Suzanne Vega Album: “Close-Up, Vol. 1: Love Songs”

On October 12, 2010, Suzanne Vega released Volume 2 of the Close-Up CD's (

- select the Deluxe MP3 download version). Volume 2 is the much stronger CD.

This is an amazing, wonderful album. Suzanne Vega has gone back to the studio, removed all the production from the recordings, and stripped her songs to the most important elements. There's no overpowering perfection and extra instruments on these recordings. You can hear Suzanne breathe into the microphone, and you can hear her fingers glide over the guitar strings; you feel as if Suzanne Vega is in your living room performing. These are not unplugged versions of her songs, they are songs performed in the singer song writer tradition, using just the right number of instruments to convey the emotion of the song. On some songs there are backing instruments, on others it is just Suzanne, her voice and acoustic guitar.

If I had only listened to this album by itself, I would declare it fabulous. However, now that Volume 2 has been released, there is a new bar. Volume 1 sounds a bit flatter, with less emotion. These are love songs, they are tender. But they have less range; I feel a bit less emotion with Volume 1. There's more of a Bossa Nova and old time jazz singer flavor running through these songs. The flavor is not unpleasant, just not nearly as powerful and moving as the songs on Volume 2. The Volume 1 songs sound a bit more like the original recordings with similar tone and tempo (Volume 2 mixes things up a lot).

I still love this album. Taken as a whole, with Volumes 1 and 2 playing on shuffle, Suzanne Vega's music cannot be beaten. Her voice has matured and improved so much in the past few years. She sings and plays with a confidence that is wonderful. These discs are something new and wonderful. Even though I am very familiar with the original recordings, these songs sit beautifully in my Suzanne Vega collection.

Suzanne Vega is the real thing. If you remember ther 1987 hit song 'Luka' and, like me, were one of those who loved it, this album is for you. It is filled with her wonderful dissonant and melodic voice (yes, both together) and the songs are incredibly good. 'Gypsy' is one of my favorites. It is a love song about a woman who wants to be held like a baby who can't stop crying by a man she's recently met. He's a potter, lean and wise and the romance is full-blown in Vega's song. 'Caramel' is a jazzy cut that makes you want to get up and dance. 'Songs in Red and Grey' is about an affair seen through the eyes of a child. 'If You Were in My Movie' is a winsome and creative cut where Vega imagines her lovers in different roles - the doctor, the detective, etc. 'Some Journey' is about the imaginings of where we would be now had we met on a journey. 'Bound' is a powerful cut about the ravagings of the world on the body and soul.

The songs tell stories of love and sometimes pain, but they are Vega through and through. I heard part of this album on NPR and read the description and history of this album's creation, also listened to cuts from each song. It's a CD I can't afford NOT to have, it's that beautiful.

Suzanne Vega has decided to re-record some of her earlier songs and publish them in a "Close-Up" series. This volume 1 is called "Love Songs". Almost all Vega's studio albums are represented on the release, and despite the fact that the songs were written over a period of more than twenty years, they work well together.

Some will surely find the collection redundant, since all the songs are largely performed very much like the originals. Many at a slightly slower pace, one has been lowered half a tone. The arrangements are simpler with Vega's acoustic guitar as the turning-point. However, there is also fine backing with both drums, bass and electric guitar. Incredible how little Vega's voice has changed over the years and has in no way been weakened

Although it is a great pleasure to listen to the album, I don't really think that these new versions have much that the old ones did not have too, and I don't think there is one single case where I would prefer the new song rather than the old. The great variation in the arrangements on Vega's original albums you'' easily miss - not least the very personal Mitchel Froom productions.

Yet I am already looking forward to "Close-Up Vol 2 People and Places", which is planned for release in September 2010.

All four of these Close Up albums are really excellent. For me these stripped-down re-workings of her songs shed a new light on many of them and in a lot of cases I prefer them to the originals.

That haunting voice is still wonderful - a little huskier and more breathy perhaps which only adds to the atmosphere of the recording. The principal instrument is her acoustic guitar, played beautifully and often solo but augmented by delicate additions of things like organ and electric lead where appropriate. It takes really good material to shine with such minimal production, and these complex, often quirky songs show what very fine music and lyrics Vega has produced. The whole thing sounds intimate and personal (as was the intention), made more so by being quite close-miked and beautifully recorded. The four volumes are simply excellent throughout with great hits sounding original and fresh, and less well-known songs making you wonder why they are less well-known.

You almost certainly know Suzanne Vega's work if you are considering this, and are perhaps wondering whether you need new versions of songs you already own and love. I wondered the same thing but took a chance on this series and I'm delighted I did. I was worried it might be like those outtakes and demo versions which get added as bonus tracks to CDs and often aren't very good. These albums are nothing like that at all - they are a joy. I think they contain some of Suzanne Vega's best work, and I recommend all four volumes very warmly.

I've been a fan for a number of years and have had the priveledge of hearing her live. When I bought this I thought it was going to be more of a "greatest hits" type album but I was wrong. This re-recorded versions add a great deal of nuance to some of my favorite songs. Absolutely perfect to listen to with someone special over a bottle of wine. Magical. Great.