Annie Lennox - Songs of Mass Destruction
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Artist: Annie LennoxBrand: Baker & Taylor
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2007-10-02
Model: N03-010952
Music Label: Arista
Soundtracks:
- Dark Road
- Love Is Blind
- Smithereens
- Ghosts In My Machine
- Womankind
- Through the Glass Darkly
- Lost
- Coloured Bedspread
- Sing
- Big Sky
- Fingernail Moon
Music reviews of Songs of Mass Destruction
Music Review: Songs of Mass Destruction - It's A Blast!
Rating: 5 Stars
Based on the lead single "Dark Road" - the best Tori Amos song Tori Amos never wrote - I'd expected this album would be infused with the desolate mood Lennox had drenched her prior album (2003's exceedingly personal Bare) with. I'd enjoyed Bare, but it's a tough listen, very raw and very dark, exploring the deepest recesses of the depressive side of Lennox's manic-depressive personality. It was a bit too much for some longtime fans, and the somewhat dated and maudlin production from Stephen Lipson probably didn't help (in all fairness, the album had been written and recorded over the better part of the decade prior to its release).
So imagine how surprised I was when the second track off Songs of Mass Destruction, the uptempo "Love Is Blind," came blasting out of my stereo. Ahhh, Manic Annie, we missed you girl! Lennox hasn't sounded this manic about her depression since Eurythmics' 1987 album Savage, and her theatricality is a welcome change following the earnestness of Bare. Sure Bare was moving, but it wasn't exactly an enjoyable exploration of depression, betrayal and self-doubt in the tradition of older Lennox songs like "Little Bird", "Walking On Broken Glass" or "Would I Lie To You?". Glen "Alanis Morissette" Ballard's meaty production helps take "Love Is Blind" exactly where it needs to go, although truth be told his work isn't far from where Lipson left off, and ends up sounding a lot like Dave Stewart's work with Lennox in many spots (it especially recalls Eurythmics' 1999 album Peace, only here the songs themselves are much stronger). Ultimately, Annie appears to be the primary architect of her sound, a fact which stands in stark contrast to traditional critical assumptions, which cast her as a puppet under the control of Svengali-like producers. Hardly.
But Ballard does bring with him a far more traditional rock sound than has ever been employed on Lennox's work before. Nowhere is that more obvious - or effective - than on "Smithereens", a slow-building ballad which is one of the finest tracks Lennox has written to date. Stripped of any quirky production gimmickry Stewart or Lipson might have employed, "Smithereens" takes flight as a straight-ahead, pedal-to-the-metal rock ballad. Lennox employs many of the dramatic vocal shifts on the song that she's been fond of since 1999's Peace, but her singing here is less (deliberately, one would assume) flat than it was on that release (or on Bare), and her vocals somewhat less strident. She's also using more of her lower registers - especially in her multitracked harmonies - than she has since Medusa over a decade ago. The result is the vocal equivalent of a face-lift, with Lennox sounding about a decade younger and hitting her targets in a way she hasn't since 1992's Diva. It's an absolute joy hearing her sing this way again.
"Ghosts In My Machine" is another uptempo track which recalls Eurythmics' middle period and albums like Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge. Even the production is a little quirky, combining accordions with a grinding electronic bass. Her voice is somewhat more ragged and strident here in the verses, but it works with the material and she continues to make good use of her upper and lower registers. She certainly sounds like she broke a sweat recording this one, which is something you can't say about most if not all of her past few releases. And the energy persists on the next track, "Womankind", which in spite of its title is less of a feminist anthem and more about the desire for a partner - Lennox making the personal political. It's catchy, and features a cacophony of vocal tics that could only come from Annie Lennox, in addition to an effective little guest rap.
Next come two moody ballads, "Through A Glass Darkly" and "Lost". "Darkly" is an almost eerie work, heavily electronic compared to its surroundings, and wouldn't have sounded out of place on Peace (where it would have been a highlight). "Lost" is equally eerie, and may be the most political track on the album with its references to planes in the night and marching drums. Lennox tests the limits of the upper reaches of her voice in a song that's reminiscent of multilayered vocal tracks off of Bare like "A Thousand Beautiful Things".
"Coloured Bedspread" follows, and it's a blast straight outta 1984, like an unreleased B-side to "Here Comes The Rain Again" or Annie Lennox as produced by the Pet Shop Boys. You apparently don't need Dave Stewart to make a Eurythmics record! It's interesting to hear her sing in a way she hasn't really utilized much in the past decade or so, a sort of Teutonic soul goddess. When the song hits its bridge Lennox delivers a vocal freakout straight out of "I Could Give You (A Mirror)" off of Sweet Dreams and every hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Who says you can't go home again? "Coloured Bedspread" probably should have been the last track on the album, as it might be as much a prologue as a flashback, with Lennox expressing a desire to release a dance record in recent interviews.
"Sing" follows, with its much-hyped chorus featuring just about every female singer in the western world, none individually identifiable ("We Are The World" this ain't). Advance word was that this track is a disaster, but I absolutely love it. Lyrically it's reminiscent of anthemic early Eurythmics tracks (like "Sweet Dreams") - musically it's more like mid-period Eurythmics - but the result is extremely catchy. Madonna gets a whole verse to herself, but she should have declined the offer to participate. You can't help but compare her voice side by side to Annie's, and it's like comparing a wrecked, rusted Yugo to a Porsche 911. Poor Madge. Her delivery is so monotone it's clear she isn't even trying, but kudos to her for participating (her monotone delivery actually works well for her verse) and to Annie for assembling a track that at least tries to bring attention to a specific issue (mother to child HIV transmission in South Africa) that could theoretically be resolved.
"Big Sky" and "Fingernail Moon" finish up the album. The former is a dramatic, vaguely hip-hop influenced ballad - the tinkly toy piano sample is very old school - while the latter is a somewhat rambling downtempo album closer that would have been at home on Bare, although it's a bit more theatrical than most of that record. "Big Sky" is the more successful of the two, an intrinsically better song with a more engaging performance - it's a pity Nina Simone isn't around anymore to cover it, as it seems almost tailor made for her voice and her delivery.
Lyrically this album isn't Lennox's strongest work, although there does seem to be some attempt to draw parallels between personal and political relationships (hence the album's deliciously cheeky title). My only real complaint with Songs of Mass Destruction is that the audio has had the dynamic range compressed right out of it, with many of the tracks sounding distorted as a result. The record has virtually no dynamic range, especially the uptempo numbers. This is a common complaint on albums released over the past 5 years or so though, and I blame the record companies for this, not the artists who presumably have little say in the matter.
Her contract's up with this record, so I'm guessing she goes for Prince-like one-record distribution deals with labels going forward. As Lennox has more money than God she can afford all the studio time, producers and musicians in the world, although since she owns her own studio and plays many of her own instruments she doesn't really have much need of either. Whether it's a dance record or an acoustic folk number it should be interesting to see exactly what Lennox wraps her exquisite pipes around next. Marianne Faithful once said of Lennox that there was no one like her before, and there's been no one like her since. Songs Of Mass Destruction makes this abundantly clear, and it's heartening to see that Lennox still has an ample supply of creativity and plenty of energy left to utilize it.
Description of Songs of Mass Destruction
One of the most respected women in popular music, Annie Lennox?s career has spanned over 25 years and drawn numerous accolades and awards including GrammysŪ, Brits, a Golden Globe, and an OscarŪ for her song "Into the West," from Lord of the Rings. VH1 describes her as "the Greatest living White Soul Singer." Ms. Lennox has consistently pushed boundaries and embraced excellence; her latest work, Songs of Mass Destruction is another example of her unforgettable vocal talents.Annie Lennox Photos
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Menacing as they sound, the songs of mass destruction gathered on Annie Lennox's fifth solo disc don't manage to so much as nick the gorgeous instrument she's built her career on. Weaving artfully as ever around the contours of songs that suggest the worst--Lennox is world-wise and therefore maybe inevitably world-weary--she imparts gravity and grace in a voice as cloudless and surface-smooth as just-brewed mint tea; from the tentative beginnings of the mournful "Dark Road" to the gospel-bottomed gorgeousness of "Ghosts in My Machine," she's in full command of her considerable vocal powers. And it's possible she's never used them to such moving effect on a single record. Earlier Lennox or Eurythmics albums might have succumbed here and there to slight-seeming experiments in style, but Songs of Mass Destruction doesn't dilly-dally. All swerves, even playful ones (see "Love Is Blind" and "Coloured Bedspread," a synth-y song that wouldn't seem so out of place on a recent Madonna record), are on-message: "Womankind" busts wide open not only because it needs to (a voice this big can't be contained, it reminds us), but to demo empowerment, and the hopeful "Sing" signs off with a seconds-long African guest vocal. There's an upside to the destruction of cultural wellness that led Lennox to write this record, and it's artistic creation. Songs of Mass Destruction is a sterling, rock-solid, expert example. --Tammy La Gorce
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