Beauty & Crime
by Suzanne Vega

Album details

US: 17 July 2007 on Blue Note
UK: 11 June 2007 on EMI

The singer-songwriter’s New York-themed concept album was produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Lee Ranaldo and KT Tunstall guest, along with a full orchestra.

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The critical consensus

Sure, Vega hasn’t released an album in six years, but don’t call it a comeback. Or do. "Beauty and Crime is a terrific comeback from an artist who never really left in the first place," says Artist Direct, and MusicOMH adds, "It’s good to welcome back one of the premier songwriting talents of this generation." But can it really be a comeback if it surpasses all that came before it? All Music Guide concludes that Beauty & Crime is "the defining creative moment of Suzanne Vega’s career thus far," and Billboard pretty much concurs.

Amazon calls it "richly satisfying," while the Boston Globe labels it "stunning" and New York Magazine praises it as "a disarming and moving jewel box of a record." The New York Times is thankful that "a keen sense of proportion and concision — and the unmannered integrity of Ms. Vega’s singing style" save the album and its potentially weighty subject matter (9/11, the recent death of Vega’s brother) from being "ponderous." Stylus admires Vega’s songcraft more than her singing or the arrangements, but in a mixed review, the BBC says that "if there is a problem here, it is with Vega’s own songwriting," finding some of the tracks "underwritten." And Mojo complains that "Vega remains an oddball teaser."

It’s trim rather than hurried, does not waste a note and, because of that, may be the best of Vega’s seven studio albums.

- Billboard

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Zephyr & I
2. Ludlow Street
3. New York Is a Woman
4. Pornographer’s Dream
   (live footage:)
   
   
5. Frank & Ava
   
6. Edith Wharton’s Figurine
7. Bound
8. Unbound
9. As You Are Now
10. Angel’s Doorway
11. Anniversary

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site