A Truly Western Experience (25Th Anniversary Edition)

Before the multiple platinum and gold records, before the Grammy and Juno awards, and before building her worldwide legion of fans, there was A Truly Western Experience. Recorded for a small Canadian independent label, k.d. lang's debut album, A Truly Western Experience is easily the most band-oriented album lang and her combo the reclines would ever make; the group not only gets co-star billing, but pianist Stewart MacDougall even takes the lead vocal on one tune, "Up to Me," something that would never happen again on one of lang's albums. This early edition of the reclines, and their soulful blend of roots rock and country, certainly played to the sly side of lang's musical personality, as they switched gears from the manic rockabilly of "Bopalena" and the lively country two-step of "Hanky Panky" to the slinky, blues-influenced "Tickled Pink" and "Busy Being Blue" with assurance. As for lang, she already had a superb voice and knew just what to do with it, but while there was usually a touch of irony in her approach to vintage country styles, "Hooked on Junk" is easily the most self-consciously arty thing lang would cut prior to 1995’s All You Can Eat. In some respects, A Truly Western Experience sounds more personal and engaging than Angel with a Lariat, the 1987 album that introduced k.d. lang to an international audience.