CMT Blog: Archive

In the late 1980s, k.d. lang was causing quite a stir in Nashville, even though she didn't actually live here. See, the self-proclaimed "big-boned girl from Southern Alberta" didn't even come close to fitting the "girl singer" mold, in spite of a big, big love for timeless vocalists like Patsy Cline. lang has long since dropped off the country music radar and I confess that I haven't kept up with her music as much as I should have. Luckily, a new "best of" compilation called Recollection has been catching me up. The double-disc set neatly complements Reintarnation, a 2006 gathering of her finest and flashiest moments as an aspiring country singer.

Recollection opens with "Trail of Broken Hearts," a soaring Western tune from the Grammy-winning country album, Absolute Torch and Twang. That's followed by the magnificent "Constant Craving" (also a Grammy winner), a sensual cover of "The Air That I Breathe" and a heartfelt rendition of Neil Young's "Helpless." On the second half, her partnerships with Roy Orbison ("Crying") and Tony Bennett ("Moonglow") are show-stoppers -- and those recordings brought her Grammy grand total to four. She also digs into the rich catalog of the Beatles, Chris Isaak, Joni Mitchell, Cole Porter and Jane Siberry, as well as unveiling a new tune, "Beautifully Combined."

Both discs conclude with Leonard Cohen's familiar "Hallelujah," with one version taken from a 2004 covers album and the other newly recorded. The world was watching when lang delivered the emotional ballad at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics this year in Vancouver. Isolated on that gigantic white dais, far away from the stadium audience, lang nailed it. I'd love to hear some more country tracks from her in the near future, but in the meantime, I'm going to add a few tracks from Recollection to my own collection.