length:		42:00

Disc 3: Act III

No.	Title	Length
18.	"Prelude"	1:53
19.	"Prologue"	10:12
20.	"An Architect's Dream"	5:19
21.	"The Painter's Link"	1:33
22.	"Sunset"	7:59
23.	"Aerial Tal"	1:29
24.	"Somewhere in Between"	7:01
25.	"Tawny Moon" (performed by Albert McIntosh)	6:10
26.	"Nocturn"	8:48
27.	"Aerial"	9:45
28.	"Among Angels"	5:50
29.	"Cloudbusting"	7:16
Total length:		73:21

Personnel

• Kate Bush – vocals, piano ("The Ninth Wave" pre-recorded, "Prologue", "Among Angels"), pre-recorded synths
• Kevin McAlea – keyboards, Uilleann pipes, accordion
• Jon Carin – keyboards, guitars, programming, vocals
• David Rhodes – guitars
• Friðrik Karlsson – guitars, bouzouki, charango
• John Giblin – bass
• Mino Cinelu – percussion
• Omar Hakim – drums

Speaking parts and chorus

• John Carder Bush – writer and narrator ("Jig of Life")
• Paddy Bush – helicopter pilot ("Waking the Witch"), harmonic vocals, fujare
• Kevin Doyle – astronomer ("Astronomer's Call")
• Jo Servi – witchfinder ("Waking the Witch"), chorus
• Albert McIntosh – Ben ("Watching Them Without Her"), Boy ("Prelude", "The Painter's Link", "Tawny Moon"), chorus
• Bob Harms – dad ("Watching Them Without Her"), chorus
• Jacqui DuBois, Sandra Marvin, chorus

Production

• Kate Bush – writer, producer, mixing
• David Mitchell – co-writer ("Astronomer's Call", "Watching Them Without Her", and the helicopter pilot)
• Nick Skilbeck – chorus MD
• Ben Thompson – puppeteer
• Robert Allsopp – puppet creation
• Chris Lawson – guitar and bass technician
• Morten 'Turbo' Thobro – keyboard (and guitar) technician
• Steve Grey – drums and percussion technician
• Ian Newton – monitor engineer, 'water tank' vocals research and recording
• Baz Tymms – backline technician
• Greg Walsh – FOH engineer, surround systems supervision, 'water tank' vocals research and recording
• Davide Lombardi – FOH engineer
• Davey Williamson – surround systems engineer
• James Drew – soundscape
• Jim Jones and Ian Silvester – studio technician, live show recording
• Stephen W Tayler – live lead vocal engineer, audio post-production sunshine, mixing
• James Guthrie – sound consultant, mastering
• Joel Plante – mastering
• Stuart Crouch Creative - album artwork design
• Timorous Beasties – Two Worlds illustration
• Ruth Rowland – hand lettering
• Tim Walker, Trevor Leighton, Ken McKay, Gavin Bush – photography
• Tim Walker – cover photography
• Paul Munro- 'water tank' Vocals Production Sound MIxer

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 35 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 45 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[9] 22 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[10] 39 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[11] 89 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 11 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 26 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 61 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 14 Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 6 Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] 34 New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[18] 2 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[19] 38 Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] 5 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 45 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 37 UK Albums (OCC)[23] 4 US Billboard 200[24] 121 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[25] 5 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26] 11

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position UK Albums (OCC)[27] 77 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000 Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Before the Dawn (Live) by Kate Bush on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). Retrieved 25 November 2016.
2. "Liner Notes". Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
3. Geslani, Michelle (29 September 2016). "Kate Bush announces new live album Before the Dawn, shares "Prologue" — listen". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
4. Earls. John (29 September 2016). "Kate Bush to release new live album". NME. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
5. Fane Saunders, Tristram (29 September 2016). "Kate Bush to release Before the Dawn triple-album in November". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
6. "Kate to release the live album "Before the Dawn"". katebush.com. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
7. "Australiancharts.com – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
8. "Austriancharts.at – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
9. "Ultratop.be – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
10. "Ultratop.be – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
11. "Kate Bush Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
13. "Kate Bush: Before the Dawn" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
14. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 48, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
16. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 48, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
17. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 48 (dal 2016-11-25 al 2016-12-01)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
18. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
19. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
20. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
24. "Kate Bush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
25. "Kate Bush Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
26. "Kate Bush Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
27. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2016". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
28. "British album certifications – Kate Bush – Before the Dawn". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 December 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Before the Dawn in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.