Angel With a Lariat in Bloomington, MN

k.d. lang
's first major-label album (and debut American release) was a bit of a switch from the polished retro-
country
of her best-known work; with
Dave Edmunds
in the producer's chair,
Angel with a Lariat
often sounds more like
rockabilly
or
roots rock
than classic
C&W
, with a big, snappy drum sound, plenty of guitars mixed upfront, and lots of slapback of
lang
's vocals (a production decision
mentioned with little enthusiasm several years after the album came out).
"Turn Me Around"
and
"High Time for a Detour"
rock significantly harder than most of
's body of work, and
"Watch Your Step Polka,"
"Diet of Strange Places,"
"Tune Into My Wave"
find
and her band (who are in fine form throughout) indulging her sly sense of humor, which tended to get lost in the shuffle on later albums such as
Ingenue
. While the production and arrangements tend not to focus on the subtleties of
's voice (with the exception of the weepy closer,
"Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"
), she's one heck of a belter on this set, with a set of pipes as big as all outdoors. And the cover of the old
Lynn Anderson
chestnut
"Rose Garden"
actually tops the original. Fast, fresh, and funny,
may not be
's best album, but it's probably the best one to put on at a party -- it's got a good beat, and you can dance to it. ~ Mark Deming