22.11.04
K D Lang -- Hymns of the 49th Parallel - Nonesuch NNS798472
I've never been a fan of K D's before but bought this album, a tribute to all things Canadian, because I love good cover versions.(I also like Canada). Covers are a divisive issue. Bad ones are awful and the perpetrators should be shot for lack of taste and judgement. But good ones reveal new depths to familiar songs and allow you to rediscover what was great about them. Here, K D Lang reinterprets Canadian songwriters like Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Jane Siberry. It works spectacularly well, only once or twice descending into the mush which has made me reject KDL in the past. This album forces me to acknowledge that she does have a great voice as well.
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3 comments:
You'll find some good cover versions on the EP that comes with the Cowboy Junkies' One Soul Now (see below). They do Springsteen's Thunder Road, Neil Young's Helpless and Seventeen Seconds from The Cure. I felt k d's mush quotient was a bit higher myself but, yes, some of them work well, like Joni Mitchell's A Case of You.
Interesting point Allan. I've never heard "covers" being defined that narrowly before but I'm sure you're right. SOmehow talking about "revivals" doesn't feel as good!
Hearing KD's (and the Cowboy Junkies) revivals of Helpless reminded me of a great anecdote in the Neil Young biography "Shakey". Apparently he was invited back to his old school in the town in North Ontario (of the song) and as he entered the hall the students stood up and sang an acapella version of Helpless....must have been a great moment...assuming they could sing.
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