Days of Open Hand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Days of Open Hand
Studio album by
Suzanne Vega
ReleasedApril 10, 1990
RecordedSeptember 1989 – January 1990
Studio
Genre
Length45:51
LabelA&M
Producer
Suzanne Vega chronology
Solitude Standing
(1987) 		Days of Open Hand
(1990) 		99.9F°
(1992)
Singles from Days of Open Hand
  1. "Book of Dreams"
    Released: 1990
  2. "Tired of Sleeping"
    Released: 1990
  3. "Men in a War"
    Released: 1990

Days of Open Hand is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was released on April 10, 1990, through A&M Records. The album was the follow-up to the successful Solitude Standing (1987). It was produced by Vega and Anton Sanko, who also co-wrote six of the album's eleven tracks. Recording took place across multiple studios throughout New York City from late 1989 to early 1990.

Days of Open Hand combines Vega's established folk rock style with more varied instrumentation such as the ney and dumbec and experimental arrangements. High-profile contributors to the album include Philip Glass, Shawn Colvin, and John Linnell of They Might Be Giants. The album saw greater use of synthesizers and samplers than Vega's previous studio albums; these included the digital Fairlight CMI and analog Voyetra-8.

Days of Open Hand did not match the success of its predecessor, stalling at number 50 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and failing to spawn a hit single. It was more successful on the UK Albums Chart, where it reached the top 10. Despite this, the album did surpass sales of a million copies[1] and reviews were generally positive. Days of Open Hand was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Recording and won the award for Best Recording Package at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.[2]

Background

[edit | edit source]

Vega's previous studio album Solitude Standing was a major success worldwide, spawning the top 5 hit song "Luka" and placing within the top 10 of the album charts in twelve countries (alongside a number 11 peak in the U.S.).[3] The album also contained "Tom's Diner" which would achieve further success after being remixed by English electronic music producers DNA in 1990.

With the followup studio album, Vega went in a more experimental direction, featuring elements of various genres and many high-profile collaborators. Songs such as "Institution Green" and "Fifty-Fifty Chance" place heavy emphasis on atmosphere; the latter features string arrangements done by Philip Glass. Six of the album's eleven songs feature music written by Sanko while all lyrics were written solely by Vega.

Commercial performance

[edit | edit source]

Days of Open Hand did not achieve the sales of its predecessor upon release, but was still successful in many territories. While the album stalled at number 50 in the U.S.,[3] it was a top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 7.[4] Additionally, it reached the top 20 in five other countries throughout Europe. "Book of Dreams", the album's first single, peaked at number 66 on the UK singles chart and number 8 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart.[4][3] However, the album's second and third singles, "Tired of Sleeping" and "Men in a War" failed to see any chart success.

Critical reception

[edit | edit source]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarHalf star[5]
Robert ChristgauB−[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[7]
NME7/10[8]
QStarStarStar[9]
Record MirrorStarStarStar[10]
Rolling StoneStarStarStarStar[11]
Vancouver SunStarStarStarStar[12]
The Windsor StarB+[13]

Days of Open Hand received generally positive reviews from critics. In a review for Rolling Stone, Paul Evans awarded the album four out of five stars, stating it consists of "her hardest and loveliest music yet". He went on to refer to the trio of "Men in a War", "Institution Green" and "Fifty-Fity Chance" as a "suite of songs astonishing for their cleareyed gaze at pain", comparing Vega to poets Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath and Stevie Smith.[11] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Alex Henderson commended the album's "subtlety", praising her vocals for being "expressive" without "need[ing] to shout or preach to get her points across".[5]

Track listing

[edit | edit source]

All lyrics are written by Suzanne Vega.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Tired of Sleeping"Vega4:22
2."Men in a War"Vega4:47
3."Rusted Pipe"Anton Sanko4:16
4."Book of Dreams"Sanko3:22
5."Institution Green"Sanko6:15
6."Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)"Vega3:09
7."Room off the Street"Sanko3:00
8."Big Space"Sanko3:46
9."Predictions"Vega4:59
10."Fifty-Fifty Chance"Vega2:36
11."Pilgrimage"Sanko5:10
Total length:45:51

Personnel

[edit | edit source]

Production

  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Hugh Padgham – mixing
  • Pat McCarthy – engineer
  • Pat Dillett – assistant engineer
  • Geoff Keehn – engineer
  • Jeff Lippay – assistant engineer
  • Jon Goldberger – assistant engineer
  • Kurt Munkasci – string engineer[14]

Charts

[edit | edit source]
Weekly chart performance for Days of Open Hand
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 74
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 9
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 16
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[20] 32
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 24
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 7
US Billboard 200[26] 50
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[27] 2
Year-end chart performance for Days of Open Hand
Chart (1990) Position
European Albums (Music & Media)[28] 87

Certifications

[edit | edit source]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Gold 100,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 1,000,000[1]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

[edit | edit source]
Year Single Chart Peak position
1990 "Book of Dreams" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 8
Canada 30[30]
UK singles chart 66[31]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ a b AllMusic review
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Riches, Hester (7 June 1990). "Passionate lyrics from a whispery voice". Vancouver Sun.
  13. ^ Shaw, Ted (28 April 1990). "Record Review". Windsor Star.
  14. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9141". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  19. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  20. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1991. 4. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  21. ^ "Charts.nz – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  22. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  23. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  26. ^ "Suzanne Vega Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  27. ^ https://musiikkiarkisto.fi/oa/_tiedostot/julkaisut/sisaltaa-hitin.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  28. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  31. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
[edit | edit source]


Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Retrieved from "http://70.231.62.181/index.php?title=Days_of_Open_Hand&oldid=8620012"