Customer Reviews

Watershed

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Finally, a new kd lang album, and one she wrote and produced herself. "Watershed" is like back to the good old days when she was releasing her good music. This reminds me of "All You Can Eat" and "Absolute Torch and Twang", her finest. And it's great to see her writing again with Ben Mink after all these years. It's a beautiful album from an incredible voice. Every time I listen to this CD I like it more and more, it will grow on you. And that's a sign of great music, it's not instant, but takes its time to draw you in and then you're hooked. I love kd lang and this is as good as it gets. It's hard to decide what I'd like to hear next from her, an album of great covers or old standards or more of this same kind. Either way it doesn't matter, as long as we don't have to wait this long again.

Kd has come back home.That is to write gorgeous songs such as I Dream of Spring and Close Your Eyes with pal Ben Mink.We fans have waited for such a complete album for long.So embark and dream along with the unique Kathryn.Throughout the journey,you will feel like you are in a coffee shop surrounded by country,pop and jazz musicians,all of them trying to accompany this unparallel voice that thrives on lows and ride triumphantly on highs.Bon voyage!

KD Lang sounds so good on her tenth studio album Watershed. This is her first self produced album. This disc is a turning point in her career, and that is the reason for the title Watershed. I love the musical and vocal arrangements of these tracks very much. My favorite track is "I Dream Of Spring". Her sensual vocals are beautiful on this love song. I love Greg Leisz who is featured on the steel guitar featured on this track. The other stand out track is "Sunday". This is a tribute to her favorite day of the week. The bass playing by David Piltch on this track is so smooth. "Je Fais La Planche" is a song about how brief life is. The acoustic guitar gives this track a very soothing quality. The banjo playing on "Jealous Dog" gives this track a simple easy going sound. Shadow And The Frame is a pretty song. The piano playing is beautiful on this track. "Once in A While" is a pretty romantic song. "Upstream" is a hopeful song that makes me feel good. "Flame Of The Uninspired" is another sensual sounding track with great background vocals. She sounds so peaceful and effortless singing the track "Coming Home". Watershed is very enjoyable listening experience because of the vocal and musical arrangements.

I am absolutely amazed at the woman's talent every time I am privileged to hear it. I have no always been a fan, but I have enjoyed everything in the last 15 years, If you liked Invincible Summer, you will like this cd even better. Lang has outdone herself. The smooth vocals and the exquisite lyrics are so powerful. I truly feel something when I hear her sing. You will not be disappointed.

From the fabulous first notes of the album to the finish there isn't a mis-step. This is her strongest outing to date and that's an amazing thing to say. This is one of the great albums ever. I haven't heard anything this great since discovering Jake Shimabukuru's Gently Weeps or hearing Tish Hinjosa sing Estrellita.
It doesn't get any better than this...just different.

k.d. lang's music has wound its way into my life since childhood. I've followed her ever-changing career with fierce anticipation: what would k.d. do next? You could always count on two lang albums NEVER sounding exactly alike. The only low-point in her genre-hopping is (IMO) A Wonderful World with Tony Bennett (I sat through one listen and can't go there again--just hate it!) Other than that, k.d. has never disappointed and with her newest album, "Watershed", we find k.d. in her most comfortable, most intimate and most interesting.

Everyone hails "Ingenue" as k.d.'s masterpiece, but I will disagree with that. I will say that "Watershed" is the other side of the "Ingenue" coin. While "Ingenue" was focused on the obessive love of another person (in a very naive way), "Watershed" finds lang expanding her horizons and going far deeper than unrequited love. It's this openness and broader perspective that makes "Watershed" so brilliant.

I'm interested to see where k.d. takes us next. If I have my druthers, we'd get a traditional bluegrass album! You can see hints of that on the track "Jealous Dog" and I'd love if that were explored in a full-length album. But that's me! :) Either way, "Watershed" is a must-have for old and new fans.

5 Stars!

watershed is first rate music, singing, songwriting, its all here, pop, country, some of the best tracks, I dream of spring, comming home, sunday, upstream, soulful, deep, strong. if you like or love kd lang, and after eight years for some written songs by ms lang, how could you not love this cd. There are no top 10 songs here.....just great music, wonderful singing, thanks kd, for your great gift. i am a fan for life.

For her first album of originals since 2000's Invincible Summer, kd lang hearkens back to all the music she's made in the last 25 years. There are touches of her Absolute Torch and Twang country brilliance, the snazzy chanteuse who blossomed on Ingénue and the lush, smokey voice that has carried across all her work from the beginning. It also marks her transition to a mature singer/songwriter.

"Watershed" may be comprised mostly of love songs, but they are subtle takes on the gift. "Coming Home" (the best song here) is exquisitely written; can you name any songwriters of late who can work a word like 'minutiae' into their lyrics? Didn't think so. The heavy handed Moon/June type of love songs are 100% absent from "Watershed," replaced by such delights as "Flame of The Uninspired" or "I Dream Of Spring." The songs are often underscored with gorgeous string charts. It's Lang's first attempt at self-production, and she acquits herself nicely.

Unfortunately, what keeps this album from a more inspiring rating is the fact that it never perks up past low-to-mid tempo. The biggest kicks come from the clever "Upstream," and the country growler that closes the CD, "Jealous Dog." "Dog" is the only song that breaks from the immaculate middle of the road sound. By just setting itself around Lang and her piano/banjo playing, it breaks the mold enough to be a standout. It's an issue that also haunted her prior Nonesuch CD, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, which bogged down under too many low-key songs.

While "Watershed" doesn't fail in its mission to soothe and relax, kd lang has shown multiple times that she is capable of delivering far more. This album is a pleasant, immaculately crafted work, but in the end, it's just immaculate craft. Lang has, in the past, produced art...and "Watershed" falls short of that mark.

This album is gorgeous. It's like laying on fresh clean linen sheets on the fresh cut grass under a blue Sunday afternoon sky. Musically, very classic sound and style for her, which never tires, Katherine is a magician, and her first production shows she needs no one to interpret her work for her. Kds voice only grows more beautifull as she ages. She's always been a great lyricist as well, however this is brilliant, well thought, but not pretentious, in fact effortlessly real, pure, honest. Favorites are; Coming Home, Thread, Flame of the Uninspired, and Sunday.

I love this album. k. d. lang has a wonderful voice and writes a pretty good song when she wants to. "Coming Home" is by far my favorite, but I can pretty much just start from the beginning and listen through to the end and be happy with each song. This is the closest she has gotten to Ingenue, her breakout album. The songs are mellow and lush.