Suzanne Vega: Songs In Red And Gray : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

It's been five years since her last studio album and, with the passage of time, one-time folk waif Suzanne Vega has become a world-wise, world-class diva. After the technological experiments of 99.9° and the transitional Nine Objects of Desire, it might be an overstatement to assert that Vega has returned to her folk roots here, yet there's definitely a more organic vibe to Songs In Red and Gray. Acoustic guitar and Vega's subtly expansive vocal range drive the lightly orchestrated "Penitent," while mandolin underpins "Maggie May" -- not Rod Stewart's moldy oldie, but an answer song that turns on the knowing line, "I'll never be your Maggie May/The one you loved and left behind." Sure, Vega makes songs for the aged, (more kindly known as the "adult alternative" set) but with her experience she brings an understanding of melody and sentiment that her younger sisters in singer-songwriterdom simply aren't yet capable of matching. Forging on, may she serve as an inspiration to them all.

DENISE SULLIVAN
(September 24, 2001)