Suzanne Vega - Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Suzanne VegaEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-04-22
Music Label: Interscope Records
Soundtracks:
- Luka
- Tom's Diner - DNA
- Marlene On the Wall
- Caramel
- 99.9 Degrees Farenheit
- Tired Of Sleeping
- Small Blue Thing
- Blood Makes Noise
- Left Of Center
- (I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May
- In Liverpool
- Gypsy
- Book Of Dreams
- No Cheap Thrill
- Calypso
- World Before Columbus
- Solitude Standing
- Penitent
- Rosemary
- The Queen And The Soldier (Live)
- Woman On The Tier (I'll See You Through)
Free Music Notes for Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega
Free Music Review: Pleasant, enigmatic, accoustic pop ballads 3.5/5
Hit: 4 Stars
There really isn't a song on this compilation that you can't listen to-they are all listenable and some songs will grow on you. My only quibbles, I suppose, are these two: (1) there isn't the original version of "Tom's Diner" on this compilation. If I have heard the original, I don't remember it, but, seeing as this compilation is long on songs, one more wouldn't have hurt. You hear a remix of this song on this compilation, which is nice enough. (2) I really liked the song "The Queen and the soldier". It's live. Normally, I don't like live songs, unless they are better than the studio version [as Dire Strait's "Industrial disease" manages to do by having a more fluid cool guitar riff compared to the studio version]. This song is a pretty, Bob Dylan-esque fairytale featuring great accoustics for the steel string guitar Suzanne uses-they have an ethereal quality to them. MAYBE, IF the original studio version was better, I'd would have preferred to hear that instead. The live version is fine, though.
I'm giving this album 3.5 stars out of 5 because Suzanne Vega doesn't really have a handful of killer songs. She has a few which I quite like, and, like I said before, many songs of a listenable quality.
The standout tracks on this album are "Marlene on the wall" featuring Vega's gentle vocals, enigmatic lyrics, nice melody and accoustic guitar.
"Left of centre"-perhaps Vega's best song, featuring, as per usual, accoustic guitar by Vega, cool, enigmatic lyrics, a rock beat, nice melody and a chorus you can sing along to.
"Solitude standing"-another one of Vega's enigmatic songs [to me at least!]. Here the meaning is not contained in the lyrics and the song has an edgier sound to it. The intro is interestingly complex too.
Some other songs which would be known to fans of Vega include:
"Luka"-I thought that this might have been about spousal abuse or something, but the Amazon review says it's about child abuse. A raw subject in any case for Vega. Features nice melodies and harmonies. It's one of a few songs in which Vega utilises a steel string accoustic guitar [as opposed to her usual, plain old accoustic guitar].
"99.9 F"-this is a song I had forgotten about. This might be the only song with an electric guitar featured-the song has a dirty, electric guitar riff throughout. Also has pretty and delicate melodies.
"Tom's Diner"-this non-original version features a hip-hop beat, bass guitar and a brass section.
Of the songs that wouldn't get regular or any airplay on mainstream music stations [unlike some or all of the songs above] but which have something to recommend them are:
"World before Columbus"-lyrically interesting-drawing an analogy between relationships and Colonial activity of centuries ago where colonisers would give trinkets for something valuable to natives...like all their land!
"Blood makes noise"-features cool, industrial type music, bass, witty lyrics and a quick pace.
"Woman on the tier"-again, another cool example of industrial type noise and grungy drums. This song and the previous one are real departures for Vega on her usually mellow style.
"(I'll never be) Your Maggie May"-interesting for seeming to be a riposte to Rod Stewart's famous song "Maggie May". Features very nice and ethereal vocals and melody.
"Penitent"-interesting in that parts of it reminded me of the famous Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song "Don't give up".
"Rosemary"-interesting in that a guitar part of the song reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel's song "The Boxer".
"In Liverpool" -also features a little electric guitar and the song alternates between a slow ballad and a sound not unlike a carousel.
"Book of dreams"-perhaps the poppiest song on this compilation.
"No cheap thrill"-interesting for poker players as this game is a theme of the song.
Overall, this is quite a mellow, listenable compilation of ballads by a talented songwriter.
If you enjoyed this album, other albums which I've reviewed here and be of interest to you are:
Patti Smith-Horses [a poetic album]
Midnight Oil-Red Sails in the sunset [this great pop/rock band with a social and political conscience are at their experimental best with this effort]
Frank Sinatra [compilation]
Billie Holiday [compilation]
The Cocteau Twins-Blue Belle Knoll [dreamy pop]
Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega Poster
It's the rare singer-songwriter whose emotional confessions rise above bathos to find true resonance with their listeners; rarer still the one who can connect their audience with the plight of everyday strangers. Suzanne Vega not only managed that feat on her unlikely, child-abuse themed breakthrough hit "Luka" in `88, but opened the door for a renaissance of intelligent, female folk-oriented music in the decade that followed. This 21-track anthology spans Vega's career before and since, a chronicle of cool, sharp-eyed detachment infused by a restless, oft-underrated sense of musical invention that spans club-mixes (the "Tom's Diner" here was originally a "pirate" deejay mix by DNA that Vega wisely adopted), Latin jazz ("Caramel"), electro-percussive rhythm explorations ("Blood Makes Noise," "99.9F," and ""Woman on the Tier" from the Dead Man Walking soundtrack) neo-classicism ("Small Blue Thing") and a sharp-edged pop sense ("I'll Never Be Your Maggie May," "Book of Dreams") that can't be denied. That it's all still clearly rooted in a diverse pantheon that includes Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Woody Guthrie is all the more remarkable. Rarities include "Left of Center" from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, a live "Queen and the Soldier" and previously import-only "Rosemary." Also features all lyrics and the insightful recollections of Vega colleague/Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye. --Jerry McCulleyImport pressing of their greatest hits collection packaged in a slidepack. Part of the Universal 'Just the Music' Campaign. 2006. * Please note, no liner notes are included.
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