It features the UK Top 20 singles "Breathing", "Army Dreamers" and "Babooshka", the latter being one of Bush's biggest hits.

The range of styles on Never for Ever is much more diverse, veering from the straightforward rocker "Violin" to the wistful waltz of hit single "Army Dreamers".

Never for Ever was the first Kate Bush album to feature digital synthesizers and drum machines, in particular the Fairlight CMI,[5] which was programmed by Richard James Burgess and John L.

"The Infant Kiss", the story of a governess who is frightened by the adult feelings she has for her young male charge (who is possessed by the spirit of a grown man), was inspired by the 1961 film The Innocents, which in turn had been inspired by The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

[10] The song links his name to those of several music stars who died in the previous decade—Minnie Riperton, Keith Moon, Sandy Denny, Sid Vicious, Marc Bolan—and one earlier icon, Buddy Holly.

According to Bush, the title alluded to conflicting emotions, good and bad, which pass, as she stated: "we must tell our hearts that it is 'never for ever', and be happy that it's like that".

Over the following week, Bush undertook a record signing tour of the UK including London, which resulted in lengthy queues down Oxford Street.

As Bush gained a cult following over the coming years, however, Never for Ever was belatedly released in 1984 following the entry into the charts of her fourth album, The Dreaming.

[26][27] In November 2018, Bush released box sets of remasters of her studio albums, including Never For Ever.

[19] Based largely on this album, Bush was voted "Best female artist of 1980" in polls taken in Melody Maker, Sounds, the Sunday Telegraph, and Capital Radio.

[13] In 2020, Rolling Stone included Never for Ever in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising Bush for her songwriting and her imagination.