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Beauty & Crime

~ Suzanne Vega
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
Price: £10.88 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Beauty & Crime + Nine Objects Of Desire + 99.9f
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  • This item: Beauty & Crime ~ Suzanne Vega

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Product details

  • Audio CD (11 Jun 2007)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: EMI
  • ASIN: B000Q66KOS
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 17,016 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Product Description

Description

Suzanne Vega took a six-year break from recording before returning with her Blue Note Records debut, BEAUTY AND CRIME. Despite her new label's storied history as a jazz label, Vega's comeback album has even fewer jazz elements than her newlabel-mate Norah Jones. BEAUTY AND CRIME is a richly detailed, modern-sounding alternative rock record that touches on all previous elements of Vega's career, from the crisp folk-rock of her first two albums to the electronic sheen of 99.9DEGREES and the orchestral delicacy of DAYS OF OPEN HAND. Lyrically, the album is a love note to Vega's New York City roots, blending the autobiographical ruminations of "Ludlow Street" with imaginative explorations such as the romantic "Frank and Ava".

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Why the disappointment?, 21 Jun 2007
By J. Reynolds "jonnyboymach4" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Depsite often being accused of "experimenting", and changing direction etc. Suzanne Vega in reality has actually been stylisticly consistent throughout her long career.

Her deceptively simple songs, guitar plucking and voice can seem to fit into many different kinds of landscapes and genres (folk, latino, pop/rock etc. As such, she has always been very vulnerable to the talents and imagination of her producers. Her "techno-fok" period with producer/husband Mitchell Froom in the 90s was seen as a hugs leap, when in fact Froom was just shedding an unusual light on Suzanne.

Beauty and Crime is not really a huge departure for her. The structure of her songs, her guitar playing, it's all very consistent with her early work. It's certainly better than her last offering - the mawkish "divorce" album "Songs in Red and Gray".

It's the production that occasionally lets her down. However the songs I feel are some of her best. "Aniversary" is simply beautiful.

I would recommend this album completely. It would not have the production edge of previous work, but ultimately Suzanne has always been about her, her voice and her guitar - and for me this proves she is still in the game.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic album coloured by the spirit of New York, 19 Jun 2007
By cathy earnshaw (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
Suzanne Vega's seventh album is intended as a loving testimony to her hometown, New York. Urban and cultural references thicken the atmosphere: The record opens with a tale of a New York Graffiti artist on West End Avenue and rambles through Ludlow Street, where Vega's deceased brother used to live, to the 27th floor of a skyscraper. Bettie Page and Edith Wharton appear, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner passionately fight and Olivia Goldsmith (a writer on natural beauty) lies under anesthesia on an operating table. References to 9/11 abound ("smoke and ash still rising to the sky" in New York as a Woman and there is "the dust and the dirt and destruction" of Angel's Doorway). However, crime isn't allowed to crush the atmosphere of love and nostalgia here.

Although her music has long lacked the bite and edge of the 1985 album that made her famous, favouring instead the unfailingly polite style that she has developed since, her voice is as warm as ever. Shafts of her songwriting brilliance shine through: Ludlow Street is "painted in nicotine"; "words / like darling and angel and dear / crowd my mouth / in a path to your ear" on Bound; and Edith Wharton's Figurines talks of "finances and fears / her face and what it's worth to her / in the passing of the years".

In spite of Vega saying she pushed herself out of her comfort zone in the making of the record (she does sing higher than usual), her sound does remain a touch too run-of-the-mill. The twin dangers of Suzanne Vega's music - excessive solipsism and an overly safe production style - can still be heard here. In the middle, where the New York concept is abandoned in favour of tracks which teeter on the tightrope of personal sentimentality (As You Are Now, addressed to her teenage daughter), or which throb with out-of-place beat programming (Unbound), the album does sag a little. In interviews Vega has said that she intended to make a modern classic with 'Beauty & Crime'. This album falls short of that, but her faithful following and fans of coffee-shop literateness won't be disappointed.

Standouts: 'Edith Wharton's Figurines', 'New York is a Woman', 'Anniversary', 'Ludlow Street'
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Vega is back, 19 Jun 2007
By Zeynep Ozdes (Ankara, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
After a long wait Suzanne Vega is back with her new album "Beauty&Crime" and without hesitation I can say that it was worth waiting for. This time Vega is sharing her city, New York, with us. And although we can say that the main theme of the album is NYC (something very specific) the lyrics are personal and universal at the same time. The highlights of the album (imho) are Ludlow Street (one of the best Vega songs ever in my opinion), Pornographer's Dream, Unbound, New York is a Woman and Anniversary. The only drawback of the record is it's shortness but as we all know quality is a lot more important than quantity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Too tasteful and mature for its own good
I don't really like singer-songwriters. I especially don't like female singer-songwriters with their hippy-dippy lyrics (Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos are musical torture). Read more
Published 6 months ago by BS on parade

5.0 out of 5 stars really is something else...
I have listened to a lot of Suzanne Vegas hits and they are great and this latest album is just great. The sound of it leaves you wanting to listen again and again. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Caroline Ovens

5.0 out of 5 stars Vega at her best!!!
This album is modern, nostalgic, thought provoking and enchanting. For me this was one of the top 3 c.d's of 2007. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. N. R. Partridge

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
I have all her official and unofficial ones too. And yes, this is one of her strongest.
Published on 9 Nov 2007 by H. Popeck

5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXCELLENT COME BACK
Just few words, to say that is a real stunning come back from this talented songwriter.
Great melodies and arrangements. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by Andrea Sbisa'

5.0 out of 5 stars The best so far?
Trying to objectively assess any record a matter of weeks after its release is difficult, particularly when it's from such a complex artist as Suzanne Vega - as her previous... Read more
Published on 24 Jul 2007 by nicjaytee

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beautiful Crime Of Being Underrated (4.5 Stars)
Much like fellow singers such as Aimee Mann,Heather Nova and Natalie Merchant, singers who I feel get left on the shelf who really possess stellar work. Read more
Published on 13 Jul 2007 by Phill

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and criminal at times
This album neither breaks new ground nor harkens completely back to the "classic" Vega sound of Solitude Standing, and I think that this might have contributed to the slightly... Read more
Published on 12 Jul 2007 by pseudopanax

4.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding Listening!
It's been about six years since Suzanne Vega released her last (underrrated) album "Songs in Red and Grey". Now she has recorded and released 11 fine new songs. Read more
Published on 8 Jul 2007 by Morten Vindberg

4.0 out of 5 stars A partial return to form
While Suzanne Vega's songs have always demonstrated a strong narrative and have shown her to be a gifted observer and lyricist, how they have sounded has changed considerably over... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2007 by Rumbahbah

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