Customer Reviews

Days of Open Hand

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my favorite Suzanne Vega album. I'm puzzled that most of her fans feel differently.

I wasn't as fond of the quirky, edgy Mitchell Froom production on the next two albums... I really enjoyed this one much more, the spaciousness and shadow, the sense of underwater floating or otherwordly journeying that moves through songs like "Those Whole Girls," "Big Space" and "Rusted Pipe." Suzanne and her keyboardist Anton Sanko produced a rich and poetic trail of songs here.

A song I especially love on this CD is "Predictions", which features slow guitar, echoey synth, and percussive rhythm over which Suzanne recites, as a poem, many ways to tell the future. The song offers no actual predictions... it only beckons you to feel that universal desire for omniscience, the urge to visit the altar, to roll dice, reveal cards.

The top 40 single, "Book of Dreams", was more poppy and neatly upbeat than the rest of the disc. I recall reading an interview with Suzanne when this album came out, and she mentioned listening to XTC's "Oranges and Lemons." I hear their influence in this track. This may have misled and disappointed buyers at the time; the single wasn't as compelling as "Luka," and much of the rest of the CD was veiled in ambiguities.

The closing track "Pilgrimage" is simply gorgeous. It builds to become almost anthemic, a sure path, a promise: "I'm coming to you, I'll be there in time..." which I've come to imagine as an arc back around like outstretched arms to the tired, fever-dreaming girl who began the disc with an imploring waltz, "Oh, mom... I wonder when I will be waking... there's so much to do, and i'm tired of sleeping." Beautiful.

When 'Days Of Open Hand' was first released I bought it and loved it. After not hearing it for over 10 years, I recently bought a new copy and listened with fresh ears and I can now understand the mixed reviews I've seen of this album. It's certainly worth buying for anyone who likes S.Vega's sound but judging it against the genius-level standard set by her other albums, Days Of Open Hand feels a little bland. There are some very good songs, my favorite being 'Rusted Pipe', but overall the album seems to lack the inspiration I'm accustomed to in S.Vega's records. If you're looking to buy your first S.Vega album, this isn't the one. Go with 'Solitude Standing' or 'Nine Objects Of Desire'. If you're already a fan but don't own 'Days Of Open Hand', you should certainly buy it.

Days Of The Open Hand is musically the weakest Suzanne Vega album. It's biggest problem is that it's songs don't display a certain atmosphere , don't seem to represent a specific life period of the singer. Her debut had that New York autumn melancholy , Solitude Standing was a strong tracklist of magic folk melodies , 99.9F revealed the funky side of the artist while Nine Objects Of Desire was more jazzy and dark . Days Of The Open Hand now is recognazible Vega music but withought a certain mood in the sound . It has it's good moments and it's bad moments. Something's wrong with pop songs like Tired Of Sleeping and Rusted Pipe . Although the lyrics are as challenging as always the music part lacks the ability to charm. Yet it's highlights are something more than exceptional . Lo-fi ballad Room Off The Street touches perfection while Big Space unfolds an underground determination on the refrain which is strangely affecting. The song which stands out though is probably Fifty Fifty Chances which talks about a girl who , after a failed suicide attemp is recovering at a hospital bed. The backround violins create a sense of cold horrow while Vega describes the girl's situation with her tender , inexpressible vocals ( "Her little heart / it beats so fast / her body trembles / with the effort to last " ) . Yet one hauntig issue remains : "She is going home / tomorrow at ten / the question is / will she do it again ?... "

In a mad search for a song called "Left of Center", I bought all of Suzanne Vega's albums. By the time I found out "Left of Center" was on the "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack, I'd fallen in love with Suzanne's music. Instead of being with the rest of her albums, I found this album, "Days of Open Hand", in the three tapes for $10 bin. I found that very shocking as I listened to it, especially when I listened to the latter half of the songs (from "Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)" to "Pilgrimage"). Extremely creative are the only words I could think of to describe it since it lacks a proper pigeonhole or genre titile. I'd call it "Night Music" myself. In fact, now that I think of it, the order in which the songs were placed on the album seem to give a Day into Night feel as "Institution Green" sort of bleeds into the latter half of the album like the sun setting on one horizon while the moon rises over the other. Do yourself a favor and buy this album if you buy any of hers. While you're at it, check out the songs "Solitude Standing" and "Wooden Horse" on the "Solitude Standing" album; so good that authors John Skipp and Craig Spector used them as a musical backdrop to their book, "Deadlines".

Days of Open Hand is the one Suzanne Vega album that bewildered and challenged me the most. Stripping her music of most of the rock/pop trimmings that made Solitude Standing such a pure pleasure, Days of Open Hand instead offers up Vega's most mature lyrics yet, an extraordinarily quiet overall mood, and sombre arrangements best described by lead track "Tired of Sleeping". The vocals are beautiful as usual, confident and understated, but all of it is recorded with such a careful restraint that sometimes I wish there could be a little more rhythmic variety.

Nevertheless, this was the last of '80s-style Suzanne Vega that we'll ever hear.

You never hear a living soul talking about this album; at least I don't. That's why I'm glad the few [people] prove that I'm not the only one who thinks there's something special about this album.

Days Of Open Hand is enormously overlooked. Why? Did it get bad reviews? Were people 'scared off' because this album just needs some more listening to than Solitude Standing? I will definately be the last to say that this album is accessible; when I first heard it I didn't care for it at all and forgot about it. Though, luckily, there are always moments you try out the albums you forgot about again. I listened to it over and over; and now it's my favorite Vega album.

The album is not brilliant from beginning to end. It's especially the opening song Tired Of Sleeping that I'm having trouble with; it's not bad, but a bit too poppy too really fit the rest of the album. Book Of Dreams has the same problem.

The rest is gorgous though. All the songs are highly poetic and never pretend to be 'deep', though they are. The more I hear certain songs, the more they grow on me and the more I get addicted. Rusted Pipe is too beautiful for words; some people here say that it's one of the weaker songs on the album. They really must be deaf to ignore it's brilliance. Institution Green, Big Space and Pilgrimage... they're all songs that need some more listening to than your average Suzanne Vega song, but you will be rewarded with an album full of downright gems.

I'm a big SV fan; I own all her albums and look forward to new ones. I have to say, that when I first listened to this album, I was a little dissappointed - especially compared to her first two. But, now with the innovation of iPod shuffle, I listen to her more. Some of the tracks on this album, especially Tired of Sleeping and Those WHole Girls, have really become my favorites. I was surprised when I looked back and they were from this album. I recently listened to the whole thing and it's much better than I rememberd it years ago. I guess I've grown musically, just now as fast as SV. She's ahead of my time!

Suzanne Vega is probably popular more for her hit 'Luka' and her feat featuring DNA on 'Tom's Diner'. Her style of singing delicately, tightly structured lyrically pleasing songs, possesss the power and charm to overpower your mind and inundate with tranquillity.

Days Of Open Hand is a pretty collection of mellow songs with a distinct melancholic feel. The most beautiful and gripping track is probably 'Fifty-Fifty' which I guess, is about someone having tried to commit suicide. The violins wind you in their agonising pain and sympathy. Simple yet moving and intelligent lines.

"...
Fifty-fifty chance,
the doctor said
in the cardiac room
as she is lying in bed.
...
She's going home tomorrow at ten
The question is will she do it again
..."

'Room of the street' is a great number too, sung very timidly, very Suzanne Vega. 'In my book of dreams' and 'Men in a war' are cool numbers too where the latter picks up pace as it progresses.

'Tired of sleeping' and 'Big Space' are a treat to hear. The simplicity of the lyrics is what really spellbounds.

"...
Oh mom...
The dreams are not so bad
I wonder when I'll be waking
It's just there is so much to do
and I'm tired of sleeping
..."

Men in a war--
"...
Men in a war
If they've lost a limb
Still feel that limb
As they did before..
He lay on a cot
He was drenched in a sweat
He was mute and staring
But feeling the thing
He had not
--
I know how it is
When something is gone
A piece of your eyesight
Or maybe your vision
A corner of sense
Goes blank on the screen
A piece of the scan
Gets filled in by hand
..."

Brilliant!

If you're looking to hear 'Luka' and 'Gypsy', try and get your hands on her previous offering, 'Solitude Standing'. Another pretty pleasing cool, calm and ear-friendly listening experience. Nice to listen to in the weary afternoons.

Disturbing, cryptic, mystical, haunting. This is indeed Suzanne Vega's darkest recording, and all of her recordings are dark in some way. Nonetheless, when compared with her previous two releases, this CD seemed a drastic departure into a world of dreams, fear, mystery, perhaps even insanity. I'm shaking my head at the reviews describing the nightmarish "Tired of Sleeping" as a pop song or lullaby - no. Ms. Vega experimented with atmospheric sounds here in a way that captivated me and perhaps anticipated her next CD with its more dramatic experiments with industrial sounds. My sense is that this is her most emotionally courageous material; that it is almost a stream of subconsciousness. It speaks in the language of dreams instead of the poetry of the waking. I am another of those for whom this is their least favorite Suzanne Vega CD, but I am also among those who find it challenging and hauntingly beautiful. In the end, I am more comfortable with more familiar feelings about divorce on "Songs in Red and Gray" or with the ever-so-cool music on 99.9Fº. If you are more open to being uncomfortable, even disturbed, you may find this a truly remarkable work.

This is one of those rare works that would rate 6 stars if it were possible. "Haunting" probably best describes the tone of this album. Soulful and chilling, the echoing sounds of songs like "Those Whole Girls" and "Big Space" combine with deep, disturbing messages in tracks such as "Tired of Sleeping" and "Fifty-Fifty Chance" to create a masterful work. After more than ten years of listening to this album, I'm still discovering layers of meaning hidden in the lyrics. This is one to put on the headphones and listen to over and over again.