Kate Bush – The Dreaming

I'm a bit hesitant to purcahse japanese pressings after the later end of the 70s and 80s era. Sometimes you get an ear-piercingly bright, emotionless, pinched at the high frequencies mastering that will hurt your ears after 10 mins of listening.
Othertimes you get the Holy Grail. And this pressing is the Holy Grail. It is sublime--beautifully voiced, dynamic, highly musical, super quiet vinyl. I've never heard this record sound better.

Ok, I just got this pressing and it is amazing, absolutely the best copy I have of this record. I have an Eddie Jobson Zinc pressed on green vinyl from this same plant in 1983 that is awesome. Toshiba was really doing incredible quality records during this era, I’m gonna keep adding these gems to my collection, especially the Kate ones.

Question to anybody who owns this pressing: I bought one in NM condition, but the OBI feels / seems cheap to me. All other OBIs from any Kate Bush japan pressing feel different. Super thin paper. Is this legit or did a get a self-printed OBI and got ripped off?

Reviewing every record in my collection

Ok, so THIS is an experience. After feeling a bit disappointed with the US original pressing and the Exaggerated Bass it had, I decided to spend the big buck on this one, spoiler alert; one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'll be writing this while listening to it with headphones, so everything will be fresh on my mind.

Let's start saying that The Dreaming is and has always been somewhat of a "busy" album. There are a lot of details and layers on each song that clash with each other and Kate's voice is one of the twelve elements that are thrown at you at once. Add this to the fact that I have a problem with my right ear and I end up having to really move the audio to the right on my amplifier. Anyways, in personal experience this is as close as you can get to really sensing the world she's created on this album. When the songs peak on its "Heaviest Side" like in Sat in Your Lap or Get Out of My House, you can try and "Grab" the most little elements you can from them, which makes every listening different, as depending from "Where" you listen to them you'll notice a new sound effect, Whisper or instrument.

It's in it's "Calmer" sides where the pressing really gets the chance to shine. Songs Like "There Goes a Tenner" or most of side B are a delight to listen and just let Kate and her Piano sink in your Head. Everything comes to life as you have your own private session with her.

So, I truly recommend this to anyone out there who holds a Place in their heart for this album or for who wants to really experience this album in full. I do believe this is one of the cases where the album is much more appreciated on Speakers than With headphones, since you need for all the "Space" you can have so the album can "Express" itself (if it makes any sense)

With nothing more to say, I love this record ♥️

Updated Thoughts: As I previously said, I'm yet to find a pressing that matches the quality of this JP first Press. I've listened to both a US and UK first pressings and the Bass is just too loud for my liking, this one instead, is as smooth as butter. I spent 100$ on this one but was probably one of the best decisions of my life

The best Kate Bush album, or just as good as Hounds. My canadian pressing sounded very bassy so I got rid of it and eventually came across this one for about 1000 yen at a shop in Fukuoka, sounds much better.