Suzanne Vega

New Yorker Suzanne Vega's third album, Days of Open Hand (1990) isn't her bestselling disc, but it is her finest -- its cryptic lyrics sophisticated melodies, and complex, crack-jazz playing reveal a formidable progression from her impressive debut five years before. Starting off as a folkie, Vega hit big with "Luka," a haunting, cinema verité portrait of domestic violence. Taken from her second album, Solitude Standing, the single was surrounded by equally strong material -- the jaunty, a capella "Tom's Diner" showed that a writer capable of songs akin to Leonard Cohen's high-flown poetics could also encompass the street smarts of Lou Reed. Vega is her own woman, though. Compassion, hope, and mystery are themes not very subtly handled in pop music: Vega delves into them with an almost philosophical acuity.

The lank-haired folk waif stiffens her spine for 99.9 Degrees F, widely and erroneously reported to be Vega's "techno effort." It's folk-rock to its barefoot soul, a kind of exploration of dark and difficult emotional byways just as intense but less intellectually distanced than her previous albums. While synthesizers and the like drive the melodies, Vega's hushed, precise vocals whisper urgently in the listener's ear, and the result is pretty, strange, and unsettling. It could have been predicted that her next step would move into ponderous artiness, and with Nine Objects of Desire, Vega and new husband Mitchell Froom show no restraint. What the singer has to say becomes less important than the fancy keyboard arrangements, faux-junky percussion, and oversize production, and despite the touching poetics of her lyrics, the songs are overwhelmed. Divorce informs Songs in Red and Gray, which isn't half as pretentious as its title. Confusion battles with incisive observation as Vega works her way through the emotional fallout, and while she speak-sings the lyrics, a piercing sense of pain and sadness cut through the elliptical imagery. (PAUL EVANS/ARION BERGER)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide