Search - Suzanne Vega :: The Best of Suzanne Vega: Tried and True

Excellent compilation album

Allan Rousselle | Somewhere along I-90, USA | 01/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are new to the music of Suzanne Vega, this is probably the best CD for you to start your collection with. The selections do a great job of representing the span of her recording career, with tracks from each of her studio albums, her better known compilation contributions (like "Left of Center" from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack), a few live performances, and even two previously unreleased studio recordings. Both popular hits (like "Luka" and "Tom's Diner") and fan favorites ("Queen and the Soldier", "World Before Columbus") are included.Even if you aren't new to Suzanne's music, you may want to pick this one up even if only for the live tracks and the two new songs. "Book and a Cover" has a mechanical sound to it, much like many of the songs from Days of Open Hand, but her song "Rosemary" is simply amazing. Elegant and thoughtful folk with a simple and engaging arrangement, "Rosemary" is one of my favorite songs by Vega to date.This is a great starter collection, but it is certainly not complete. Vega's standout contributions to the Deadicated CD (a Grateful Dead tribute album) are absent, for example. Nonetheless, this is about as complete as any single, non-box set collection is likely to get in terms of capturing such a prolific and diverse singer-songwriter.Highly recommended."