Solitude Standing is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, released in April 1987, by A&M Records. It is the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Vega's career, being certified Platinum in the U.S. and UK. It reached number 11 on the Billboard 200, and number 2 on the UK Album Chart.

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Overview

\"Tom's Diner\" was included twice on the album; the a cappella version was the first track, and the instrumental version was the last track. In 1990, a remixed version of the song by English electronic music producers DNA reached number five in the U.S. and number one in the UK. The song was later used to test prototype MP3 compression software. \"Night Vision\" was inspired by the poem \"Juan Gris\" by French poet Paul Éluard. \"Calypso\" is based on the Odyssey, namely the part in which Calypso is forced to let Odysseus go. \"Gypsy\" is mentioned in the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky, in which the main character Charlie includes it on one of his mixtapes. Vega once stated she wrote \"Gypsy\" when she was only 18 years old (which would be 1977/78).\n

Critical reception

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In Rolling Stone, David Browne said that the mixture of older and newer compositions on Solitude Standing resulted in an album \"shakier and less focused\" than Vega's eponymous debut studio album, but also one that \"unwittingly shows where Vega has been and where she's going\", concluding that with her \"growth as a singer and writer\", she \"has managed to beat the sophomore jinx while giving the singer-songwriter a good name once again.\" People called it an \"elegantly crafted, alarmingly accessible\" record whose production provides Vega \"enough room to profit from the pop grooves on the album without weakening her strength as a folkie.\"\n

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann deemed Solitude Standing a \"triumph\" and attributed its artistic success to \"its diversity\", noting that Vega had crafted \"an album of story songs set in a variety of musical contexts\" and \"developed more as a singer without losing the focused intonation that had made her debut\".\n

25th anniversary

In 2012, to mark the 25th anniversary of the album's release, Vega played four celebratory concerts in which the album was performed in its entirety. The first was in Copley Square, Boston on July 28; the second and third were at City Winery in Hudson Square, New York City on October 9 (7pm and 10pm shows); and the fourth at London's Barbican Theatre on October 16.\n

A limited-edition two-CD set, titled Solitude Standing: Live at the Barbican, was produced by Concert Live and made available for purchase instantly after the final show, as well as online.\n

Track listing

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Personnel

Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar
Marc Shulman – electric guitars
Anton Sanko – synthesizers, classical guitar on 5
Michael Visceglia – bass guitar, additional synthesizer on 11
Stephen Ferrera – drums, percussion

Additional personnel\n

Shawn Colvin – backing vocals on 2
Mitch Easter – rhythm guitar on 9
Steve Addabbo – guitar on 9
Frank Christian – electric guitar on 9
Jon Gordon – guitar solo on 2
Sue Evans – percussion on 7, drums on 9

Production\n

Steve Addabbo – producer, engineer
Lenny Kaye – producer
Mitch Easter – producer on 9
Ronald K. Fierstein – executive producer
Rod O'Brien – engineer
Shelly Yakus – mixing
Jeffrey Gold – art direction
Melanie Nissen – art direction, design
Paula Bullwinkel – cover photography

Charts

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Certifications and sales

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References

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Bibliography

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External links

Solitude Standing at Discogs (list of releases)
BBC Radio 4 Mastertapes (November 2012) Suzanne Vega discusses her platinum-selling Solitude Standing. (the A-Side) (the B-Side) Download audio and video clips

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Night Vision

Broadcast History