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Audio Fidelity set to repress out-of-print Kate Bush LP reissues

By Paul Sinclair

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hol
Audio Fidelity will re-press Hounds Of Love on ‘marbled’ vinyl

Audio Fidelity will repress the two Kate Bush albums they previously reissued on vinyl over three years ago.

The AF vinyl pressings of Hounds of Love (1985) and The Sensual World (1989) were originally released in 2010 and have been out of print for a couple of years. It looked as if the opportunity had passed to pick up either audiophile reissue at sensible prices.

Hounds Of Love was pressed on numbered purple marbled vinyl (echoing the original North American release) while for The Sensual World AF opted for standard black 180g virgin vinyl. Both albums were remastered by renowned audio engineer Steve Hoffman using the original analogue masters from Abbey Road.

It is worth pointing out that this is probably the last opportunity to buy a remastered issue of Hounds Of Love with the original version of The Big Sky in place. In a Morrissey-like bout of messing-around-with-something-that-should-be-left alone, Kate’s Fish People CD reissue of her best-loved work (issued in 2011 a year after the original AF vinyl release) swapped the album version of The Big Sky for the ‘special single mix’ – so she clearly prefers the 45 remix (which among other things dispenses with Youth’s bass guitar). It is therefore reasonable to assume that any future CD deluxe editions (we can dream!) will follow suit.

Unlike the original vinyl the AF Hounds Of Love is a gatefold with the left and right inside panels replicating the original design from both sides of the UK edition inner sleeve.

Kate recently announced that she would be playing some live dates in August and September 2014. The 22 nights in Hammersmith, London are reported to have sold out in 15 minutes. The renewed interest in all things Kate Bush has undoubtedly influenced the decision to reprint these titles.

The vinyl reissues of Hounds Of Love and The Sensual World are expected in May 2014.

The Sensual World Audio Fidelity vinyl remaster

Hounds Of Love Audio Fidelity vinyl remaster

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1989’s “The Sensual World”

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35 Comments

35 thoughts on “Audio Fidelity set to repress out-of-print Kate Bush LP reissues”

  2. Pingback: Kate Bush: Audio Fidelity update | superdeluxeedition

  3. And lo & behold, here’s the email I got from Amazon this morning…

    “We’re still trying to obtain the following item[s] you ordered on April 18 2014 (Order# ***-*******-*******).

    Kate Bush “The Sensual World [VINYL]”

    We’re awaiting a revised estimate from our supplier, and will email you as soon as we receive this information.

    If you’d prefer to cancel the item, please visit Your Account on the link below:”

    Sigh….

  4. My last email from Amazon, a week ago, told me the item would be delivered tomorrow, May 27th. Given that the item has not been marked as shipped, I am fully expecting another email soon to inform me of further slippage.

    Audio Fidelity’s own site makes no mention of a repress and simply has the item down as out of stock.

    Given that the Hounds of Love repress has also yet to materialise, and the total lack of info around either of these titles and availability in the foreseeable future, I’m inclined to think we’ll be waiting a very long time.

    I’d cancel if it wasn’t for the fact that when I pre-ordered, the price I was offered was two thirds of the price now shown on Amazon.

  5. Had an email today from amazon.de saying the expected delivery has slipped to 13/-06 – 17/06 for HOL. Paul – has there been any word from Audio fidelity themselves on the delays?

  6. Had another email from Amazon UK yesterday (17th) saying that the estimated delivery date for TSW is now May 30th – June 2nd.

  7. Just had another email from Amazon saying that the new estimated delivery date for my TSW order is now May 22nd – 24th due to the supplier.

      1. Just checked amazon.co.uk today and it says a release date of Monday 26th for TSW, though the delivery estimate is still 22nd – 24th. My HOL order on amazon.de has the same delivery window dates.

  9. I’ve received an email from Amazon saying the HOL vinyl is now available for £50!! amazon.de appear to have it for less than £30 though there is no mention of the ‘marble’ effect. Have amazon.co.uk given you any update yet Paul?

    1. Yes received the same Amazon email for HOL – pointing to a third party seller in Berlin, selling for £50. I’ve noticed the pre-order link on SDE now goes to the same seller too. The amazon.de item seems to be the 2010 release? As mentioned above TSW now shows unavailable, and received an email yesterday saying the delivery of pre-order is unknown. Very confusing signals from Amazon!

      1. God knows what’s going on with HOL. Amazon promised me that TSW would be despatched next week, although I’m not particularly confident.

  11. So. I’ve been watching my order for ‘The Sensual World” closely this past week, as Amazon had it down for a May 5th release, and an expected delivery date (due to the UK public holiday on that day) of the 6th.

    However, I checked this morning, as I’d yet to receive a shipping notice, and the description for the item now states…

    Currently unavailable.
    We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.

    This isn’t good news. Any info in this, Paul?

    1. Contacted Amazon about this (since I have it on pre-order too) and they are telling me these will ship on May 13th. Fingers crossed that that is the case.

      1. That’s fairly good news! Thanks for that :-)

        I got an email this morning telling me shipping date was now unknown. Hopefully they’ll come through on the date they told you. Any news on Hounds of Love yet?

    1. No, it’s frustrating. But I’m keeping a close eye on HOL, so as soon as it does go live, will let everyone know.

  13. Looking forward to this as my original is worn thin by now. It’s The Red Shoes I crave on vinyl; it’s not cheap to buy second hand and I’d love a re mastered reissued heavy vinyl copy. Sadly it seems this is on no one’s agenda currently.

  14. Yay! I’ve signed up to be notified for the pre-order. Hounds of Love was the record that introduced me to Kate and started a life-long love of her music. I have the original (Canadian) version of the vinyl, but have been looking for a copy of the marbled re-issue for a while now. I finally get a chance to get a copy at a reasonable price. Thanks SDE! By the way, I was lucky enough to score 2 tickets during the pre-sale for the Sept. 9th show at the Hammersmith and there’s only one of me so I’ll be looking to find someone in the UK who might want to accompany me to this show. Anybody who is serious is welcome to contact me regarding this ticket.

  15. I recently picked up a new copy of “Hounds of Love” at a Knoxville, Tennessee record shop for $15…. I feel very lucky now. It’s an amazing sounding vinyl.

  16. I often wonder why they didn’t do an SACD or a CD of this.
    I have the AF Hounds of Love Lp and it sounds wonderful.
    The original CD of this – 85 or 86 – is still the best sounding.

  17. Paul – your site does indeed rule! Thankfully Amazon don’t charge until just before sending out for delivery otherwise I’d be well skint before RSD 14!

  18. How odd. Why have that on the shelf and reissue a late 80’s original master? Just to keep it exclusive to the vinyl? Anyway, thanks Paul. Amazing site.

  19. Was this Steve Hoffman remaster used for the 2011 reissue of ‘The Sensual World’? It was part of a deluxe CD edition of ‘Director’s Cut’, along with a definitely (and superbly) remastered ‘The Red Shoes’ .

    1. Hi Pete – no “The Sensual World” wasn’t remastered as part of that deluxe set, ONLY “The Red Shoes”. Steve’s remaster is unique to the 2010 AF vinyl and the forthcoming 2014 repress.

    1. Just need to wait for Amazon to get their act together, should go ‘live’ soon, I think. Having said that, the 5th May date attached to The Sensual World sounds a little optimistic, so probably expect it to go back a bit…

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