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
Suzanne Vega
ReleasedApril 10, 1990 (1990-04-10)
RecordedSeptember 1989-January 1990
StudioSkyline Studios, New York City; RPM Studios, New York City; The Living Room, New York City
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]

In a 2016 interview, Vega stated that by this time in her career, 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"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko4:16
4."Book of Dreams"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko3:22
5."Institution Green"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko6:15
6."Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)" 3:09
7."Room off the Street"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko3:00
8."Big Space"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko3:46
9."Predictions" 4:59
10."Fifty-Fifty Chance" 2:36
11."Pilgrimage"lyrics: Vega; music: Anton Sanko5:10

Personnel
  • Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar (tracks 1,2,4,6,9), backing vocals (tracks 1,2,4,7,11), Fairlight synthesizer on "Rusted Pipe" and "Big Space"
  • Anton Sanko – guitar, Hammond C3 organ, tiple, Sequential V.s., Dx711, Voyetra 8, Fairlight synthesizers, Akai S-1000 sampler, programming; string arrangement on "Institution Green"
  • Shawn Colvin – backing vocals (tracks 2-4)
  • Marc Shulman – E-bow on "Institution Green" and "Predictions", electric guitar (tracks 1-5,9,11), tiple guitar (tracks 1,6,8,11), 12-string electric guitar on "Book of Dreams", bouzouki on "Big Space"
  • Michael Visceglia – five-string bass (tracks 1-4,6), fretless bass (tracks 5,9,11)
  • Erik Sanko – fretless bass on "Room Off the Street"
  • Percy Jones – fretless bass on "Predictions"
  • John Linnell – accordion on "Tired of Sleeping"
  • Richard Horowitz – ney on "Room Off the Street"
  • Hearn Gadbois – dumbek
  • Michael Blair – marimba on "Rusted Pipe", metal percussion and tambourine on "Men in a War" and "Book of Dreams", percussion on "Institution Green", shaker on "Room Off the Street", hand drum and shaker on "Pilgrimage"
  • Glen Velez – drums
  • Frank Vilardi – drums and percussion (tracks 1-5,11), rims and brushes on "Institution Green", Akai S-1000 sampler on "Those Whole Girls (Run in Grace)", percussion and shaker on "Big Space", snare and tom tom drums on "Predictions", blastics on "Pilgrimage"
  • Philip Glass – string arrangement on "Fifty-Fifty Chance"[7]
  • Maria Kitsopoulos - cello on "Institution Green"
  • Fred Zlotkin - cello on "Fifty-Fifty Chance"
  • Sandra Park - first violin on "Institution Green"
  • Barry Finclair - violin solo on "Fifty-Fifty Chance"
  • Hae Young Ham - violin on "Institution Green"
  • Timothy Baker - violin on "Fifty-Fifty Chance"
  • Rebecca Young - viola on "Institution Green"
  • Alfred Brown - viola on "Fifty-Fifty Chance"

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
Weekly chart performance for Days of Open Hand
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 74
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 9
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 24
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 7
US Billboard 200[18] 50
Year-end chart performance for Days of Open Hand
Chart (1990) Position
European Albums (Music & Media)[19] 87

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 100,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 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
Canada 30[21]
UK Singles Chart 66[22]

References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. "Days of Open Hand - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 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". Rolling Stone. 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2016.{{cite magazine}}: 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. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9141". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  12. "Officialcharts.de – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. "Charts.nz – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  14. "Norwegiancharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  15. "Swedishcharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  18. "Suzanne Vega Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  19. Bakker, Machgiel (22 December 1990). "1990 REVIEW: Music & Media Year -End Awards . European Top 100 Albums 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. pp. 29, 38. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  20. "British album certifications – Suzanne Vega – Days of Open Hand". British Phonographic Industry.
  21. "RPM Top 100 Singles - June 9, 1990" (PDF).
  22. "officialcharts.com/search-results-album/_/Book%20Of%20Dreams#single". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 3 June 2016.


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