Suzanne Vega...Album by Album Thread.

'Close-Up Vol. 2, People & Places'

Released October 12th 2010

1."Luka" Solitude Standing (1987) 3:13
2. "Zephyr & I" Beauty & Crime (2007) 3:09
3. "New York Is a Woman" Beauty & Crime 2:59
4. "In Liverpool" 99.9F° (1992) 4:50
5. "Calypso" Solitude Standing 3:45
6. "Fat Man and Dancing Girl" (Vega, Mitchell Froom) 99.9F° 2:18
7. "The Queen and the Soldier" Suzanne Vega (1985) 5:03
8. "Rock in This Pocket (Song of David)" 99.9F° 3:40
9. "Angel's Doorway" Beauty & Crime 2:53
10. "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" (Vega, Anton Sanko) Solitude Standing 5:01
11. "Neighborhood Girls" Suzanne Vega 3:32
12. "Tom's Diner" Solitude Standing 4:34
13. "The Man Who Played God" (Danger Mouse, Mark Linkous, Vega) 3:08

 

Go back to the debut..... Suzanne Vega (1985)
then make your way thru....
Solitude Standing (1987)
Days Of Open Hand (1990)
99.9 F° (1992)
Nine Objects of Desire (1996)
Songs In Red And Gray (2001)
Beauty And Crime (2007) *
Close Up Series 1 to 4 (2010 to 2012)
Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Penticles (2014)
Songs From An Evening With Carson McCullers (2016)

 

That last one passed me by. I would start with the first 3 albums (best) and leave the Michel Froome produced 99.9 and Nine Objects to last. Beauty and Crime also came out on one sided Clarity box set from Classic Records. Up to 99.9 F° were released on vinyl as well as 'Beauty and Crime' to 'Queen Of Penticles'. Looks like 'Carson McCullers' also has a vinyl release.

 

That’s the only one I don’t have and have never heard. Not sure why, as I love all her other records. Must rectify the situation..

 

I'd personally recommend 99.9F and Nine Objects Of Desire as her two best albums as they're a bit more musically adventurous than her first three albums. I think her early stuff can sound a bit bland at times.

 

The great albums CD or LP

 

Speak for yourself

 

99.9 and Nine Objects are in my top 3 or 4 Vega albums. She took a left turn after the third album and lost a few fans due to the totally different production but you can pick them up cheaply and definitely worth a spin.

 

Thanks for a great thread, Yam. I didn't know it existed until it reappeared today because I'm relatively new here.

I've got all her albums except the four volumes of Close-Up. Inherited her first two albums from my late partner along with Cohen's first half dozen or so records from - followed both ever since. Got to see Suzanne for the first time on her Solitude Standing and 99.9 deg F anniversary tour last year. She's back in my part of the world in July but unfortunately I'll be away on holiday then. I'll have to wait a bit longer to see her regular show.

Unfortunately, the discussion seems to have run out of steam with the Close-Up albums.Will you ever get round to discussing the two most recent albums? They're both good - I love the lyrics of the Harper Lee song.

 

I'll try and finish things off shortly....basically stopped due to lack of input form anyone else.

 

Are the Close Up albums still available?

I recall reading about a box set that was to cover the whole series but it appears to have been a very limited release, none out there at a reasonable price

 

I just came by this thread (great thread btw). I used to really like Marlene on the Wall, it was one of the first singles I bought when I started buying records. I’d completely forgotten about Left of Center, that was a great song and got a lot of UK airplay at the time.

Interesting stories, the year she played Glastonbury (late 80s I think) my father was involved in security for the festival and they had to increase it around her for her peformance as some ex-girlfriend of one of the band had allegedly made threats against her life (not that she was involved with him, I think the ex was just crazy). Then when The Tom’s Diner record hit big with the DNA remix (I had the cd single) I was working in a record shop and D was Doug (DNA were the initials of the 3 guys involved in the remix) one of the record company reps who’d come by regularly to promote stuff until the song was a hit and he quit.

I never owned one of her albums, would be interested in checking out the first 3 on streaming and if I get into them I quite fancy having some Vega vinyl in my collection again.

 

The box set is available but as you say is very expensive, £140 on Amazon for CD set. I can see individual volumes on ebay at more reasonable prices.

I've passed on it because it's a reworking of songs available on her other albums.

 

Box set was available when we saw her.

 

Wiki has a good description of the set.
The four Close Up albums, a fifth disc of additional material and a DVD.
Would love to have it but ain’t paying those prices.
Might try one of the Close Ups to see what I think then delve further if I like what I hear

 

Think there was a limited amount printed for the box set...hense the high prices now.
Easily available as single release tho...

All her work is easily available via streaming, for people to check out.

 

Is it live or just a compilation?

 

All the Close Up albums are stripped down re-recordings......

 

Close-Up Vol. 3, States of Being

Released July 11th 2011



1. "Undertow" Suzanne Vega (1985) 3:31
2. "When Heroes Go Down" 99.9F° (1992) 2:06
3. "My Favorite Plum" Nine Objects of Desire (1996) 2:38
4. "Solitude Standing" (Suzanne Vega, Michael Visceglia, Anton Sanko, Marc Shulman, Stephen Ferrera) Solitude Standing (1987) 3:59
5. "Cracking" Suzanne Vega (1985) 2:58
6. "Last Year's Troubles" Songs in Red and Gray (2001) 3:08
7. "Solitaire" Songs in Red and Gray (2001) 2:15
8. "Tombstone" Nine Objects of Desire (1996) 2:47
9. "Blood Makes Noise" 99.9F° (1992) 3:05
10. "50-50 Chance" Days of Open Hand (1990) 2:48
11. "Penitent" Songs in Red and Gray (2001) 4:08
12. "Straight Lines" Suzanne Vega (1985) 4:03
13. "Pornographer's Dream" Beauty & Crime (2007) 3:31
14. "Instant of the Hour After" (Vega, Duncan Sheik) Carson McCullers Talks About Love (2011)[9][10][11] 3:10

 

Close Up Vols 1 & 2

I actually really like all 4 of the Close Up albums....and in some cases I prefer the more stripped down approach.
Having said that....I still prefer most of the original recordings even tho they make for a interesting alternate listen.
3/5 for both.

 

Listening to Close Up for the first time, volume 3 on Spotify. Prior to seeing this thread, I didn't think I needed extra versions of the same songs but find this is quite charming. Shame on me for steering clear of these - I must aquire CD copies of all four volumes.

The stripped back and themed approach works really well - sheds new light on the songs. The songs wouldn't have gone so well together on the album if it had simply been a compilation of the original tracks recorded at different times with different personnel. It's sounds like she's playing the songs for me rather than making records.

If I was just discovering Suzanne now, I think I'd buy the Close Up volumes before the original albums.

 

It is telling that there's not a single song from this album on the first three volumes of Close Up. All the other albums have at least five songs on these first three volumes. This suggests it was the quality of the songs that she doubted rather than the recording of them otherwise she'd have wanted another crack at them.

I think it's very far from being a bad album - well, I like it, anyway. Perhaps, it just doesn't quite match up to the quality of the first two and is slightly more downbeat. Maybe sales suffered because casual listeners grew tired of her music and that was an embarrassment for her. It must have become clear at that point she was not going to be the absolutely massive star her record company and management probably hoped she'd develop into.

 

Apologies, that's not quite true - I missed one song from "Days of Open Hand" on Vol. 3 "50-50 Chance" but that's still a lot less than the number of songs from her other albums