Search - Suzanne Vega :: 99.9f

Electronic, engaging, excellent

12/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the most musically interesting of Suzanne Vega's recordings, and was my personal favorite from its release until "Songs in Red and Gray" a decade later. The debate below about the industrial or techno effects reminds me of the 40-year-old complaints about Dylan going electric. We started paying attention to him when he plugged in and performed "Like A Rolling Stone", and while I snatched up all her earlier work, much of Vega's most interesting music is here, is electric, and is engaging in large part because of its sound. Every one of Vega's CD's sounds different musically, and thus the notion that this isn't the "typical" Suzanne Vega seems silly to me. The one criticism I've read here with which I agree is that the CD is not perfectly cohesive; the simpler acoustic songs sometimes can sound out of place, however lovely. Perhaps it's just that they aren't always the best compositions here. There are plusses and minuses to using electronic instruments and sounds. Listening a decade later, I find some of this music sounds dated, which will never happen with an acoustic guitar and a lovely voice, as on Ms. Vega's first CD. Still, it's the electronica that draws me in here, along with lyrics that focus as much on warm blood as her first collection focused on frozen water. Perhaps that's why she chose to use such pulsing electronic beats. I honestly don't know what's on her "best of" CD, but I couldn't imagine one without "Fat Man & Dancing Girl", "99.9Fº", "Blood Makes Noise", "If You Were In My Movie", "Rock in This Pocket", or "Bad Wisdom". I.e., I think more than half this CD is essential Suzanne Vega. I can't say that about any of her other five brilliant recordings.The lyrics here are just as interesting as the music, as one would expect, and though Ms. Vega's cool detached observations can be found as readily here as elsewhere, there was perhaps more warmth and humanity here than in previous recordings. I experienced this CD as Suzanne Vega coming down to earth and having a bit of fun along with her poetry and her musings about disturbing subjects and bad men. If you aren't a folk purist and you are a Suzanne Vega fan, I can't imagine this not being a favorite. If you're new to her work, this is a better place to start than most."

^^quite a surprise^^

ben_sevier | Phoenix, AZ | 06/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My first Suzanne Vega album was Solitude Standing which I bought about 3 years ago. I had heard Suzanne's "Luka" on the Lilith Fair live album and decided to give her a try. Unfortunately, I was sort of turned off by the heavy 80's sound, which at the time I wasn't really into. I forgot about Suzanne for over a year until I ran into this album at the library...and out of curiosity I checked it out.From that point on, my opinion completely changed. At first I was taken aback by the sound, but on the second listen I was hooked. It completely changed how I listened to "Solitude" and seduced me to get all of Suzanne's other albums. She's now one of my favorite artists. There's no two Suzanne Vega albums alike, yet when viewed as whole collection make perfect sense. As "industrial" as this album may sound at times, it's also one of her most acoustic. "Bad Wisdom" and "Blood Sings" are mostly just Suzanne and her beautiful (and frequently overshadowed on albums) guitar. For me there's not a bad track on the album. It's probably one of her most accessible, yet most complicated albums -contradiction I know- and rarely goes long without being played on my CD player."