The Whole Story

This article is about the Kate Bush album. For the Cliff Richard album, see The Whole Story: His Greatest Hits.

The Whole Story is the second compilation album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush and her first greatest hits album worldwide. Released on 10 November 1986,^[1] it earned Bush her third UK number-one album and went on to become her best-selling release to date, being certified four-times platinum in the United Kingdom.

The Whole Story
Greatest hits album by Kate Bush
Released	10 November 1986[1]
Recorded	1975–1986
Length	48:53
Label	EMI
Producer	Kate Bush Jon Kelly Andrew Powell
Kate Bush chronology
Hounds of Love (1985) The Whole Story (1986) The Sensual World (1989)
Singles from The Whole Story
"Experiment IV" Released: 27 October 1986

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Great Rock Discography	9/10[4]
Mojo	[5]
MusicHound Rock	[6]
Record Mirror	[7]
Robert Christgau	A−[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Sounds	[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[11]

The Whole Story
Video by Kate Bush
Released	1986
Recorded	1977–1986
Genre	Art rock
Length	55 Minutes
Label	EMI Picture Music International
Kate Bush chronology
The Hair of the Hound (1986) The Whole Story (1986) The Sensual World – The Videos (1990)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMovie	[12]

The album includes eleven of Bush's singles. It also includes "Experiment IV", which had been released as a single three weeks earlier; it also reached the UK top 30. A remix of Bush's debut single "Wuthering Heights" (1978) with newly re-recorded vocals opens the album. The album mix of "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" features on this release rather than the single version.

A home video compilation of the same name was released simultaneously, which includes the promotional videos for each song on the album. It was nominated for the Best Concept Music Video at the 1988 Grammy Awards.

In 2014, during Bush's Before the Dawn residency at the Hammersmith Apollo, The Whole Story charted at number 8 in the UK.^[13] Following a resurgence of popularity for "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" in 2022,^[14][15][16] The Whole Story peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart.^[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Kate Bush.

Side one

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Wuthering Heights" (New Vocal)	The Kick Inside (1978)	4:57
2.	"Cloudbusting"	Hounds of Love (1985)	5:09
3.	"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"	The Kick Inside	2:38
4.	"Breathing"	Never for Ever (1980)	5:28
5.	"Wow"	Lionheart (1978)	3:46
6.	"Hounds of Love"	Hounds of Love	3:02

Side two

No.	Title	Original album	Length
7.	"Running Up That Hill"	Hounds of Love	5:00
8.	"Army Dreamers"	Never for Ever	3:13
9.	"Sat in Your Lap"	The Dreaming (1982)	3:29
10.	"Experiment IV"	Previously unreleased	4:21
11.	"The Dreaming"	The Dreaming	4:14
12.	"Babooshka"	Never for Ever	3:29
Total length:			48:53

Video

VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc editions

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wuthering Heights[a]"	3:34
2.	"Cloudbusting"	6:55
3.	"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"	2:52
4.	"Breathing"	5:31
5.	"Wow[b]"	3:42
6.	"Hounds of Love"	3:04
7.	"Running Up That Hill"	4:55
8.	"Army Dreamers"	3:17
9.	"Sat in Your Lap"	3:30
10.	"Experiment IV"	4:41
11.	"The Dreaming"	4:09
12.	"Babooshka"	3:26
13.	"The Big Sky"	4:26
Total length:		56:54

VCD edition: The Whole Story '94 — Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Introduction"
2.	"Wuthering Heights[a]"
3.	"Cloudbusting"
4.	"The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
5.	"Breathing"
6.	"Wow[b]"
7.	"Hounds of Love"
8.	"Running Up That Hill"
9.	"Army Dreamers"
10.	"Sat in Your Lap"
11.	"Experiment IV"

The Whole Story '94 — Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Dreaming"
2.	"Babooshka"
3.	"The Big Sky"
4.	"The Sensual World"
5.	"Love & Anger"
6.	"This Woman's Work"
7.	"Rubberband Girl"
8.	"Moments of Pleasure"
9.	"Kate Bush Discography"
10.	"End Credits"

1. "Wuthering Heights" appears on the video in its original 1978 recording.
2. "Wow" appears as a new alternate video, produced specifically for this compilation.

Personnel

• Kate Bush – keyboards, vocals, producer
• Ian Cooper – cutting engineer
• Jon Kelly – producer
• Andrew Powell – producer

Charts

Weekly charts 1986–1987 weekly chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (1986–1987) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[18] 28 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 27 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 22 European Albums (Music & Media)[21] 11 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 30 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 11 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[24] 38 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 4 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 48 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 1 UK CDs (Music Week)[28] 1 US Billboard 200[29] 76 1995 weekly chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (1995) Peak position French Albums (IFOP)[30] 9 2003 weekly chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (2003) Peak position Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] 10 2014 weekly chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (2014) Peak position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 45 UK Albums (OCC)[33] 6 2022–23 weekly chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (2022–23) Peak position Irish Albums (OCC)[34] 27 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[35] 35 UK Albums (OCC)[36] 17

Year-end charts 1986 year-end chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (1986) Position UK Albums (Gallup)[37] 16 1987 year-end chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (1987) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 91 European Albums (Music & Media)[38] 38 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39] 75 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[40] 44 UK Albums (Gallup)[41] 57 2014 year-end chart performance for The Whole Story Chart (2014) Position UK Albums (OCC)[42] 66

Bibliography

• Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for The Whole Story

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Belgium (BRMA)[43]	Gold	25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[44]	Gold	50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[45]	Gold	250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[46]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]	4× Platinum	1,200,000^
United States	—	195,000[48]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	6,000,000[49]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.