Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles

Last updated
Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles
SuzanneVega-TalesRealmcover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 18, 2014 (2014-02-18)
Studio
  • Clubhouse Studios (New York)
  • Kyserike Station (New York)
  • One East Studios (New York)
  • Studio Disk Barrandov (Prague)
Genre
Length36:40
Label Amanuensis Productions
Producer Gerry Leonard
Suzanne Vega chronology
Close-Up Vol. 4, Songs of Family
(2012)
Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles
(2014)
Close-Up Series
(2014)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 76/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is the eighth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega.

Contents

Released in February 2014, it was Vega's first album of new material in seven years. The album features contributions from Larry Campbell and Tony Levin (bassist from King Crimson and Peter Gabriel). Although Vega's music had been sampled by various artists in the past, the album contains Vega's first own attempt at sampling with the track "Don't Uncork What You Can't Contain" which includes interpolations from 50 Cent's 2005 song "Candy Shop". [5]

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 37, the first time one of Vega's studio albums reached the UK Top 40 since 1992. It received generally favorable reviews. [6]

The album appeared under Vega's own label, Amanuensis Productions, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl.

In 2014 the album was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, [7] which indicated sales of at least 20,000 copies throughout Europe. [8]

Recording

Over the past number of years, Vega had collected "recordings with melodies, lyrics, notes and pieces of ideas" for songs on her iPhone. Together with long-time collaborator Gerry Leonard she began to 'solidify these ideas' over the course of a year. After road-testing a number of these songs on tour, the duo began the recording of the new material. [9] Leonard gathered a number of musicians and began live-tracking at the Clubhouse Studios in upstate New York. Additional material was recorded at his home-studio, a converted railway station outside Rochester, New York. Leonard also oversaw the arrangement of the string section and the trumpet contribution made by Alison Balsom. [10] "Song of the Stoic" was a follow-up to Vega's 1987 hit single "Luka", and was written from the point of view of the character as he looked back on his life. [11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega and Gerry Leonard except where noted [12] [13] .

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Crack in the Wall" (Vega)4:23
2."Fool's Complaint" (Vega)2:39
3."I Never Wear White"3:08
4."Portrait of the Knight of Wands"4:18
5."Don't Uncork What You Can't Contain"3:31
6."Jacob and the Angel"4:05
7."Silver Bridge"3:47
8."Song of the Stoic"4:05
9."Laying on of Hands/Stoic 2"3:52
10."Horizon (There Is a Road)"2:50
Total length:36:40

Personnel

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles
Chart (2014)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] 66
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [16] 51
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [17] 47
French Albums (SNEP) [18] 124
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [19] 38
UK Albums (OCC) [20] 37
US Billboard 200 [21] 173
US Folk Albums (Billboard) [22] 5
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [23] 36
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [24] 48

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References

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  2. Jurek, Thom. "Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
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  4. Murphy, John (2014-01-30). "Album Review". musicOMH . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  5. "Rolling Stone Interview" David Browne, 'Suzanne Vega on Her Return, Lou Reed's Puppy and Loving Macklemore' Rolling Stone January 16, 2014
  6. "Metacritic" Metacritic entry accessed February 2014
  7. "Photographic image" (PNG). Impalamusic.org. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
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  10. Good Seed PR press-release in conjunction with the 2014 Dublin show, posted December 3, 2013.
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  12. "Booklet PDF" Liner notes
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