Annie Lennox - Songs of Mass Destruction (Deluxe Edition)

The Enhanced CD will include:

Artist commentary by Annie Lennox / track-by-track ('Dark Road' audio visual, all other tracks audio)

Dark Road video

links to website Product Description

OMG!

After listening to this, if you can figure out why her record company dumped one of the greatest artists of our time, please explain it to me. The Deluxe edition is really nice. March 18, 2008

Most Eurythmical Album by Annie

TouchBe Yourself TonightSavageBareAmerican Doll Posse

This new cd by Annie Lennox is the most like her Eurythmics albums than anything she has ever done solo.
The upbeat "Ghost In My Machine" & angry "Love Is Blind" remind me of "I Need A Man" from Savage & "How Long" from We Too Are One. The soulful "Womankind" reminds me of "Right By Your Side" from Touch and "Condition Soul" & "Its alright" from Be Yourself Tonight. "Sing" reminds me of "Sisters": from Be Yourself tonight. Then there are a few songs like "Through The Glass Darkly" & "Big Sky" that remind me a bit of Kate Bush or Tori Amos.
The song "Smithereens" is my favorite track and is very Elton John like.
I love this cd!! If you liked Diva you might love "Im Lost" & "Fingernail Moon" as these two songs are strong ballads kinda like "The Gift" & "Stay" from Diva. And "Dark Road" is a bit like 1000 Beautiful Things from Bare. But for the most part this cd is like Eurythmics! I also like the bonus disc of goodies!! Long live Annie Lennox!! December 6, 2007

Amazingly brilliant, mature and somewhat maternal

I have been an Annie Lennox fan since the days of The Eurythmics and "Sweet Dreams." I think her voice is solidly recognizable and her lyrics are strong, thoughtful and complete. I am particularly a fan of Diva, and a few covers of Medusa ("Thin Line..." "Wait in Vain," especially). I did not enjoy "Bare" as much as I'd hoped, and was fearful that she had given up on creating those strong, detailed, layered and innovative songs that made her a star. "Songs of Mass Destruction" completely buried the notion.

This cd is easily one of her best! It has elements of the Eurythmics and the best of Diva combined into perhaps the most deliberately crafted and well executed cd this year. Each track is amazing in its composition, style, lyrics, layering, innovation, attention to detail and sheer pleasure to listen to. "Big Sky," "Through the Glass Darkly," and "Coloured Bedspread" are true standouts! Masterfully produced!

None of the tracks get old, many are ready to be remixed and reworked for the dancefloor, but none are filler merely designed to complete a cd. It is as if EACH track is an instant Greatest Hit! I am not a big fan of the Public Service announcement on one track or the African chants at the end of it, but outside of that, I find myself listening to each detail of every song wanting (and finding) a new element to savor each time.

She has done a remarkable job bringing sophistication and intricacy back to "pop" music, after WAY too many years hearing the novices like Beyonce's overcooked vocals, Janet Jackson suffering through more albums with weak producers, or greats like Anita Baker devolving into essentially piano lounge music (on her last cd) and Chaka Khan breaking no new ground after years out of the studio for "Funk This." Annie's voice is immediately distinguishable, and somewhat unique.

I am amazed and delighted the "old" Annie has returned with such strength and quality. Her sound her is the stuff that has bred so many other female vocalists that have followed. If you are a fan of the Eurythmics at their peak and/or the best of Annie Lennox solo, this is the cd you have been waiting for! October 23, 2007

This is what music's all about

It is certainly heartening to know that any day Annie Lennox decides to step into the recording studio, she'll be able to delight her fans and the world with her words and melody.

Dark Road opens with its sunken melancholic before breaking into a rapturous bridge then closing with the quiet calm it began with. Such is a display of the multitudes of emotion Lennox is capable of packing in. On songs like Womankind and the archetypical anti-HIV/AIDS tribute, Lennox attempts to sing about female empowerment and knowledge, resulting in two gorgeous anthems. The latter, ambitiously includes the backing vocals of 23 female artists and a resounding sign-off that features a short African interlude. On other tracks (Big Sky, Lost), Lennox touches on love, loss, and hurt like no one else ever knew.

At her most experimental, Lennox shows her mastery. Through the Glass Darkly (probably inspired by Jostein Gaarder) begins like a piece of Zero 7 while Coloured Bedspread is a damn fine electronic synth track destined for the clubs.

Of course, Lennox's deep haunting voice is never compromised throughout the album.

If there's one album (along with Feist's The Reminder and Radiohead's In Rainbow) you have to listen to in 2007, Songs of Mass Destruction is the one that serves to add some soul into music.

The Deluxe edition includes extensive commentary of each song by Lennox herself as well as the video for Dark Road. If you get the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition, there's two bonus tracks - the acoustic version of Dark Road which features an entirely different arrangement to the original and Don't Take Me Down. Worth the money for fans.(A) October 12, 2007

Beautiful Introspection

This is a terrific release by one of the most dynamic and interesting artists working today. No longer the brash and shocking young lady of the early 80's new wave movement, Annie is now a mature, thoughtful, somewhat world weary woman singing with a new depth of feeling and experience. She is no less provocative than in her Eurythmics days, indeed some of her new songs smack you right between the eyes with a force and power she could have never achieved twenty years ago.

The title of the album gives fair warning; there are songs of loss, sadness and pain, as well as hope, joy and indomitable spirit. But her observations on the world around us; on subjects like war, love, poverty, aids, truth, lies, and ever changing relationships are at once touching, powerful, and ultimately beautiful.

The opening song, DARK ROAD is, in her own words, a metaphor for the journey of life. We can only see dimly what lies ahead of us as we travel this road. If we pay attention along the way, we are likely to see many terrible and wonderful things.

Annie is a stunningly gorgeous and talented woman whose remarkable gifts have afforded her the privilege of going places and seeing things many of us will never experience. It is a testament to her intelligence and spirit that she hasn't taken the easy path so many others may have when writing these songs. She hasn't barraged us with poppy, vacuous tunes tailor made for top 40 radio ubiquity, nor has she tried to convince us that life is an endless party for the elite; a party most of us will never be invited to attend. Instead, she has chosen to create lasting and meaningful art that touches us at our deepest levels and, heaven forbid, actually makes us think and feel.

An excellent album - in my opinion the best of her career.
October 10, 2007

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