k.d. lang is a once-in-a-generation artist who has consistently
displayed an extraordinary interpretative range as well as
remarkable vocal prowess. It's no wonder she has, over the course
of more than two decades, attracted such collaborators as Roy
Orbison and Tony Bennett, along with admirers like Philip Glass
and Madonna. As lang has matured, she continues to surprise and
impress. With the 2008 release of her self-penned, self-produced
Nonesuch disc Watershed, Rolling Stone declared, "k.d. lang does
what the gifted and the lucky always should: improve as time
passes." The Times of London agreed: "It's a quirk of the music
industry that one of the sexiest, most voices in all of
pop music comes not from some raven-tressed siren in a
glitter-dress but a middle-aged woman with a utility haircut and
a penchant for male tailoring." lang herself called the album "a
culmination of everything I've done -- there's a little bit of
jazz, a little country, a little of the Ingénue sound, a little
Brazilian touch."
This two-disc retrospective -- which includes favorites like
"Constant Craving" and "Smoke Rings," as well as ten tracks that
never appeared on k.d. lang albums; and interpretations of
classic songs like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and The Hollies
"The Air That I Breathe" -- illustrates how lang got to this
significant point in her career, 25 years after the independent
release of her debut, A Truly Western Experience. As lang moved
from the subversively whimsical cow-punk sound of her early
career in Western Canada to a broader pop palette, she has shown
an ever-increasing sophistication, both as songwriter and
interpreter. Dramatic, country-meets-lounge opener "Trail of
Broken Hearts," from her 1989 Grammy Award-winning Absolute Torch
and Twang album, encapsulates where she came from and where she
was heading. The luxurious adult pop of "Constant Craving," from
the platinum-selling 1992 Ingenue, garnered her a Best Pop Vocal
Performance, Female Grammy and remains her best known and most
successful single. The effervescent "Miss Chatelaine," also from
Ingenue, remains a concert favorite and "I Dream of Spring," is a
particularly lush example of what she so artfully created for the
accled Watershed.
Her bravura rendition of "Crying," originally cut with Orbison
for the soundtrack to the movie Hiding Out, has become a
showstopper in her live performances, perhaps rivaled only be her
beautifully restrained version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
This soaring signature tune appears here as both a new ,
and in its original studio version. On her 2004 Nonesuch debut,
Hymns of the 49th Parallel, she explored the work of her fellow
Canadian songwriters, including Neil Young ("Helpless") and the
woefully underrated Jane Siberry (the sublime "The Valley").
Regardless of its source, her choice of cover material has always
been inspired, as evidenced by her take on the Hollies' "The Air
That I Breathe," Joni Mitchell's "Help Me," the Beatles' Golden
Slumbers," and Chris Isaak's "Western Stars," produced by
Nashville legend Owen Bradley, Patsy Cline's mentor, for
Shadowlands. lang is equally adept with such standards as Cole
Porter's "Love For Sale" and "So In Love," and the jazz classic
Moonglow" (performed here with Tony Bennett), and that has
endeared her to a multi-generational audience.