Customer Reviews

Medusa / Live in Central Park

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Annie Lennox may sing about a 'chill placed in her heart', but she's one of the few female vocalists still alive who can actually move me to tears, without exxageration.

"Medusa" probably sounded like a good idea on paper, but I tend to favour her compositions instead of listening to Annie do Karioke. "Waiting in Vain" and "No More 'I Love You's" sound decent; most of the covers do. But the real gem in this set is the live disc.

It's only LP length, but it's amazing to find that her voice is no less affecting in a live situation. A mix of acoustic Eurythmics covers, and hits from her first (and only) solo album, culminating in a killer version of "Why" that brings down the house.

Is it worth the extra cost? Absolutely.

Well let me start by saying that I bought the Medusa album 2 times. The first time when it was released in 1995, the second time in 1996, when it was released with the live album. At first I thought of this album, shame on you. You, who is one of the greatest songwriters, singers of the seventies, eighties and nineties together. But when you listen to this, you start thinking about this voice, the looks (icy cold, but warm) and the DIVA album. Those two albums cannot be compared with one another, but even though I do. When you look at Diva as an Album by a singer well grown up, you can look at Medusa as an album by a woman who's all grown up and is now ready to explore her musical roots. And what roots they are!!! From Simon, The Clash to Bob Marley. Everything is fantastic. And than the live album... I'm still glad that I did purchase it a second time. Especially the rendition of "placed a chill" absolutely marvellous. Every now and then I play the record and everytime I get high on her voice. One things missing only, I would have loved a live version of LoveSong For A Vampire, for the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" from 1992 or 1993. With this song included it would al be tops... Well it is right now.

I like Medusa/Live in Central Park because of Annie's choice of tracks and updated styles. All tracks are so different to the originals except for A Whiter Shade of Pale. This track is almost kept in its pristine manner. Whether the Harpsichord is real, or synthesized through a keyboard, it is a touching choice of instrument voice for the song. Speaking of instruments, Annie's vocal workouts on the inspirational Train in Vain are no less than amazing. Never before have I heard such a moving tune done by her.

While waiting for Medusa to be released, before I bought the original 1 disc version, I thought anything would be good from Annie. I wasn't wrong, but slightly disappointed because there was nothing new and original to her name. But, because of No more I love you's, I decided I just had to get the cd/s.

Now about the Live part.
Two things come to mind when writing this review. One is that when I bought the cd, I had already seen the concert from which the live selections (disc 2) come from. The concert was excellent, and the background sound and accoustics are and were pretty nice. I appreciate having at least the live version of Little Bird on cd, even if the original video never made it to Annie's Totally Diva DVD. I haven't been too fond of the live Eurythmics selections, but You've placed a chill in my heart is an exception too! Good improvisations. Annie knows exactly where and when to kick in with her emotional and moving song extensions in her live performances.

The interior photo is nice, with Annie in her plaid outfit. It's so like her! I like the duet version of Something so Right. Fits right in considering it was Paul Simon who originally wrote the song. Waiting in Vain is so pretty too, with all it's layering of vocals and soulful tones.

Compared to the original release of Medusa, Medusa/Live in Central Park is pretty with the pale blue cd booklet and back sleeve. It's much nicer than the way too simple original.
Most of the songs on Medusa I've never heard of. That's why when I noticed that the cd was entirely made up of cover tunes, it surprised me at just how modernized I was. I needed a little bit of the older great rock and pop classics in my head.

Where did Annie get the idea of putting letter type all over her face? Is it actually real, or is it put on using photoshop? I wonder. Whatever it is, it's a bit tacky and really not very pretty compared to the Diva album cover image. I found Annie too simple in the Medusa images. What my expectations were, were that she wear makeup like on Diva, but maybe less voluptuous.

Despite my small complaints, I am really happy to have found this marvelous 2 cd set. Shows that some songs are meant to be timeless. So are the songs on Medusa.

In a word...tremendous! A must have is you're a Annie Lennox fan.

Esta de mas hablar de la excelente voz de annie, sin embargo el escucharla en vivo aumenta aun mas mi fanatismo por ella. Le doy 5 estrellas especialmente por las excelentes versiones de sus mas antiguos temas como integrante de Eurythmics.