Songs in Red and Gray
Studio album by
Suzanne Vega
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2001 (2001-09-25)
RecordedNovember 2000 – May 2001
StudioChung King, Sear Sound, Shelter Island Sound, Looking Glass Studio (New York)
Genre
Length45:31
LabelA&M
ProducerRupert Hine
Suzanne Vega chronology
Tried & True: The Best of Suzanne Vega
(1998)		 Songs in Red and Gray
(2001)		 Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega
(2003)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
E! OnlineB+[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Mojo[3]
Q[3]
Robert Christgau(dud)[5]

Songs in Red and Gray is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was released on September 25, 2001 by A&M Records.

Music and lyrics

On Songs in Red and Gray, Vega returns to her signature acoustic folk-pop sound, shedding the experiments she had done in the 1990s with her husband, record producer Mitchell Froom.[2] New producer Rupert Hine shows some traces of his past work with '80s new wave bands by employing electronic beats,[6] but mostly allows Vega's voice and guitar to dominate in a manner reminiscent of her debut album and its 1987 follow-up, Solitude Standing.[2][6]

Most of the songs, like "Widow's Walk" and "If I Were a Weapon", deal with the dissolution of Vega's marriage with Froom.[2][6][7] Her "calm, hushed, clear singing"[2] belies the album's "mood of heartbroken defiance".[6] The lyrics are "the most personally revealing songs she has written" in her career.[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega except "St. Clare" written by Jack Hardy

Songs in Red and Gray track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Penitent"4:16
2."Widow's Walk"3:33
3."(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May"3:47
4."It Makes Me Wonder"4:00
5."Soap and Water"3:03
6."Songs in Red and Gray"4:18
7."Last Year's Troubles"3:35
8."Priscilla"4:14
9."If I Were a Weapon"2:45
10."Harbor Song"4:18
11."Machine Ballerina"2:57
12."Solitaire"2:10
13."St. Clare"2:30
Total length:45:31
Bonus track (Japanese edition)
No.TitleLength
14."Golden"3:53
Total length:49:24

Personnel

  • Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Gerry Leonard – electric and acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mandolin, zither
  • Rupert Hine – keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, drum programming
  • Mike Visceglia – bass guitar
  • Nik Pugh – drum programming, synth lead
  • Jay Bellerose – drums
  • Matt Johnson – drums
  • Doug Yowell – drums, percussion
  • Pamela Sue Man – backing vocals, harmony vocals
  • Elizabeth Taubman – harmony vocals
  • Stephen W Tayler – recording and mixing engineer

Charts

Chart performance for Songs in Red and Gray
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 187
French Albums (SNEP)[9] 36
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 53
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[11] 34
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[12] 31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 47
UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[14] 100
US Billboard 200[15] 178

References

  1. ↑ "Classic Album Review: Suzanne Vega: Songs in Red and Gray". Tinnitist. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Songs in Red and Gray at AllMusic
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Songs In Red And Gray by Suzanne Vega". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: suzanne vega". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Phipps, Keith (25 September 2001). "Suzanne Vega: Songs In Red And Gray". Avclub.com. The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 Katz, Larry (September 23, 2001). "Revelations – Suzanne Vega's personal turmoil fuels intimate 'Red and Gray'". The Boston Herald. Boston, MA. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. ↑ "Response from ARIA re: ARIA chart history for Suzanne Vega, received October 31, 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved October 31, 2017. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. This history only contains data from the commencement of the ARIA-produced chart in mid-1988.
  9. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Songs in Red and Gray". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Official Charts > Suzanne Vega (albums tab)". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Suzanne Vega Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
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