Shadowland (k.d. lang album) explained

Shadowland
Type:	studio
Artist:	k.d. lang
Cover:	K.d. lang - Shadowland.jpg
Studio:	Bradley's Barn, Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Genre:	Country, pop
Length:	35:17
Label:	Sire, Warner Bros.
Producer:	Owen Bradley
Chronology:	k.d. lang
Prev Title:	Angel with a Lariat
Prev Year:	1987
Next Title:	Absolute Torch and Twang
Next Year:	1989

Shadowland is the debut solo album by k.d. lang, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). The album included her collaboration with Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn and Brenda Lee on "Honky Tonk Angels' Medley" and was produced by Owen Bradley, who produced Patsy Cline's best-known work.

Critical reception

The Toronto Star determined that "Shadowland is a self-conscious anachronism, haunted by vague, 25-year-old memories... It's as purely retrogressive and deferential as the Dave Edmunds-produced Angel with a Lariat, which came mighty close to re-defining country music, was radical and innovative."^[1]

Track listing

Side one

1. "Western Stars" (Chris Isaak) – 3:12
2. "Lock, Stock and Teardrops" (Roger Miller) – 3:28
3. "Sugar Moon" (Cindy Walker, Bob Wills) – 2:26
4. "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" (Frank Loesser) – 3:07
5. "(Waltz Me) Once Again Around the Dance Floor" (Don Goodman, Sara Johns, Jack Rowland) – 2:35
6. "Black Coffee" (Sonny Burke, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:17

Side two

1. "Shadowland" (Dick Hyman, Charles Tobias) – 2:28
2. "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" (Slim Willet) – 2:20
3. "Tears Don't Care Who Cries Them" (Fred Tobias, Charles Tobias) – 3:03
4. "I'm Down to My Last Cigarette" (Harlan Howard, Billy Walker) – 2:46
5. "Busy Being Blue" (Stewart MacDougall) – 3:40
6. "Honky Tonk Angels' Medley" – 2:55
   • "In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)" (Leroy Carr, Don Raye)
   • "You Nearly Lose Your Mind" (Ernest Tubb)
   • "Blues Stay Away from Me" (Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Wayne Raney, Henry Glover)

Personnel

• k.d.lang - vocals
• Harold Bradley - banjo, bass, ukulele, gut string guitar
• Jimmy Capps - rhythm guitar
• Buddy Emmons - pedal steel guitar
• Greg Leisz - lap steel guitar
• Tony Migliore - piano, accordion
• Roger Morris - piano
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano
• Hal Rugg - pedal steel guitar
• Buddy Spicher - fiddle
• Henry Strzelecki - bass
• Pete Wade - electric guitar
• Rob Hajacos - fiddle
• Buddy Harman - drums
• Jim Horn - saxophone
• The Nashville String Machine
  • Bill McElhiney - arrangements
  • David Angell - violin
  • Roy Christensen - cello
  • Connie Ellisor - violin
  • Ted Madsen - violin
  • Bob Mason - cello
  • Pamela Sixfin - violin
  • Carl Gorodetzky - violin
  • Dennis Molchan - violin
  • George Binkley III - violin
  • John Borg - viola
  • Gary VanOsdale - viola
  • Anthony LaMarchina - cello
  • Lee Larrison - violin
• The Jordanaires - vocals on "Western Stars", "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" & "Tears Don't Care Who Cries Them"
  • Gordon Stoker
  • Louis Dean Nunley
  • Neal Matthews, Jr.
  • Duane West
• Tennessee - vocals on "Lock, Stock and Teardrops", "Sugar Moon", "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" & "I'm Down to My Last Cigarette"
  • Hurshel Wiginton
  • Doug Clements
  • Louis Dean Nunley
  • Jim Ferguson
• The Honky Tonk Angels - vocals on "Honky Tonk Angels' Medley"
  • Brenda Lee
  • Loretta Lynn
  • Kitty Wells

Production

• Producer: Owen Bradley
• Engineer: Bobby Bradley

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Canadian Country Albums (RPM)	23
Canadian Albums (RPM)	9
Chart (1994)	Peak position
Australian Album (ARIA)^[2]	164

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[3]	32
Chart (1990)	Position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[4]	67

Notes and References

1. News: Quill . Greg . K. D. Lang's Shadowland a classic heartbreaker . . April 29, 1988 . F7.
2. Web site: k.d. lang chart history, received from ARIA on May 10, 2024. Imgur.com. June 16, 2024. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
3. Top Country Albums – Year-End 1988. Billboard. December 26, 2020.
4. Top Country Albums – Year-End 1990. Billboard. December 26, 2020.