I am disappointed with k. d. lang's latest CD, "Hymns from the 49th Parallel." It's a collection of covers of songs by Canadian songwriters. Her voice is as strong and magnificent as ever, but overall I find the songs to be poorly chosen and then overproduced. I can barely stand to listen to her doing "A Case of You"—surely one of Joni Mitchell's most intensely personal songs (well, weren't they all?). What does she add to it? Nothing. Her version of "Helpless" is beautifully sung, but the pwong-pwong-pwong sound of that one guitar string is so monotonal that it becomes downright disruptive. And so on. I don't have a thing against covers in general—there are many I love, some even as well as the originals (Or better? I'll have to think about that...), but none of these hit the mark.
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