Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
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Free Music Notes for Beauty & Crime
Free Music Review: Way To Bring It On Suzanne
Hit: 5 Stars
I love this album and I'm so glad I ended up buying it, you see but I had no intenion of actually buying until I heard the thing somewhere else. I've always liked Suzanne but felt she was fairly hit or miss. "Luka" is excellant as is most of the album that it came from, "Left Of Center" from Pretty In Pink is one of my all time favorite songs ever and the brilliant rendition of DNA on "Tom's Diner" sticks with you long after you've heard it but her kind of wimpy pouty vocals wear a little thin I think on a full album.
But then in 1994 came the album 99.9 (it's 99.9 Farenheit degrees but I can't find the frickin' degree symblol?) and I fell in love with it. Instead of acoustic guitars and her voice, she amped up the music with thumping pumps of electronic jambles and I loved every single song on the album. After that I once again lost interest but as Beauty & Crime was coming out, I read a review and interview with her, comparing the album to 99.9 and the fact that this was a record years in the making, since 9/11 in fact and being a New York poetess Vega had a few things to talk about, including her brother's death and her love/affection for the Big Apple. All very pondering yet full of music and fun little backing vocals, the album is great from start to finish. Again, there aren't any songs I dislike, some are obviously better than others but it's a really good album through out and I highly suggest you check it out. Best cuts: "New York Is A Woman", "Zephyr & Me", "Bound"
Free Music Review: She sings wonderful stories.
Hit: 5 Stars
Suzanne is a storyteller. She writes through her music and tells her stories through song. The music and musicians are terrific. There is insight, emotion and nuance all put to a modern mix of jazz, folk and rock. These are soundtracks for a life lived in New York and as textured as the City itself. Free Music Review: Listen!
Hit: 4 Stars
Hands down, one of the best album's of 2007, and one of Vega's best ever. "Frank & Ava" got a bit of air play, but even better are tracks like "Bound" and "New York Is a Woman." Though short (the album runs a little less than 35 minutes), this one is definitely worth owning.Free Music Review: Suzanne Offers Some of Her Best Work to Date
Hit: 4 Stars
Thematically, this is the most consistent album Suzanne has presented to date. I think "New York is a Woman" and "Pornographer's Dream" rank up there with the best songs she has ever written. "Edith Wharton's Figurines" and "Anniversary" are also good too and Suzanne covers a lot of intellectual and emotional territory over the course of the album. There is a lot here and I think it is especially lovely how "Anniversary" ties the whole album together at the end: "make time for all your possibilities, they live on every street."
For me, the album is worth buying just for "New York is a Woman" and "Pornographer's Dream." To me these songs represent Suzanne performing at her lyrical and musical peak and I was surprised and delighted to find such great songs on this album because let's face it, it's been awhile. That being said, absent these two songs it would be a much weaker album as many of the other songs lyrically and musically lean further in the direction of pop than Suzanne typically goes. In one respect this is good because it means the album offers "something for everyone" both folk and pop fans alike. However, this is what holds me back from giving the album a full five star rating. For Suzanne Vega fans, hands down it's worth buying. For first time listeners, I'd direct them to earlier albums Suzanne Vega and/or Solitude Standing so they can appreciate this later album in the context of her prior work, then come back and enjoy!
Free Music Review: Disjointed/slightly muffled audio quality
Hit: 2 Stars
I liked the music when I auditioned it on Amazon through my tiny computer speakers. When I received the CD in the mail and played it on my high end system, the vocals seemed to be a little mufffled and came from behind the instruments. Instrumentals sounded ok, nothing to write about. If you own an old Sade CD and this one, play them one after another and you'll see the difference a good recording and mixing can make! I'm relegating this CD for the car stereo, hopefully it sounds ok there.