Customer Reviews

Beauty & Crime

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Suzanne Vega may be an acquired taste but after you've taken a drink of her latest album, you'll find it both intoxicating and difficult to give up. Admittedly there are those who dislike her hushed vocal delivery (which sounds at times like a female Lou Reed with echoes of Bob Dylan/Leonard Cohen where she isn't trying to "sing" the material so much as "discuss" her observations). I love Vega's delivery so sue me. She's a literate songwriter whose lyrics provide a nice constrast to the music which veers from folk, jazz, elements of techno sometimes within the same song.

"Beauty and Crime" is one of her best albums musically. This concept album about her adopted home New York is a loving and sometimes blunt assessment of the city that surrounds her and has been her muse off and on over the past twenty years. Vega has often taken stylistic detours sometimes off the beaten path like her flirtation with the techno elements that decorated "99.9f" and the smooth samba beat that showed up on "Nine Objects of Desire". Unlike those two albums the production of Jimmy Hogarth is less distracting and self-conscious than those two albums allowing the quality of the songs to shine through. For those that are interested the Japanese release has one extra song that comes in at just under two minutes. It's a good song but you won't miss it (unlike "Golden" from "Songs of Red and Gray) if you purchase the U.S. release of the album.

"Zephyr & I" and "Ludlow Street" have some of the most inviting melodies/arrangements since Vega's breakthrough album. "New York is a Woman" uses a pretty plain metaphor to describe a visitors first visit to the Big Apple. Vega's presentation is pretty straight forward folk outside of the occasional use of horns to decorate the song. "Poronographer's Dream" has an inviting beat and arrangement that echoes nightclub jazz. "Frank & Ava" and the lilting "Bound" are two other highlights. "Unbound" features the type of arrangements that were characteristic of "99.9F" but they are less obtrusive here,

As much as I have enjoyed all of her albums, "Beauty and Crime" is probably one of her most consistent, inviting and musically rich since her first two albums. "Days of Open Hand" was good but didn't extend much beyond "Solitude Standing". "99.9F" played with her sound providing her songs a great diving board to leap off into varied and different musical terrain. That continued on the stylistically diverse and often beautiful "Nine Objects of Desire" and "Songs in Red and Gray". "Beauty & Crime" brings all of this together but, more importantly, does so with the strongest batch of material she has written to date.

For those fans that are interested Vega's website also has a live album recorded for the "Songs in Red and Gray" tour available. It's also available for download from Itunes.

If you disagree, write a review. Remember, these reviews are designed to help people who DON'T have the album decide if they would like to get it NOT if you AGREE OR DISAGREE with the review.

Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne VegaSolitude Standing
Nine Objects of Desire

When I picked up Suzanne Vega's seventh studio release "Beauty & Crime", I did what a lot of people do these days - I ripped MP3 files for my computer. When I saw that the total time of the songs was only 34 minutes, I was a little disappointed because I have waited 6 years for her follow-up to the terrific "Songs in Red and Gray". But then I played the songs. Wow! The lady still has the magic. Although the songs are pretty short (only one exceeds 4 minutes and I actually think that song - "Bound" - drags on a little too long), they pack a punch. Personal favorites are "Edith Wharton's Figurines", "Unbound" and the one everyone seems to like, "New York is a Woman", which is about a suburban man's first trip to New York City. As a suburban man who will soon take his first trip to New York, I feel like Suzanne just gave me a tour!

I thought the CD was great and I hope she sees enough success with it that we'll hear from her again, hopefully sooner than 6 years from now. I'm looking forward to seeing her for the first time live later this year.

I first saw Suzanne Vega live back in the day, at the time of the release of her self-titled first album (she opened for Janis Ian), and I've had many meals sitting at the counter in the diner on the corner. And over the two decades she's proven to be one of our finest singer-songwriters.

This tribute to her native city just might be her best effort. My favorite tracks are "Zephyr," "Frank and Ava" (both with backing vocals by KT Tunstall), "Anniversary," which closes the album. And then there's the amazing "New York Is a Woman," which just might be the best song she's ever written.

Don't pass this one by.

As far as Billboard charts go, the only successes Suzanne Vega probably had were "Luka" and "Tom's Diner". But chart positions don't necessarily reflect quality, as her latest album Beauty & Crime might be her best work yet.

Though this is the first studio album Suzanne has released since 2001's Songs in Red and Gray, the break suited her well because this album never runs out of highlights (but it's not like Songs in Red and Gray was a bad album either). "Frank & Ava", "Zephyr & I" and "Ludlow Street" are storytelling gems, "New York is a Woman" and "Edith Wharton's Figurines" are well-thought-out metaphors, and "Angel's Doorway" is very creative. The back-to-back "Bound" and "Unbound" also compliment each other nicely.

Suzanne Vega might not be as popular as she used to be but Beauty & Crime proves that her music is still indeed beautiful, so pick it up.

Anthony Rupert

another gem from suzanne vega
the depth and production values are, as usual, superb
i definite must for suzanne's fan base
and not a bad first exposure to her genius, either

Suzanne Vega has never again hit the heights of brilliance that she hit on her first three albums, which were almost audacious in their creation of a modern folk paradigm, or her fourth album, which experimented with the limits of her art. But what she has lost in sheer brilliance, she has gained in maturity. This is a mature album, filled with quiet observations on life from someone who has managed to survive it. You will not be blown away by this album, it is not something audaciously brilliant, but if you listen carefully you will be rewarded.

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.

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.

Because, judging by the huge number of negative responses to reviews of this album, there's something odd going on here. Clearly, a lot of people just don't like Suzanne Vega, which is fair enough - she's an acquired taste. But, if you like her, this is an excellent outing... sure, it lacks the raw "edge" of her best early work but then she's now in her late 40's and artists mellow with time. Maybe her fans don't like this unfortunate (or fortunate) fact of musical life. Certainly rating an album review on either basis is pretty unfair.

Truth is that, as with her previous albums, it takes time for the underlying strength of her inherently "catchy" tunes to register but, once they do, it's as good as anything else she's released and, fan or not, a pretty good slice of high quality MOR folk/rock. Time for a bit more objectivity...

I love this new CD from Suzanne Vega. She is such a talented musician and songwriter. This new album is proof of that. My favorite track is "New York Is A Woman." This is a beautiful song about the allure and romance of New York. "Zephyr and I" is another highlight on this disc. This is a great song about friendship. I love the beat of the song very much. "Ludlow Street" is a tribute song to the place where musicians get together to perform in Manhattan. "Frank and Ava" is a reference to the difficult relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. This track has a nice retro sound. "Unbound" is a groovy track to dance to. I like this song vey much. "Pornographer's Dream" is an interesting song title. Suzanne's vocals are very soothing on this track. As You Are Now is an excellent song about enjoying all the little subtle things about a person The violin playing on this track is very pretty. I love all the tracks on this album.