Days of Open Hand

Days of Open Hand is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, released in April 1990 by A&M Records. Anton Sanko and Vega produced the album. It won the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package in 1991.

Days of Open Hand
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 10, 1990 (1990-04-10)
Recorded1990
StudioSkyline Studios, RPM Studios
GenreFolk rock, pop
Length45:51
LabelA&M
ProducerAnton Sanko, Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega chronology
Solitude Standing
(1987)
Days of Open Hand
(1990)
99.9F°
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[2]
Q[3]
Robert ChristgauB−[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

By her third album, Days of Open Hand, released in 1990, she felt trapped by industry expectation.

“We worked for a whole year on that album. In the end I wasn’t really happy with it and there was this palpable sense of disappointment that we’d only sold a million copies. Now that seems really ridiculous. It felt like a crime that we didn’t sell three million!”[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega except where noted.

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

Personnel

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[7]

Charts

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 74
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 24
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 7
US Billboard 200[17] 50

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[18] none 105,400[19]
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 100,000^
Summaries
Worldwide N/A 1,000,000[6]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak position
1990 "Book of Dreams" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 8
UK Singles Chart 66[21]

References

  1. AllMusic review
  2. "Days of Open Hand - EW.com". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. "Suzanne Vega - Days Of Open Hand CD Album". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. "Robert Christgau: CG: suzanne vega". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. "Days Of Open Hand : Suzanne Vega : Review : Rolling Stone". 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. Anthony, Andrew (9 October 2016). "Suzanne Vega: 'It's taken me a while to say, You are what you are, it's fine'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  7. "Days of Open Hand - Suzanne Vega | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  8. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  11. "Officialcharts.de – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  12. "Charts.nz – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  14. "Swedishcharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  15. "Swisscharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  16. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  17. "Suzanne Vega Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  18. "French album certifications – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  19. http://www.infodisc.fr/Ventes_Albums_Tout_Temps.php?debut=4250
  20. "British album certifications – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Days of Open Hand in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  21. "officialcharts.com/search-results-album/_/Book%20Of%20Dreams#single". Retrieved 3 June 2016.


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