Suzanne Vega

I love how calming her voice is, I remember hearing Tom's Diner when I was a teenager early morning when I tuned in to the MTV channel and was enamoured with her ever since, probably gave me a taste of how pleasant songwriting can be. That being said, this Album really isn't her best. How could it be? It's a self titled debut, very few people can say they peak on their first album, thankfully, but Solitude Standing and Nine Objects of Desire blow this out of the water, I feel. Maybe give those two a shot if you didn't dig this one, which sadly didn't make it to the list.

It's all right. Great voice, it's just not the kind of music I enjoy listening to

It's October 85 and I'm watching The Old Grey Whistle Test. After enjoying Kate Bush and the Icycle Works we're into the lower batting orders with Le Bon and Rhodes and it feels like time to switch off. But then Suzanne Vega plays Marlene on the Wall and I'm immediately hooked by this music that doesn't belong in the mid-80s. The quality song writing and slightly enigmatic lyrics hold up as well for me now as they did then. Timless music that's been a joy to come back to. 4*

Like, never love it. Solid songwriting, solid voice. Just nothing too exciting. I can see the echoes of sad girl pop in it which is interesting, as well as a bit of The Sundays.

Suzanne Vega was very popular, especially with the girls in my clique. I also liked some pieces at the time. Maybe it's because of my today's form of the day, towards the end of the album Suzanne's tricks with her voice got on my nerves. It was nice to hear ‚Marlene on the Wall‘ again after a long time. ‚The Queen and the Soldier’ surprised me positively. Maybe I should listen to Suzanne Vage's music again. 4/5

Nothing remarkable but pleasant enough

This is a weird one for me, I absolutely love Suzanne Vega, but I still much prefer Solitude Standing thank this album.

I can't believe I missed this album! I have and love Solitude Standing, but never explored Vega's music beyond this. This album is quite the debut. It's all singer-songwriter based. That is, these strong compositions would stand alone with Vega just singing and playing guitar. What's nice is that this album is beautifully produced. Vega's acoustic guitar anchors each song, with arrangements that aren't overdone. Liked Songs Added: Marlene On The Wall Small Blue Thing

I like "Tom's Diner", and this meloncholic, mostly acoustic album was more of the same vibe. Vega has a smooth voice and the melodies in many of the songs add a pop quality. Additionally, the album doesn't overstay its welcome and it sounds like it's from the 90s somehow, so overall I liked it a lot.

You can hear the raw talent Vega has for songwriting and composition throughout each track. Her lyrics are vulnerable, she never tries to be or do too much, and she definitely gets her message across. Stellar album.

That was nice. She sings about mundane things like doorknobs and it still sounds good.

I enjoyed this, and also the history of how she pushed through and paved the way for a lot of the other women singer/songwriters that followed.

Is it me, or does this have a sound that indie-pop-rock Taylor Swift routinely mines? It’s fun, upbeat, kinda forgettable.

aurilla peeo parece del 70 no de los 80

Ok supongo 6/10——>3/5

I was initially thinking it would be hilarious to write a review discussing how i had put the exact same Suzanne Vega track on two back-to-back setlists once, and how I could never give her a fair shake after that. But I had to acknowledge that the background needed to appreciate that particular joke is far to arcane for the average user.

From the little I know of Suzanne Vega, I have a vague positive impression. And I think I still do after this listen, but it sure did test me. There were moments of pure one-star frustration. Ultimately, I’ve given worse albums two-stars so my hands are tied. Looking at you, van Halen.

Normally I hate this kind of music... I still do. 3 stars because I'm listening to this on a cold night while camping.

Kinda went in one ear and out the other but overall it was a nice listen at the time

wait this is so good wtf

One of my favourite songs ever is on this album! “The Queen and the soldier” just beautiful

A beautiful voice-a beautiful album. Perfect for a flight from Islay.

I sqeezed my listening into a few small gaps during the day, so not entirely satisfactory. What I heard was a beautiful collection of songs and a catchy acoustic folksy sound. Melancholic and upbeat in equal measure. I'll listen again.

Great voice and lyrics

Pretty alright. Not as enjoyable as a lot of other folks in the genre, but the genre itself makes it pretty hard to make nasty music. This is pleasant, a little bit uninspired, but very easy and nice to listen to. Fave tracks: - Cracking - Freeze Tag - Marlene On The Wall - Small Blue Thing - Neighborhood Girls

I think I should like this more, given my current music mood. But I just don’t find this to be memorable. Still enjoyable but just fine. 2/5.

I'm not sure if I recognize any of these track by title. I sort of know what to expect from Suzanne Vega, but I'm mostly going into this blind. This wasn't bad, but just sort of meh and boring.

No just no

My name is

Fijne muziek, mooie stem, maar waar zijn de bekendere nummers? O ja, men moest weer eens de debuutplaat kiezen. Geen Luka of Tom's Diner dus, welja. Een sfeervol potje muziek van deze singersongwritermevrouw, daar niet van. Het straalt de warmte uit van knusse, verlichte hoekjes in een grote grijze stad. Heel aangenaam.

Suzanne zingpraat zich door het album. Ze heeft wel een modus gevonden, waarmee dit goed samengaat met de muziek. Dat levert een vrij eigen geluid, maar de beperking van de noodzakelijke match zorgt er ook voor dat er weinig variatie is. Waardoor Suzanne op een vergeetbare 3 uitkomt.

Ik ken Suzanne Vega van haar hitje Luka, maar ook Marlene on the Wall ken ik wel. Vrij rustige jaren 80 singer-songwritermuziek met een relaxed gitaartje. Suzanne zingpraat een beetje als een halve rapper. Haar stijl is later nagedaan door de Maria Mena's van deze wereld, maar ik hoor er ook wel Dolores O' Riordan in van the Cranberries. Ik zou het heel kut kunnen vinden, maar ik kan dit dus wel heel goed hebben gek genoeg. Ze heeft een fijne stem om naar te luisteren (dat is mijn Brabantse luistermaat niet met me eens, maar hij is dan ook een vrouwenhater). En ik vind het ook fijn gitaarspel, sfeervol. Op het laatste nummer komt er nog zo'n lekkere Seinfeld baslijn in, zo'n dik aangezette bas die je bij die sitcoms uit die tijd vaker hoorde. Maar of ik dit nu in de 1001 vind horen te staan, daar ben ik niet over uit. Ik denk het eigenlijk niet, want zo noemenswaardig zou ik dit niet willen noemen. Aan de andere kant, vind ik het toch wel leuk om te luisteren. Het is net te weinig om 4 sterren voor uit te delen.

Interesting

6/10

one of my favorites. a great note to emd on #1089

I'd give this 2.5 stars if I could. It's not for me, and in the first track or two, I thought about just not listening to it, but I really want to actually listen to every album in this project, in full, if I'm going to do it. And it turns out the first few tracks were maybe the worst. A few of the later tracks were pretty interesting. She's definitely talented, but yeah, not my type of music and I wouldn't probably decide to listen to it.

It was nice

Mad respect for Vega as a songwriter and musician but simply not for me.

A perfectly passable piece of 80s folk-rock in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, some Carole King in there too. It's a nice enough listen but not really my wheelhouse and questionable whether I'd return.

Sounds like it belongs in the 90's to be honest. I know Suzanne Vega's big hit came in her next album, but was not familiar with this one. It was a slow burn, but I felt that things started to pick up quality-wise around the third track. Very intricate lyricism, sometimes with a slam poetry-like delivery throughout. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, and I wish the whole work would've been a little more consistent in quality, but it wasn't bad.

Fav: Small Blue Thing L: Marlene on the Wall 3.5 I don’t think any of it is very deep or sophisticated but I kind of like it anyway. Also what’s all this talk of queens and knights and pawns, Chess the Musical? Cover: 2 boring but maybe I respect having the tracks listed on front Name: 1.5 boring Minecraft Parody: Small Green Orb (would be about eye of Enders would have have to change the lyrics for Small Blue Thing)

I referred to this as catatonic folk pop. My wife to be says akin to Cranberries, and I say closer to Leonard Cohen and maybe The Velvet Underground. Definitely down tempo and sparse. But it ultimately made me feel lobotomized and numb. And i know thats not kind but its what I got from it.

Interesting style. I enjoyed it. 4 out of 5

A pretty good album, but one that doesn't necessarily showcase Suzanne's full abilities. The songwriting could have been stronger, especially on the melodic side. It's decent.

Wow! This was a great album to start my day with, and it definitely caught me by surprise. First off, Suzanne Vega is a great storyteller, and I really like the sound of her voice. This was a fantastic singer-songwriter album, but it also had a very atmospheric and ambient feel to it. It was ethereal and dreamy. The album is driven by the acoustic guitar with excellent fingerpicking. The use of percussion is minimal and subtle, so you might not even notice it unless you’re paying close attention. Another standout element is the use of keyboards and synths. While the guitar is the prominent instrument, the synths play a crucial role in the background, adding to the album’s atmosphere and ambiance. After hearing this album, I’m definitely curious to check out more of her work and see how she progressed in her career.

2/5

Good

very soft, even too soft - it had the potential

Liked Freeze Tag and Marlene On The Wall.

It was an OK album, I guess. Top 1,001? Nah.

She’s alright! I like her queen character

She's quite good! I enjoyed this.

Excellent album, very much a modern folk album that happened to sell a lot.

Is it terrible of me to say that this was kind of a boring Susan Vega album compared to her other albums?

Suzanne Vega always seems to me to be a musician who is actually much stranger than their mainstream success would suggest. This is a beautiful, elegant record, but maybe not her best?

5/10

Quand on regarde dans le rétroviseur des années 80, on aperçoit en 1985 une gamine new-yorkaise toute menue qui a débarqué, armée d’une pauvre guitare folk acoustique et d’un filet de voix qui dépassait rarement le chuchotement poli. Alors je veux bien respecter le geste historique reconnaître l'influence monumentale que ce premier jet a eue sur toute une ribambelle d'auteures-compositrices arrivées dans son sillage, de Tracy Chapman à toute la scène indé feutrée des années 90, mais soyons lucides deux minutes. La miss sussurre, minaude et caresse ses cordes comme si elle avait peur de réveiller le voisin du palier, de froisser sa grand-mère ou d'égratigner le vernis de sa table basse. C'est propre, c'est soigné, mais bordel de dieu, qu'est-ce que ça manque d'un bon coup de pied au cul car c’est bien trop sage, bien trop poli, et franchement trop soft. Pourtant, la plume est là et les textes ont une précision de scalpel urbain et une acuité d'observation clinique qui tranchent radicalement avec les niaiseries dégoulinantes de guimauve qui colonisaient la bande FM de l'époque. Suzanne Vega ne chante pas les contes de fées pour midinettes ; elle croque la ville avec un regard froid de photographe de rue, observant les névroses ordinaires, les fêlures invisibles et le béton gris avec une lucidité désarmante. Mais la musique, elle, refuse obstinément de décoller et de lui donner la réplique qu'elle mérite. Les arrangements sonnent souvent comme une démo de luxe enregistrée pour passer le temps dans un café littéraire un peu prétentieux du Village entre deux tasses d'infusion sans sucre. Ça tricote doucement, la rythmique avance sur la pointe des pieds en charentaises pour ne pas faire grincer le plancher, et le chant monocorde finit par anesthésier toute l'attention qu'on essaie péniblement de lui accorder au fil des pistes. On cherche désespérément une étincelle, un éclat de voix, une rupture de ton salutaire ou un coup de sang qui viendrait secouer ce tableau d'un minimalisme tellement feutré qu'il en devient claustrophobique. Cette retenue permanente finit d'ailleurs par se mordre la queue et installer une léthargie dont le disque peine à s'extirper. Même les morceaux qui tentent d'installer une cadence un peu plus nerveuse semblent avoir peur de leur propre ombre, bridés par une production qui a passé chaque recoin au papier de verre extra-fin pour être bien sûre qu'aucune écharde ne dépasse. C'est le genre de musique qui confond parfois subtilité d'écriture et anémie généralisée, comme si injecter un peu de muscle allait souiller la pureté intellectuelle de la démarche. Au final, l'album s'enferme dans sa propre tour d'ivoire et oublie qu'un auditeur a aussi besoin de sentir du sang chaud qui circule dans les veines d'un morceau. Au final, ce premier essai reste une pièce d'archive estimable pour comprendre d'où est partie la vague du renouveau folk urbain de la fin des eighties, mais le résultat brut accuse un sérieux manque de vitamines musicale. Suzanne Vega sait écrire, personne d'honnête ne lui enlèvera ça, mais niveau livraison sonore, on a trop souvent l'impression d'assister à une lecture de poésie sous anxiolytiques dans une bibliothèque municipale fermée au public. C'est honnête, ce n'est certainement pas une bouse honteuse à jeter aux orties, mais le disque refuse de mordre, refuse de griffer, et préfère ronronner gentiment dans son coin de canapé en attendant que l'orage passe dehors. Bref, trop soft la miss, et ça ne mérite pas un point de plus que la moyenne syndicale.

My first memory of Suzanne Vega were her late 80s hits Luka and Tom's Diner. A few years later I had the 99.9 degrees album on cassette which got a lot of play. This is a solid debut album. I find myself gravitating more toward the songs with fuller production like Marlene on the Wall and Neighborhood Girls. The more acoustic songs are good but take me a bit to warm up to.

I only know of Suzanne from her big hit Tom’s Diner. I found this, her debut, to be a very pretty singer-songwriter release that was immediately enjoyable and connected with me musically. She has a lovely, soft, emotive voice, as well. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Marlene On The Wall, The Queen And The Soldier, Some Journey

Thought this was a 3 and then gave it a second spin through and bumped it up. It's a musical style that I don't generally prefer and takes some getting used to but I can get behind it.

Perfectly pleasant. Something of the Billy Joel about it. Maybe not quite of that level but a nice album nonetheless. 3.5 stars.

I thought I'd like this, but I didn't

Color me surprised! I only knew Tom’s Diner going into this album and wasn’t expecting much. But it struck me instantly. I’m a sucker for good metaphors that aren’t cheesy. And that’s all over this album. Small Blue Thing is a perfect example of that. The album lost a lot of bit steam for me with The Queen and the Soldier and Knight Moves. But the closer, Neighborhood Girls, made up for that.

Meh. Didn't enjoy this one really and felt it dragged despite it being under 40 minutes. Some of the poetry storytelling was boring. Its also a sound I've heard many times before, still an okay debut.

It's not outrageously offense nor is it live changing. It is one of those "you have to listen to the lyrics" albums where you listen to the lyrics and while they may be different from usual pop music lyrics it's nothing particularly amazing. The actual songs seem kind of like an afterthought. Everything also suffered from 80's production which I was borderline allergic to coming off of Fishbone they day before. I was distracted when I listened so I'm going to have to listen again.

だいぶシンプルな曲たち。歌詞の意味で押す系のアルバムらしいけど、もちろん歌詞なんてわかんないので、雰囲気だけの評価だけど、シンプルで良いと思う。 まじでヴォーカルと、少しのギターとバンドサウンドでミニマムな曲の構成だと思う。 まあまあすき

Easy listening. There was no music of note for me. I think it's one of those albums which require more listens.

Not really into it.

goeie teksten, iets te kalm om echt goed te zijn... en er staat ook geen Tom's Diner op

I really only knew of Suzanne Vega from the song Luka, not on this album. The breathiness of her voice reminds me of Taylor Swift, though the songs are not as inviting. Maybe Tay Tay from Folklore, like The Lakes.

It's a great album of modern folk rock. She has a really good voice and knows how and when to put it to use and when to let it just ride the rest of the music. I did not think I'd enjoy her this much.

This is not at all my bag, and I'll likely not listen to it again, but damn it's beautiful and really well recorded album.

Really quite a good album. The style of vocals unfortunately spoiled it at times and ended up making this a 3 but the core of the album was really enjoyable.

Boring

nothing i looved but it was pleasant

Not really a fan of this one at all. I am historically not a fan of talk singing, and this falls exactly within that category to me right off the bat. This is like Lilith Fair meets Bob Dylan in a way I really didn't care for. I didn't even think the songwriting was anything to write home about. The best thing I can say is my boredom didn't last very long because at least the album is short. Favorite track: Marlene On The Wall

Gorgeous voice and lyrics. Grew up listening to her.

Pretty middle of the road kinda record for me. Shes fine. The backing track is fine. The songwriting is fine. Everything is just fine. Not offended in any way. Not happy about it too much either. Its just too run of the mill for me. Sounds like alot of other singer songwriter stuff. Its just OK. Nothing else really to say. Its just OK in all ways but not any more.

This was rough at first, but it really hits its stride. Some incredible, angry music sung in such a wonderful way. Some great songs on this album.

Short, sweet, and simple. Nice soft voice and guitar. My rowdy cats calmed down immediately.

Inoffensive and delicate folk pop. Just makes me wanna listen to Ani Difranco. Where’s she on this list? I feel like she listened to this.

Surprisingly great. Marlene on the Wall is the big hit, but a lot of other standouts are here like Undertow, The Queen and The Soldier, Neighborhood Girls. I like the poetry, and the contrast between her light voice and heaviness of the lyrics. Confidently executed folk rock.

Ikke særlig interessant

Zzzzz

This hurts me, since I've really liked Tom's Diner. This album is just not for me, it's incredibly boring both lyrically and sonically.

Liked this way more than I thought I would - it grew on me

Didn’t know what to expect with this one. I had it on driving to work but couldn’t hear her vocals above the music and road noise. What I could hear seemed ok but on the second listen it was much more enjoyable. A real grower

Lacking something, but not sure what it is. Good enough for a one time listen, nice background music. Rating: 5/10 Favorite Song: Straight Lines

Tja, utmerka seg ikkje

Synes dette var fint, 3-4 kanskje

Por alguna razón me encantó. Me gustaría escucharlo nuevamente con más atención a las letras, pero súper íntimo y cálido todo.

Nice compact album of tunes. Pretty easy listening. Marlene on the Wall a great tune for the ages

Some really interesting stuff here. Fav tracks: Cracking RYM: N Saved a song: Y

And while the Queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred The battle continued on

Enjoyable. Maybe the best album from a woman singing with an acoustic guitar on this list

The Good: We get to listen to Suzanne Vega The Bad: Nobody bothered asking me if I wanted to listen to Suzanne Vega... The Ugly: Album equals artist name... Isn't she the "My Name Is Luca" girl? Why yes, yes she is... So why am I listening to this album instead? Waiting for Luca to show up, to find out that she won't... and that Luca's spelled with a K All kidding aside, this was an interesting listen, not the greatest, but certainly not the worse... just that, after a while, I got a little nervous... just waiting for something a little more poppy to show up. Anyway, I listened... I didn't hate it... But, I didn't love it either... Down the middle we go! 3*

This is pretty solid. Several songs that I liked, with Cracking, Marlene On The Wall, and Neighborhood Girls probably being my favorite three. The Queen And The Soldier seemed kinda goofy to me, but I think it's because it was mostly just a story with a guitar. Still pretty good.

It’s a decent album

scratching my head trying to figure what this album has that made it worth putting on the list

Excelente surpresa. Disco excelente