k.d. lang - Reintarnation

The country career of k.d. lang was always rocky, with the Nashville establishment completely unable to understand or handle the phenomenal talent of the cowpunk gal from Canada, who could wow with a song but swam determinedly against the mainstream, from her androgynous look to her campaign against meat in the heart of beef country. Still, her songs are wonderful and her voice glorious, so set aside any political ideology and just listen to 'em.

Those who love today's real country, alt-country, cowpunk, and rockabilly owe a lot to k.d. lang. When she did like the song and "went hillbilly nuts," leaving behind her punk roots and embracing country's roots (which arguably are the same thing, it's just punk's a littler further up the tree), she opened the door for other cowpunk rebels who married rock and country in a whole new way. While lang never really broke in big with the Nashville scene, others who shared her unique approach did make a little dent, and changed the way country was heard for at least part of a decade, before the pop music makers moved back in.

The Nashville music machine of the mid-80's didn't really know what to do with k.d., who didn't look or act like a country music songstress "should." She wore her hair close-cropped, she was an outspoken vegetarian, and she played country music her own way. She didn't make a dent on the country charts until her 1987 duet with Roy Orbison (a remake of his classic "Crying"), and then scored a top-40 hit with "Down to My Last Cigarette" from her "Shadowland" disc, produced with Patsy Cline (lang's country hero) producer, Owen Bradley.

This collection is frankly lang at her best, the way I've always loved her. While her foray into contemporary adult music put her with an audience that appreciated her massive talents, she can wail a country song unlike anyone in the world except possibly Patsy Cline. "Reintarnation" means being re-born as a hillbilly. Yee haw.