k.d. lang has spent her eccentric career pitching between twin poles of desire--torch (jazz/blues) and twang (retro country), and artistry and flamboyance. On Live by Request, she revisits the best of her shimmering repertoire, from her rough-edged cowpunk days to her current gossamer soundscape. But at the start of the set, recorded December 2000 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, she threatens to diminish her own impact with a lumpy, rushed rendition of "Summerfling" and a cartoonish version of "Big Boned Gal." Soon, however, she settles down to do what she does best, which is seduction. While a way-too-melodramatic arrangement spoils "Don't Smoke in Bed," she goes on to bring goose-bump intimacy to "The Consequences of Falling" and "Constant Craving," one of popular music's most aching songs of longing laid bare. By the time she turns her exquisite soprano to the howling chorus of "Barefoot," the earth doesn't just move, Ernest, it trembles--a prelude to the staggeringly emotional affect of "Pullin' Back the Reins." When she gets to that one, don't be surprised if your stereo starts to smoke. --Alanna Nash