Nonesuch to reissue k.d. lang’s "Ingénue" in 25th Anniversary Edition 2CD (07/07) & 2LP (08/18/17)

1-01 Save Me 4:32
1-02 Mind of Love 3:49
1-03 Miss Chatelaine 3:50
1-04 Wash Me Clean 3:17
1-05 So It Shall Be 4:31
1-06 Still Thrives This Love 3:35
1-07 Season of Hollow Sound 4:55
1-08 Outside Myself 4:57
1-09 Tears of Lover's Recall 3:49
1-10 Constant Craving 4:40

2-01 MTV Unplugged: Save Me 5:04
2-02 MTV Unplugged: The Mind of Love 3:48
2-03 MTV Unplugged: So It Shall Be 5:15
2-04 MTV Unplugged: Miss Chatelaine 4:46
2-05 MTV Unplugged: Season of Hollow Soul 4:38
2-06 MTV Unplugged: Wash Me Clean 4:10
2-07 MTV Unplugged: Constant Craving 4:38
2-08 MTV Unplugged: Still Thrives This Love 3:41

Nonesuch releases k.d. lang's Ingénue: 25th Anniversary Edition on July 7, 2017, to celebrate the double platinum-selling, Grammy Award–winning album's silver anniversary. This new two-disc set includes remastered versions of the album's original ten tracks, including its huge hit "Constant Craving," along with eight previously unreleased performances from lang's 1993 MTV Unplugged episode, recorded in New York City's famed Ed Sullivan Theater. You can watch her MTV Unplugged performance of "Constant Craving" below. Additionally, lang marks the anniversary with the Ingénue Redux Tour, which visits Australia and lang's home country of Canada this summer; details may be found below. Ingénue: 25th Anniversary Edition is available to pre-order at iTunes and at the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl pre-orders include an exclusive limited-edition print, signed by lang. (The vinyl is due August 18.)

Ingénue was k.d. lang's fifth album, following a quartet of records that pushed the boundaries of country music. Released in 1992, the album was the first of entirely new material. lang wrote most of the songs with her longtime collaborator Ben Mink; Greg Penny co-wrote "So It Shall Be," and all three produced the album. The UK's NME named it one of the year's best albums and said, "You will fall in love with Ingénue. In fact, you will want to have its children."

As James Reed writes in the 25th Anniversary Edition liner note, "Ingénue is still such a mysterious body of work … You'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint when the album was released or even made and where. It slinks out of the speakers with luminous melodies in search of a soundtrack, its choruses as vast and sweeping as the Canadian prairies where lang grew up in Consort, Alberta. A strange brew of torch and twang, of pop gloss and jazz sophistication—and shot through with Eastern European flourishes … lang was fond of calling it 'post-nuclear cabaret' back then.

"Throughout Ingénue, a succinct song cycle and ode to an unrequited relationship, we witness an artist navigating love in its many splendors. It should have come with a warning sticker on its cover: 'Love is not always pretty. Proceed with caution—and a Kleenex.' lang was unflinching in presenting desire as both toxic and intoxicating, a human condition that subsumes all of us at some point."

On tour, in addition to performing songs from Ingénue, lang marks the 150th anniversary of Canada as an independent nation by singing music from her 2004 Nonesuch album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, which features lang singing the songs that define her country, by fellow Canadians including Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith, and Bruce Cockburn. (lang is a Canada 150 Ambassador.)

Sing it Loud was lang's most recent solo studio album, released by Nonesuch in 2011. In 2010, the label released the four-time Grammy winner and eight-time Juno winner's first career retrospective, Recollection, which features 22 of lang's most beloved recordings including an all-new interpretation of the Leonard Cohen classic "Hallelujah." Previously, Nonesuch released lang's Watershed (2008), which debuted in Billboard's top ten upon its release.

Referred to as "the greatest female singer in the whole world" by fellow Canadian Michael Bublé, lang has had a distinguished 25-year career. In addition to a fruitful collaboration with Tony Bennett, she has performed alongside musical luminaries including Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Loretta Lynn. She sang at the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She has contributed music to the soundtracks of several films, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Happy Feet. In addition to her music career, lang has also appeared in a number of films, including Salmonberries, The Black Dahlia, and Eye of the Beholder. In 1996, lang received Canada's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada.

k.d. lang on tour

Jul 18 Plenary Hall Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Jul 20&21 State Theatre Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Jul 23&24 Riverside Theatre Perth, AUSTRALIA
Jul 26&27 ICC Theatre Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Aug 12&13 Royal Theatre Vancouver, BC
Aug 16&17 Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, BC
Aug 19&20 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Edmonton, AB
Aug 22 TCU Place Saskatoon, SK
Aug 23&24 Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Calgary, AB
Aug 26 Conexus Arts Centre Regina, SK
Aug 27 Burton Cummings Theatre Winnipeg, MB
Aug 30&31 Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Toronto, ON
Sep 2 Place des Arts - Salle Wilfrid - Pelletier Montreal, QC
Sep 3 Grand Théâtre de Québec Québec, QC
Sep 7 Casino New Brunswick Moncton, NB
Sep 8 Eastlink Centre Charlottetown Charlottetown, PEI
Sep 9 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, NS
Sep 11 Centre 200 Sydney, NS
Sep 14 Mile One Centre St. John's, NL
Sep 16 Southam Hall, National Arts Centre* Ottawa, ON
Sep 17 Southam Hall, National Arts Centre Ottawa, ON
Sep 19 FirstOntario Concert Hall Hamilton, ON

* National Arts Centre Fundraising Gala; w/National Arts Centre Orchestra

 

Great news. Any idea who cut the LP and where will the vinyl be pressed?

Master tapes used? Are they analog?

Great sounding original CD, by the way. I see it was AAD so there is hope for an all analog LP!

 

The original LP is reference but I'm up for buying it again! Timeless album.

 

I just received word from Nonesuch records on the details of this vinyl release.

Mastered by Bob Ludwig from the original analog tapes! And cut to vinyl by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman's lab. Manufactured at the Record Industry in the Netherlands. Great news!

 

I now have this Bob Ludwig remastered 2CD set. As fantastic a purchase as you would expect. Love it! Been waiting for this forever. Not as "analogue" sounding as my original vinyl from 1992, but it's great nonetheless.

 

Nice. Maybe the upcoming vinyl release will be. AAA according to Nonesuch records themselves!

 

Here's an interview Laura Veirs did with k.d. about the album:

k.d. lang Reflects On 25 Years Of 'Ingénue'

 

So... Instead of issuing the entire MTV unplugged performance on its own they are offering an abridged version and you have to rebuy Ingenue too get it.

I'll pass.

 

Yup. "Ingenue" is a very good album and "Constant Craving" is a legitimate classic song, but I ain't dropping $19 to get a handful of "Unplugged" songs and an album I already own!

 

You are talking CD?

It's the vinyl that is the attraction for this release. Mastering by R. Ludwig and cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman labs. The original vinyl was highly sought after and been out of print for decades.

Looking forward to hearing it.

 

Yes. Amazon preorder has it a hair under $19...

 

Those MTV unplugged tracks seem to be the main selling point for many longtime fans, but didn't that performance surface on some boots back in the 90s?

 

I'm actually happy to have this on vinyl. The live tracks are a fine bonus, even though I don't personally care much for live recordings (and will most likely only listen to them once).

 

Nice. This album would easily be in my top 100

 

Nonesuch Records site has the 2 LP, download, and autograph print for $21. That's a great deal!

 

do we know if the LP comes with a FLAC download card?

 

So how does the mastering on this CD compare to the original release? Any notable difference?

 

Nope because the vinyl is not due out until mid-August!

 

has anyone purchased and listened to the remaster FLAC files?

 

I got the FLAC 192/24 from HD Tracks ... and only had a chance to compare Constant Craving to the original CD. I had ripped the CD to iTunes using Apple Lossless. Listening to both the FLAC and the ripped ALAC on the Astell Kern 100 II - the newly remixed song is so much smoother. Nice separation in the vocals and instrumentation. To my ears - there is a bit of harshness in the ripped file. Also, notice on the newly remixed version there is a nice balance between the vocals and the orchestra. Seems like the ALAC has her vocals more upfront - over and above the orchestrations ... while the FLAC has a better balance. My opinion on the one song for what it's worth.

 

I believe this is a remaster, not a remix. Have you heard otherwise?

 

All the things I have read say "remastered versions of the album's original ten tracks".

 

What a masterpiece album from start to finish. Only question I have is did it even need to be remastered in the first place? Hang on to your original copies of the 1CD.

 

Hi All,
this my first post on the Steve Hoffman forum.
I have the original 1992 cd of this album and I have always found it be very well recorded and mastered. When I saw that there was a 96/24 bit FLAC verion available, remastered by R. Ludwig, I jumped at the chance to "upgrade".

I checked out the price on HDTracks and thought their price was a bit steep, so I found the download available on the Nonesuch Records website for $18. Unfortunately, I had no luck downloading with constant crashes. Eventually, they sent me a new link, but sent the 320kb file not the 24/96 by mistake (I am still waiting for the hires file).

Anyway, after playing a couple of tracks (especially Wash Me Clean ) I have decided that I prefer the original version of the album. The new mastering has raised the backing instruments closer to the vocal levels, and even on the mpeg file there is good separation & detail (upscaling by the Vega DAC certainly helps). I know comparing a 320kb/s MPEG file to a 1412kb/s CD is not a totally fair comparison, but at least it gave me an indication of the "tone" for the new remastered version.

The reason I have always loved this album is the emotion and seductive tone in KD Lang's voice. I prefer the original mix as it reminds of the classic mixes often used for 1950's female jazz singers, and how the voice was made the most important part of the music with the backing underpinning the vocals. There is still enough detail & separation in the original cd to satisfy most audiophiles, but what makes the original album great in the EMOTION.

And yes, melstapler, I think I will bekeeping my original copy.

 

For vinyl it did.