Suzanne Vega remains one of the most relentlessly, mercilessly tasteful recording artists alive. Every note on Songs in Red and Gray has been arranged with the meticulous precision of a butler laying silver on a table. Every sound is so polished and buffed that you barely notice you're listening, every syllable of every lyric only admitted to the melodies after painstaking reviewing and rewriting, and every song sung as if Vega believes that her core audience consists of elocution teachers. This has worked, occasionally, for Vega before--it should not be forgotten what an original presence she was with "Left of Center" and "Marlene on the Wall"--and it works, occasionally, for Vega now. There are a few fine songs here, notably the gently acerbic "Last Year's Troubles" and the wryly subversive "Maggie May" (not the Rod Stewart standard), but there is also a whole lot of glutinous, over-refined suet. Vega still needs to give her songs a much longer leash. --Andrew Mueller Amazon.com
 |  | More colorful than Red and Grey! |  |
This is the first time that I have really listened in depth to Suzanne Vega's songs. The words are powerful. The music and the musicians are superb. Every time I listen to her sing I fall under her spell. This Album is a must for all SV fans.
October 12, 2005 | | After "99.9" and "Nine Objects," a serious comedown | |
"99.9" had a crisp intelligence and a skeptical tone, "Nine Objects" was a masteripiece of jazzy sensuality. This CD, however, is hopelessly muddled on too many levels; though many of the orchestrations are fine (the low, urgent strings on "Widow's Walk" perfectly compliment her gun metal-tough delivery), the lyrics often get lost in a thicket of overwriting. (Slog through the words for "It Makes Me Wonder" where she rhymes a reference to breast milk with "ilk"--it makes me wonder too, Suzanne.) Though some have appreciated her use of metaphor on this CD, I found them to be both absurdly purple and cryptic. ("Daddy's a dark riddle/Mama's a headful of bees" sounds like bad college-girl creative writing, not to mention the thudding metaphor of "The virgin Mary on a chain has hit me in the mouth again." Egad!) Vega has never seemed as affected or pretentious--so out of touch with her audience--as she has in the ghastly "Priscilla," with lines such as "but still we did play" that wouldn't even qualify as college-girl creative writing. (This annoying tense tic reappears in "Harbor Song" where she sings "Whenever I do travel.") She also tries to revisit certain songs and themes from previous albums, but instead of being commentary or deepening a theme it seems like she's rehashing ideas (the card game on "Solitaire" pales compared to "No Cheap Thrill" from "Nine Objects;" "If I Were A Weapon" rips off "If You Were In My Movie" from "99.9"). As an artist writing about the dissolution of a marriage, one expects more thematic richness and genuine emotion from her than just sounding vaguely nettled---for the first time, her coolness seems like a front, a pose to cover darker emotions. Only occasionally do the lyrics, vocals and instruments combine into alchemy--"Widow's Walk," the weary delivery and razor-sharp detail in "Song In Red and Gray," and the compassionate yet sorrowful final elegy "St. Clare." Has Vega given up on all romantic relationships? Has her dark mood weighed down her talent, and trapped it in the muck at the bottom of her mind? Here's hoping she can cut loose the chains and soar again in the future.
August 24, 2005This was Vega's first album after her divorce from her husband and producer on her two previous albums, Mitchell Froom. The theme of breaking-up is naturally dominating many these songs.
The production of this album is slightly softer than ""99.9 F" and "Nine Objects of Desire", and probably less daring. The record has been criticised for being overproduced; personaly I think her production suits her songs brilliantly. And songs are mostly great and like always, Suzanne Vega's lyrics are melodic and thought-provoking.
Only few songs are immediately catchy and it may take a few listens to get into many of them.
My first favourites were the up-beat songs "I'll Never Be Your Maggie May". "Last Year's Troubles" (great lyrics on that one too!) and "If I Were a Weapon".
Among the slower and more silent songs "Soap and Water" and "St Claire" are really great.
All in all an album you can enjoy and listen to many times!
Now I'm eagerly awaiting her new album which supposedly is to be released in late 2005.
July 17, 2005Suzanne Vega is such a unique voice in music. She shares her experiences and observations on life, but never stoops to overtly shouting about anything; neither musically nor lyrically. This seems to bother some, such as the Amazon reviewer, but I simply find this as a different approach to reporting or viewing life. Suzanne tells her stories with an ethereal sense of control, by a force of will minimizing emotions such as anger and regret; they argue a balanced understanding of life where beauty resides in the ability to deal with life's ups-and-downs with love, hope and a wry sense of humor.
As for the various comments about the production values of Red and Grey, I have no problems listening to the songs on good equipment; the sounds, like the lyrics, are largely well thought out and clearly intentioned. Much popular music relies on the artistic (and often times non-artistic) collisions of many sounds together; it's neither good nor bad that there is not much of that here... It's more like a stream of sounds all headed in the same direction versus a collage of sounds that blend together.
Not a perfect album by any stretch, but it has many perfect human moments; realistic, slightly sad, personal songs that flow gracefully over turbulent ground...
June 10, 2005| | | Agreed, her best since her first | |
Few albums have touched me and knocked my socks off at the same time as this one has. This is by far her best songwriting since Suzanne Vega and Solitude Standing. I have enjoyed all of her albums, but these songs have a rawness, intimacy and intensity that I have rarely ever seen. On top of that, the musical arrangements framing the lyrics are perfect - not over done, not underdone. You can "feel" the emotion before she starts singing. I am not a professional critic, but I would say this is a flawless album. Pure Suzanne in the lyrics and her songwriting has reached a maturity and level of excellence that all of her fans have been watching her work towards.
July 13, 2004More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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