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Editorial Reviews
In 1985, singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega released her stunning self-titled debut album. Twenty five years and seven million albums later, Suzanne is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation. Now she is reinterpreting a majority of her catalog in an intimate and personal manner, creating four new thematic albums that will be released over the next two years. The first is Suzanne Vega Close Up, Vol. 1: Love Songs, which includes stripped-down versions of her influential hit song "Marlene On The Wall," the bossa nova favorite "Caramel," and many more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In the era of omnipresent auto-tune along comes an artist who has the courage to put her voice out there virtually unprocessed sometimes backed by nothing but her guitar. As a result you will not hear pitch perfect vocals here. Sometimes the deep emotions Suzanne is feeling as she sings cause her voice to waver or quake.
So why does this effort rate 5 stars? Stripping away the studio trappings means you will experience a deep emotional connection to every word Suzanne sings. The words remain pristine and poetic and in these stripped down arrangements they shine like diamonds. Many of the old songs are rephrased, sang in new ways by a more mature artist. Songs such as "Harbor Song" reveal their true emotional power in whole new ways when the external trappings have been stripped away.
Finally, Suzanne Vega is a true singer/songwriter. You won't find six different people claiming credit on every song she sings as is the case with so many other "singer/songwriters" who have never written a single song by themselves and won't sing anything somebody else writes unless they get a piece of the songwriting credits and the royalties. Suzanne is the real deal! This album is worth your time and money.
So why does this effort rate 5 stars? Stripping away the studio trappings means you will experience a deep emotional connection to every word Suzanne sings. The words remain pristine and poetic and in these stripped down arrangements they shine like diamonds. Many of the old songs are rephrased, sang in new ways by a more mature artist. Songs such as "Harbor Song" reveal their true emotional power in whole new ways when the external trappings have been stripped away.
Finally, Suzanne Vega is a true singer/songwriter. You won't find six different people claiming credit on every song she sings as is the case with so many other "singer/songwriters" who have never written a single song by themselves and won't sing anything somebody else writes unless they get a piece of the songwriting credits and the royalties. Suzanne is the real deal! This album is worth your time and money.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase
On October 12, 2010, Suzanne Vega released Volume 2 of the Close-Up CD's (Close-Up 2: People & Places - select the Deluxe MP3 download version). Volume 2 is the much stronger CD.
This is an amazing, wonderful album. Suzanne Vega has gone back to the studio, removed all the production from the recordings, and stripped her songs to the most important elements. There's no overpowering perfection and extra instruments on these recordings. You can hear Suzanne breathe into the microphone, and you can hear her fingers glide over the guitar strings; you feel as if Suzanne Vega is in your living room performing. These are not unplugged versions of her songs, they are songs performed in the singer song writer tradition, using just the right number of instruments to convey the emotion of the song. On some songs there are backing instruments, on others it is just Suzanne, her voice and acoustic guitar.
If I had only listened to this album by itself, I would declare it fabulous. However, now that Volume 2 has been released, there is a new bar. Volume 1 sounds a bit flatter, with less emotion. These are love songs, they are tender. But they have less range; I feel a bit less emotion with Volume 1. There's more of a Bossa Nova and old time jazz singer flavor running through these songs. The flavor is not unpleasant, just not nearly as powerful and moving as the songs on Volume 2. The Volume 1 songs sound a bit more like the original recordings with similar tone and tempo (Volume 2 mixes things up a lot).
I still love this album. Taken as a whole, with Volumes 1 and 2 playing on shuffle, Suzanne Vega's music cannot be beaten. Her voice has matured and improved so much in the past few years. She sings and plays with a confidence that is wonderful. These discs are something new and wonderful. Even though I am very familiar with the original recordings, these songs sit beautifully in my Suzanne Vega collection.
This is an amazing, wonderful album. Suzanne Vega has gone back to the studio, removed all the production from the recordings, and stripped her songs to the most important elements. There's no overpowering perfection and extra instruments on these recordings. You can hear Suzanne breathe into the microphone, and you can hear her fingers glide over the guitar strings; you feel as if Suzanne Vega is in your living room performing. These are not unplugged versions of her songs, they are songs performed in the singer song writer tradition, using just the right number of instruments to convey the emotion of the song. On some songs there are backing instruments, on others it is just Suzanne, her voice and acoustic guitar.
If I had only listened to this album by itself, I would declare it fabulous. However, now that Volume 2 has been released, there is a new bar. Volume 1 sounds a bit flatter, with less emotion. These are love songs, they are tender. But they have less range; I feel a bit less emotion with Volume 1. There's more of a Bossa Nova and old time jazz singer flavor running through these songs. The flavor is not unpleasant, just not nearly as powerful and moving as the songs on Volume 2. The Volume 1 songs sound a bit more like the original recordings with similar tone and tempo (Volume 2 mixes things up a lot).
I still love this album. Taken as a whole, with Volumes 1 and 2 playing on shuffle, Suzanne Vega's music cannot be beaten. Her voice has matured and improved so much in the past few years. She sings and plays with a confidence that is wonderful. These discs are something new and wonderful. Even though I am very familiar with the original recordings, these songs sit beautifully in my Suzanne Vega collection.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music
In the era of omnipresent auto-tune along comes an artist who has the courage to put her voice out there virtually unprocessed sometimes backed by nothing but her guitar. As a result you will not hear pitch perfect vocals here. Sometimes the deep emotions Suzanne is feeling as she sings cause her voice to waver or quake.
So why does this effort rate 5 stars? Stripping away the studio trappings means you will experience a deep emotional connection to every word Suzanne sings. The words remain pristine and poetic and in these stripped down arrangements they shine like diamonds. Many of the old songs are rephrased, sang in new ways by a more mature artist. Songs such as "Harbor Song" reveal their true emotional power in whole new ways when the external trappings have been stripped away.
Finally, Suzanne Vega is a true singer-songwriter. You won't find six different people claiming credit on every song she sings as is the case with so many other "singer-songwriters" who have never written a single song by themselves and won't sing anything somebody else writes unless they get a piece of the songwriting credits and the royalties. Suzanne is the real deal! This album is worth your time and money.
So why does this effort rate 5 stars? Stripping away the studio trappings means you will experience a deep emotional connection to every word Suzanne sings. The words remain pristine and poetic and in these stripped down arrangements they shine like diamonds. Many of the old songs are rephrased, sang in new ways by a more mature artist. Songs such as "Harbor Song" reveal their true emotional power in whole new ways when the external trappings have been stripped away.
Finally, Suzanne Vega is a true singer-songwriter. You won't find six different people claiming credit on every song she sings as is the case with so many other "singer-songwriters" who have never written a single song by themselves and won't sing anything somebody else writes unless they get a piece of the songwriting credits and the royalties. Suzanne is the real deal! This album is worth your time and money.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
For my daughter-in - law
My daughter-in-law loves Suzzane Vega--so I bought her this one for a small gift....I listened to it with her-and I really liked the songs and the singer--and you will too.. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Barbara A. Cooper
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
The original versions of many of these songs have been near and dear to my heart for decades, so I was eager to hear them re-recorded more intimately. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Brian M. Berns
4.0 out of 5 stars
Suzanne Vega at her best!
I was a big fan of SV in the 80s - she was kind of the Joni Mitchell for my generation - but then lost touch with her work. Read more
Published 4 months ago by phinca
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant - among Suzanne Vega's best work
All four of these Close Up albums are really excellent. For me these stripped-down re-workings of her songs shed a new light on many of them and in a lot of cases I prefer them to... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sid Nuncius
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dulls-ville
I've been listening to Suzanne Vega's: Close Up Vol. 1, Love Songs for a time now, trying to put my finger on exactly what went terribly wrong with this recording. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Frank Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intimate and lovely
A quieter, close-up, intimate view of some great songs Suzanne Vega has written over the years. These are legitimate well-produced alternate takes. Read more
Published on May 1, 2011 by Eric J. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love this Album
This is a great chill-out or snuggle-up album. Suzanne Vega has a fantastic voice and the album is full of some old favorites.
Published on March 16, 2011 by justcoz62
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fine Reworkings.
Suzanne Vega has decided to re-record some of her earlier songs and publish them in a "Close-Up" series. This volume 1 is called "Love Songs". Read more
Published on July 25, 2010 by Morten Vindberg
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quintessential Suzanne Vega
When I first heard Suzanne Vega in the 1980s, her lyrically-powerful yet fragile voice seized me. I followed her through the next couple decades, enjoying each new album, and the... Read more
Published on July 22, 2010 by S. Nowlan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worked for me
This revisit of some of Suzanne's best songs totally worked for me. Suzanne's voice sounds as good or better than on the originals and her new arrangements while not dramatically... Read more
Published on July 20, 2010 by Gaylen Halbert
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