Solitude Standing

Suzanne Vega

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Original Release Date: April 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GHB
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,673 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #62 in	Music > Alternative Rock > Singer-Songwriters
  #98 in	Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alternative Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Suzanne Vega emerged in the mid-'80s, and while her intimate voice and acoustic guitar brought to mind Joni Mitchell, her urbane lyrics suggested a sensibility that was as much reportorial as confessional. Vega's second album, which replaced the delicate acoustic textures of her self-titled debut with more dramatic arrangements, includes Vega's career song, "Luka," surely one of the biggest hits ever written about child abuse. But it was the energetic folk-rock production of "Luka," thick with ringing guitars and pushed by perky drums, that let the listener luxuriate in a song that suggested the darkness that can lurk behind a neighbor's door. The title tune confronts personal loneliness with a similarly powerful performance, while "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" makes a downtown landscape sound downright homey. Well-turned tunes like "Calypso" and "Gypsy" recall the softer textures of her debut. Ironically, Vega's next big hit would come when the English production duo DNA made a dance hit out of "Tom's Diner," a nursery-rhyme tribute to a coffee shop that opens the album. --John Milward

Product Description

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eighties never got much subtler than this, August 9, 2001

By	Andrius Uzkalnis (Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Suzanne Vega never eclipsed this album and "Luka" (with "Tom's Diner" coming close second). If anyone tells you eighties were all about silly hairdos and empty, meaningless bubble-gum tunes, remind them of Suzanne Vega. Of course, you will need to buy this album to play it for them.

When you listen to the entire album, you will be surprised to find other very strong and captivating songs that you must have overlooked when "Luka" was topping the charts. "Gypsy" is one example - melodically accomplished, sensitive and pure.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still standing head & shoulders above anything else..., October 4, 2001

By A Customer

There are those who want fireworks, Kiss-style with their music. There are those who want depth and musical sophistication--and get into some cerebral art-rock like Pink Floyd, where excellence and excess aren't that far apart.

....And then there's just good music. Like Suzanne Vega. English majors everywhere probably drool over this album, since it's striking that strange but serene balance between elegant simplicity and artistic depth. No one else could tackle growing pains, domestic abuse, the inadequacy of words, the cheapness of exterior beauty, and countless other subjects with such an honest, unassuming style. Encounters with other devotees of this woman have proved interesting--usually female, usually of a slight hippie persuasion (not that this is bad!). However, I took a chance on this album and I promptly became a believer; it's hard not to. There's something about her music that is genuinely timeless, however much people might try to lump her into the Lilith Fair crowd. People will still be spinning "Luka" long after trends have come and gone. She's a true artist in the best sense of the word, and people of her honesty and depth are too rare in the music business.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much more than just "Luka", September 15, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

Although most know Suzanne Vega for a song on this record ("Luka"), it's only one reason to add this one to your collection. _Solitude Standing_ is thoughtful, touching, elegant. From "Ironbound Fancy Poultry"'s use of chicken parts as metaphor for their sellers' dreams of freedom to the title track's quiet poetry, this is one of those rare recordings that is solid from start to finish. Highly recommended.