Songs of Mass Destruction

Annie Lennox

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2007)
• Original Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B000UCEJEQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,072 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Product Description

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 Grammys®, Brits, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar® 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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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My Mind Is Broken And Forlorn., October 12, 2007

By	Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I confess, I have a special place for Annie Lennox in my music collection. I admit my bias. After all, I was drawn to her from the first note of "Sweet Dreams" in the summer of 1983 at the tender age of 10. From then on, no matter what my peers said, I stuck with the Eurythmics through thick and thin. I saw them in concert at age 11 in the summer of 1984 for the "Touch" tour, with Howard Jones opening for them. I saw them again, at age 13, in the summer of 1986 for the "Revenge" tour. I stuck with them as "Savage" failed in America, and "We Two Are One" barely made a dent. I was disappointed when Dave and Annie split, but happy when Annie released "Diva", a near perfect album. Happy again when the Eurythmics reunited in 1999 for "Peace". And so on and so forth.

"Songs Of Mass Destruction" is by far Annie's best solo work since "Diva". It's her most consistent, diverse and confident work since "Diva". "Bare" was somewhat depressing and slow, but Annie definitely bounces back here.

Where to start? There are five upbeat tracks and six ballads. I liked all five upbeat tracks "Love Is Blind", "Ghosts In My Machine", "Womankind", "Coloured Bedspread" and "Sing". My favorites being the defiant "Ghosts In My Machine" and "Love Is Blind". I haven't heard Annie rail against personal demons like this since "Savage". "Coloured Bedspread" harkens back to "Sweet Dreams".

The six ballads "Dark Road", "Smithereens", "Through The Glass Darkly", "Lost", "Big Sky" and "Fingernail Moon" are pretty solid. My favorites being the moving "Dark Road" and "Lost" (which is featured prominently during the end credits of the film "In The Valley Of Elah", which is also very good I might add). If I have any complaints it would be the weaker ballads "Through The Glass Darkly", "Big Sky" and "Fingernail Moon". All three tracks were okay, but didn't quite make the cut for me.

At 52, Annie has made a very good album. Better than 2003's "Bare" and 1995's "Medusa", but not quite "Sweet Dreams", "Touch", "Be Yourself Tonight" or "Savage". I give it four and a half stars. If you like Annie, or you like the Eurythmics, you should get "Songs Of Mass Destruction". I think some Grammys are in order here.

124 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Annie Lennox's rebirth...., October 7, 2007

By	Damon Devine (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Alright, first, it needs to be said that reviews on Amazon are supposed to be voted on by "WAS IT HELPFUL" in your decision to purchase. It isn't really meant to be "I already own it and loved/hated it--so this review is bad/good." Having said this--some of the reviews I have read herein are real stunners. We cannot usually listen to something ONCE in a store music cubicle and write a review or even make a decision.

I am a serious Annie Lennox fan and collector of 24 years(I have it ALL!)and am also in a place to be surrounded by extraordinary music (I am the personal assistant of vocal legend Yma Sumac) and know good from bad musically. And 'Songs of Mass Destruction' does NOT disappoint.

Many Lennox fans or passing admirers are addicted to her early 80's days of electro-pop (I adore it as well!) but we must understand that we all grow (or should!) and times change! And the artist changes! Lennox has NEVER made music for mass appeal or radio play or to be popular. She is less interested (based on my decades of research)in making you DANCE, than she is in making you FEEL or identify in some way.

SONGS OF MASS DESTRUCTION is one of those very rare albums where you can't only choose a few good songs as "the best". Each track has something considerably special about it. There are very upbeat tracks, some Delta blues kind of songs and some intensely sentimental slower tracks. Unlike many other singers (including opera singers) whose voices weaken by their 50's, Annie's has gone very much the other direction! That's amazing! Her voice is stronger and more clear than ever on this CD. Her vocals SOAR with great strength on 'Through the Glass Darkly' and it should be noted that on this album she experiemnts with higher registers than ever before (namely on 'Fingernail Moon' and the exceptional 'Big Sky'). Everyone I know, is INSANE over 'Ghosts in My Machine' and I have not yet heard feedback on the bumping-pumping 'Sing!' but I love it. The angry and fed-up "Love is Blind" (which is not really about love, as much as how damned hard life can be sometimes!) is not for the generally jovial! I could go on and on, but you get the idea. There is so much offered on this CD! I do recommend it.

Now this NOT recommended for the "Gimme, Gimme More" Britney Spears listener, who wants "a good beat so you can DANCE to it!" Dumbed-down lyrics are not Lennox's specialty! This is for people, perhaps a little over 25, who have had a little more time to really experience life's up and downs (not to say that all ages can't enjoy it or identify in some way). I cannot help but feel that women and gay men will somehow feel closer to this album.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The iconic diva returns with a mixed bag., October 1, 2007

By	unplug and listen - See all my reviews

Annie has come up with a real cracker, a collection of songs which, while steeped in the bleak lyrical outlook of their creator, a woman who seems destined to yearn, weep and howl at the moon, is nevertheless beautiful and rich and stirring.
There's a whole lifetime of experience crammed into this thing, and Lennox's voice has never sounded better - in the lower registers it's like seasoned teak, then it soars into an icy stratosphere.
"For her fourth solo outing, Annie Lennox has ditched her usual producer, Stephen Lipson, in favour of Glen Ballard, the American best known for inflicting Alanis Morissette upon the world. While there's no denying the power and command of Lennox's vocals throughout, it's not a particularly fruitful alliance, Ballard's bland sound denuding the songs of impact. Alarm bells really start ringing two-thirds of the way through, when one realises that "Coloured Bedspread" is just about the most enjoyable thing here, precisely because its understated Eighties electro-funk so closely resembles her work in Eurythmics. The rest of the album vacillates between sludgy power ballads, such as "Smithereens" and "Lost", and Elton-esque MOR rockers, such as "Love is Blind". The Aids-benefit anthem "Sing" struggles to make much impression despite a choir comprised of virtually every popular female singer in the Western world, and a few from beyond.
Lennox's greatest failing throughout "Songs of Mass Destruction" is her too-eager recourse to lyrical cliché, a parade of banalities every bit as clunky as that title".Andy Gill.
She, it's easy to forget, is one of the greatest singers that Britain has ever produced. She can purr softly, reach high notes that only the uber-divas of the nineties (Celine Dion, Regina Belle, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey) normally attempt.
"Dark Road", the first single from "Songs of Mass Destruction" - only her third album of original material in a decade and a half - is a timely reminder of the Scottish songstress' awesome vocal chops.
Over portentous, melancholy piano chords, Lennox croons world-weary, slightly ambiguous lyrics - "Maybe I'm still searchin' but I don't know what it means, all the fires of destruction are still burnin' in my dreams" - with tenderness and restraint. Its melody grows in stature with every spin, while its tumultuous, strutting middle eight feels like the smashing vase that ends the bitter sulk of a domestic dispute.
The album is Lennox at her haunting best, with the sort of velvet vocals your average female singer would mud-wrestle her granny for.
Lennox demonstrates yet again, if proof was still needed, she's one of the most iconic divas of our time, someone to be treasured and revered. No matter what new path she treads in her career, she turns it into her own and proceeds to dazzle even the most hardened of critics.
Highlights : "Coloured Bedspread", "Dark Road",and "Smithereenes"