| Surprise | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Syd Straw |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1989 |
| Genre: | Folk rock |
| Label: | Virgin |
| Producer: | Syd Straw |
| Next Title: | War and Peace |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
Surprise is the debut solo album by the American musician Syd Straw, released in 1989.[1] [2] The first single was "Future 40's (String of Pearls)". Straw supported the album with a North American tour, backed by a band that included D.J. Bonebrake and Dave Alvin.[3] [4] Surprise was a commercial disappointment.[5]
The album was produced primarily by Straw, who also wrote or cowrote most of the songs. She spent more than year recording it at studios in London, New Orleans, New York, Austin, and Los Angeles.[6] "Future 40's (String of Pearls)" was cowritten by Jody Harris and Michael Stipe. "Think Too Hard" was written by Peter Holsapple; Marshall Crenshaw played guitar on it. "Hard Times", coproduced by Van Dyke Parks, was composed by Stephen Foster.[7] [8] Richard Thompson played guitar on "Sphinx". John Doe contributed backing vocals to some of the tracks. Straw considered "The Unanswered Question?" to be a combination of pop music and opera.[9]
The New York Times concluded that "perhaps the most striking cut on Surprise is 'Almost Magic', a diaphanously textured showcase of overdubbed vocals on a song in which Ms. Straw pleads for one more chance to hold together a crumbling relationship."[10] Trouser Press determined that the album "boasts a guest list that suggests a hipper version of the bloated superstar processions Peter Asher used to assemble for James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt."[11] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "the slower, softer [songs] ache or rage convincingly, a Talking Heads-style art-funk number hits its groove, a Dylanesque shaggy-dog story ambles along playfully."
Spin opined that "her voice, though beautifully pitched, lacks emotional range."[12] The Globe and Mail called Surprise "both immediately accessible, full of familiar country and pop elements, and bursting with interesting little instrumental and vocal flourishes."[13] The Washington Post deemed the songs "electric, eclectic folk-rock, with elliptical, fragmented lyrics ... and a tendency toward melodic meandering."[14] The Sacramento Bee considered it one of 1989's best debut albums.[15]
AllMusic wrote: "The album's style and production mix jangle pop elements from the preceding decade with a roots rock tone, and the overall result has a healthy folkish disposition. Surprise anticipates what was to come for females in rock during the '90s."