286932

lang, k.d. - Absolute Torch & Twang

Format: LP
Label: Sire 92 58771
Year: 1989
Origin: Consort, Alberta
Genre: cowpunk
Keyword: 
Value of Original Title: 
Make Inquiry/purchase: email ryder@robertwilliston.com
Release Type: Albums
Websites:  No
Playlist: Calgary Stampede, Alberta, Country & Western, 1980's, MOCM Top 1000 Canadian Albums

Tracks

Side 1

Track Name
Luck in My Eyes
Three Days
Trail of Broken Hearts
Big Boned Gal
Didn't I
Walflower Waltz

Side 2

Track Name
Full Moon Full of Love
Pullin' Back the Reins
Big Big Love
It's Me
Walkin' in and Out of Your Arms
Nowhere to Stand

Photos

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k.d. lang - Absolute Torch & Twang

1609

k.d. lang - Absolute Torch & Twang

286932

Absolute Torch & Twang

Videos

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Information/Write-up

Absolute Torch and Twang was the last bona fide country album of k.d. lang's career, and while external circumstances may have forced her hand in exploring other musical avenues, this set suggests she may have already been headed that way. Absolute Torch and Twang is the definitive statement of lang's country period; by this time, she'd moved past the slightly kitschy Patsy Cline homages of her earliest work and developed a strong musical personality of her own, using her rich and supple voice to approach material both witty and heartfelt. lang's collaboration with producer and songwriter Ben Mink was reaching its peak as well, with the performances and arrangements hitting a superb grace note between polish and passion. lang's songwriting had matured, most notably on "Nowhere to Stand," a powerful number about child abuse, and she'd developed a knack for writing about misfits, both defiant and otherwise; as a Canadian lesbian vegetarian performance artist trying to work within mainstream country music, you have to know her heart was with the heroines of "Big Boned Gal" and "Wallflower Waltz." And while lang had embraced vintage countrypolitan sounds on Shadowland, Absolute Torch and Twang found her bridging a gap between Cline-style balladry and polished lounge styles on "Trail of Broken Hearts" and "Pullin' Back the Reins," and finding a comfortable home in the middle ground. While some fans were disappointed when lang retreated from country music on her next album, Ingénue, it's hard to imagine her (or anyone else) topping an album quite as strong as Absolute Torch and Twang.
-Mark Deming

Producers: Greg Penny, Ben Mink and K.D. Lang.

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