Suzanne Vega takes you on a trip to convince you to become her devotee.
Written: Aug 22 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: Excellent progression of songs, superb songwriting.
Cons: If you don't like folk music, you will never stomach this.
The Bottom Line: I recommend this anyone interested in hearing more of Vega's work. I suspect for the more diehard fan, you'll have all of these tracks already.
kclements's Full Review: Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega by Suzanne...
After a career spanning nearly twenty years, and numerous hits, Suzanne Vega released her "best of" package in 2003. Not being the consummate Vega fan, I picked up the record because I liked a few of the songs, and thought that I might enjoy some of her other songs. Which isn't to say that I don't know and respect Vega's music -- it's just that, well, I hadn't heard enough to make me a fan or to convince me that I didn't like her.
The record does not flow chronologically, which for Vega's music, actually works quite well. She gets her two biggest singles, "Luka and "Tom's Diner," out of the way first. It is a firm, but friendly gesture that lets you know that Vega knows why you bought the album, and is more concerned that you come away from listening with a new found appreciation for what she can do with her words and music.
She doesn't disappoint. From the heavily strummed accoustic guitar riffs from "Marlene on the Wall" to the bass-laden, percussion heavy "Blood Makes Noise," there is not one bad choice on this disc. Vega showcases her imminent talent: her lyrics, which owe as much to Bob Dylan as to Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed. her songs have accessible quality to them, that stand as a credit to her. Other female artists, such as Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, and Kate Bush, tend to wrap their songs in huge, showy productions, hiding the basicness of their song. Vega's music wouldn't stand up amongst all that technobabble. Her simple chords and bright, sunny vocals carry the arrangements of the majority of the songs here. in fact, the one song where the production begins to wear down her vocals is the last one, "Woman on the Tier," which sounds as oppressive as the film it is taken from, Dead Man Walking.
Her lyrics read like a journal or the poetry or some undiscovered Romantic poet, at times sounding like the cynicism of Ginsberg or Kerouac, and at others like Emily Dickinson.
There are some true gems on this record, "Caramel," "Left of Center," "(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie Mae," "No Cheap Thrill," and "Penitent," just to name a few. It is difficult to find a song that doesn't work on this disc, and I defy anyone not to become a devotee of Vega after listening to the album.
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