Songs in Red and Gray
| Songs in Red and Gray | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Suzanne Vega | ||||
| Released | September 25, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | November 2000 – May 2001 at Looking Glass Studio | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 45:31 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Rupert Hine | |||
| Suzanne Vega chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (81/100) [1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The A.V. Club | (favorable) [3] |
| Blender | [1] |
| E! Online | B+ [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [4] |
| Mojo |  [1] |
| Q | [1] |
| Robert Christgau |  [5] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) [6] |
Songs in Red and Gray is the sixth studio album release by New York-based singer/songwriter and musician Suzanne Vega. The album was Vega's final album for A&M Records (with whom she had been since 1983) and also marks the divorce from her husband and producer Mitchell Froom.
Music and lyrics
The album shows a return to Vega's early musical form of acoustic folk-pop, shedding the stylistic experimentalism she had developed with producer and husband Mitchell Froom in the 1990s.[2] New producer Rupert Hine shows some traces of his past work with '80s new wave bands by employing electronic beats,[3] but mostly allows Vega's voice and guitar to dominate the tracks in a manner reminiscent of her debut album and its 1987 follow-up, Solitude Standing.[2][3]
Lyrically, most of the songs, like "Widow's Walk" and "(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May", deal with the unhappy dissolution of her romance with Froom.[2][3][7] Vega's "calm, hushed, clear singing"[2] belies the album's "mood of heartbroken defiance".[3] Its lyrical content represents "the most personally revealing songs she has written" in her career.[7]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Suzanne Vega; except where indicated:
- "Penitent" – 4:16
- "Widow's Walk" – 3:33
- "(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May" – 3:47
- "It Makes Me Wonder" – 4:00
- "Soap and Water" – 3:03
- "Songs in Red and Gray" – 4:18
- "Last Year's Troubles" – 3:35
- "Priscilla" – 4:14
- "If I Were a Weapon" – 2:45
- "Harbor Song" – 4:18
- "Machine Ballerina" – 2:57
- "Solitaire" – 2:10
- "St. Clare" – 2:30 (Jack Hardy)
- "Golden" – 3:53 (available in the Japanese release only)
Personnel
- Suzanne Vega – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, harmony vocals, distorted acoustic guitar
- Rupert Hine – drum programming, bass, piano, strings, keyboards, percussion, woodwinds, orchestral percussion
- Nick Hugh – drum programming, synth lead
- Gerry Leonard – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, mandolins, zither, dulcimer
- Elizabeth Taubman – harmony vocals
- Matt Johnson – drums
- Mike Visceglia – bass
- Jay Bellerose – drums
- Doug Yowell – drums, percussion
- Pamela Sue Man – backing vocals, harmony vocals
Charts
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP)[8] | 36 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] | 53 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10] | 34 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[11] | 31 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] | 47 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[13] | 100 |
| US Billboard 200[14] | 178 |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Songs In Red And Gray by Suzanne Vega". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Songs in Red and Gray at AllMusic
- 1 2 3 4 5 Phipps, Keith (25 September 2001). "Suzanne Vega: Songs In Red And Gray". Avclub.com. The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ Entertainment Weekly review at the Wayback Machine (archived August 21, 2008)
- ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: suzanne vega". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ↑ Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2007)
- 1 2 Katz, Larry (September 23, 2001). "Revelations – Suzanne Vega's personal turmoil fuels intimate 'Red and Gray'". The Boston Herald. Boston, MA. Retrieved June 28, 2016. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Official Charts > Suzanne Vega (albums tab)". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
- ↑ "Suzanne Vega – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Suzanne Vega. Retrieved June 8, 2014.