🎵 AotW Suzanne Vega - SUZANNE VEGA (SP-5072)

[LPJim]

Suzanne Vega
SUZANNE VEGA
A&M SP-5072

All songs written by Suzanne Vega.

1. "Cracking" – 2:49
2. "Freeze Tag" – 2:36
3. "Marlene on the Wall" – 3:40
4. "Small Blue Thing" – 3:54
5. "Straight Lines" – 3:49
6. "Undertow" – 3:26
7. "Some Journey" – 3:38
8. "The Queen and the Soldier" – 4:48
9. "Knight Moves" – 3:36
10. "Neighborhood Girls" – 3:21

• Suzanne Vega — vocals (1–10), acoustic guitar (1–10)[9]
• Steve Addabbo — background vocals (4, 5, 7), synclavier guitar (6), 12-string acoustic guitar (8), electric guitar (10)
• Darol Anger — electric violin (7)
• Frank Christian — acoustic guitar (2, 9), electric slide guitar (10)
• Paul Dugan — bass (1, 4, 6, 8, 9), vertical bass (2)
• Sue Evans — drums (3, 5, 6, 10), percussion (4, 10)
• Jon Gordon — electric guitar (1–7)
• Peter Gordon — string arrangement (6)
• Frank Gravis — bass (3, 5, 10)
• Shem Guibbory — violin (6)
• Mark Isham — synthesizers (7)
• John Mahoney — synclavier programming (6)
• Maxine Neuman — cello (6)
• C.P. Roth — synthesizers (1–5, 9), piano (8), organ (8)
• Roger Squitero — percussion (7)

Entered the Billboard Top 200 on June 15, 1985
Charted for 31 weeks & peaked at # 91


JB

www.suzannevega.com

 

[jfiedler17]

There's admittedly nothing on here that really sounds like an obvious hit (there's nothing as hooky here as, say, "Left of Center" or "Luka" or "No Cheap Thrill"), but it's still an impressive debut outing and I do quite enjoy "Cracking" and "Marlene on the Wall" in particular. She'd make stronger albums later on, of course, but she still shows really great potential here.

 

[junglero]

"Marlene on the Wall" was the first song I'd ever heard from Suzanne Vega-probably from seeing the video on the late lamented Los Angeles video program "Goodnight LA."

 

[Rumbahbah]

It's not her best album (both Solitude Standing and Nine Objects of Desire are stronger overall), but it is Vega at her most direct and unvarnished, and it was something of a game-changer in the field - its influence on, say, Tracy Chapman is quite clear.

'Marlene on the Wall' is surprisingly catchy (it got a lot of radio play in the UK and charted as a single) and still sounds great today. Some of the songs I find a bit too stark ('Cracking') or too mannered lyrically ('The Queen and the Solder'), but she has an interesting turn of phrase that's quite interesting ('Undertow') and can make even mundane subject matters ('Freeze Tag') sound like poetry. Definitely a debut with great potential that she'd build on for her follow-up.