"Famous Blue Raincoat"..

Interesting to read your opinion on FBR. I've always found Jennifer's, The Hunter, to be far superior both sonically as well as material. I've never fully understood the attraction to FBR.

Regardless of whether you like 'Famous Blue Raincoat,' and you probably won't if you're not fond of Leonard Cohen, it's worth having for the Stevie Ray Vaughan intro to 'First We Take Manhattan.'

Suggest a starting point for Suzanne Vega.

I agree with Martykl word for word. Beyond that, I don't quite understand what is being discussed here. While we can disagree about wether FBR is the best sounding record ever or not, or wether it sounds better than SS or not, I can't for the life of me understand how, using any reasonable standard, it's SOUND quality can get in the way of the enjoyment of the music; if one likes the music. Wether one likes the music is an entirely different matter and a very personal one. This distinction sometimes gets lost in these discussions.

As far as the music goes, I find Leonard Cohen's songs to be much better crafted; his lyrics can stand on their own as poetry. In the case of FBR, we have a singer singing someone else's songs while Vega sings her own compositions. So, from that standpoint, her renditions can come across as more personal. However, I find Warnes to be an infinitely better singer with a much wider technical and artistic scope; IMO.

Now, if only we could keep Cohen from singing :-)

"Famous Blue Raincoat" is a wonderful album -- good singer, good musicians, tasteful arrangements and good sound.

Some trivia, "Tom's Diner" is the diner on the UWS that's featured in "Seinfield". The song was also the music used to develop the MP3 algorithm. The dead actor is William Holden.

Personally, I really like the DNA remix.