Songs of Mass Destruction - Dark Publications

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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

Amazon.com
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

More from Annie Lennox & Friends

Diva	The Ultimate Collection	Bare
Eurythmics - Greatest Hits (1991)	Annie Lennox - Totally Diva (2000)	Medusa

Album Description
Multi million selling iconic artist Annie Lennox will release her fourth solo album. Songs Of Mass Destruction on October 2nd. 2007 through Artista Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles with Veteran producer Glen Ballard. Songs Of Mass Destruction showcase an artist who is unafraid of pushing boundaries and challenging herself. Annie delivers thought provoking and intelligent lyrics matched with her distinctive pop sound. She says that this album is the closest she's been so far to that authentically raw emotional place.

Customer Reviews: Read 123 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Annie Lennox's rebirth.... October 7, 2007
116 out of 147 found this review helpful

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.

5 out of 5 stars

Very Powerful Material October 2, 2007
48 out of 66 found this review helpful

SOMD (Annie's 4th Solo Recording) is a very powerful album and definitely worth the wait. I've been a fan of Annie's singing since way back in the early 80s'. As all AL's songs have, SOMD strikes right where a song should, track-wise. Track 8 (Coloured Bedspreads) really stands out and caught my attention...and I truly believe it could/should be Annie's next single. The arrangements in this particular song are dramatic and edgy, which remind me very much of "How Long" from the Eurythmics CD "We too are one".

Over the years, Annie's styles have evolved and I simply adore all 4 solo albums. With Bare and SOMD, Annie uses more of her upper range, which is jsut as powerful, clear and edgy. Her voice still sends chills when I listen to SOMD, and her lyrics are chilling and clever. That's why the woman is a living legend. She makes being an music industry icon look so easy. SOMD has an edge which her previous albums lacked, and the album as a whole, continues where Bare left off. Obviously having Glen Ballard as an inspiring producer has helped.

Since "Dark Road" was available for download online, I've had it on my myspace page...and the song really set the soundscape of my mood and my page for the past few weeks. "DR" is the perfect opener for SOMD and I believe Annie will gain many new fans because of this beautiful song and video.

Package-wise, here's what you'll find:
The cd comes in a jewel case with a 12-page booklet. The inside (traycard) has no artwork, so the cd is resting on a dark brown, almost black background. The booklet is fully illustrated, featuring full lyrics & song credits. The recent photos we've seen of Annie on the net are NOT in the booklet. But the 3 photos you'll find in the booklet are all based upon the artwork/style of the front cover. I think these photos are beautiful and showcase Annie as she's rarely been seen before. Dressed in a large tulle gown with gold lame halter top, she's looking splendid and fierce. Annie is unlike any other artist in the current music industry, to the point where you can't tell her age. Only Annie can play around with such clever imagry and such.
Photography: Mike Owen
Design: Allan Martin

Emotionally charged, song after song, SOMD pumps out nothing but pure brilliance. Filled with pain and the power to overcome it all, Annie knows how to use her singing/songwriting gift to its fullest potential. Since 2003, she's only proven to us that she's gotten better with time. None of the material on SOMD is transparent or commercial. Everything hits home right where it should. Each song tells its story and has a strong purpose and place on the album. SOMD goes to all four corners of the music spectrum and back, allowing us a fair taste of Annie's fierceness and softer, velvet-smooth side.

Fierce is the exact word to describe Annie at this point in her career. Just by looking at the photo of her in the middle of the booklet, you'll see what I mean. Spread the word and buy this album for your family and friends. It's not a forgettable album and is certainly one of those gems which will quickly grow on you. SOMD definitely deserves more than 5 stars.

4 out of 5 stars

My Mind Is Broken And Forlorn. October 12, 2007
33 out of 39 found this review helpful

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.

3 out of 5 stars

I Guess No One Could Keep That Kind Of Streak Going . . . October 2, 2007
31 out of 50 found this review helpful

(Note: This is a reposted, expanded version of my original review that includes second-day impressions of Songs of Mass Destruction . . .)

I've been in awe of La Lennox for more than two decades and have followed the gorgeous unfolding of her career in real time. Against all odds, she's been perfection--whether with Mr. Stewart or solo. Rationally, I knew she'd eventually miss the mark, but I suppose I envisioned an Annie Lennox collection with a few ragged spots; diminished or flickering perfection if you will.

What I wasn't prepared for was Songs of Mass Destruction--Annie's Big, Dumb, In-Your-Face American Album. I'm staggered and, frankly, still trying to wrap my head around the claustrophobic production and multi-tracked self-indulgence. Imagine Ann Wilson being produced by Jim Steinman. The voice remains amazing--but in this case, it's like jaw-dropping John Coltrane solos mashed-up with Bat Out of Hell tracks. Yikes.

Perhaps Songs of Mass Destruction will sell truck loads, proving me out-of-step with the majority of her admirers. But paradoxically, one of the main reasons I listen to Annie Lennox is because I never willingly listen to discs like this one. Which probably accounts for this queasy feeling that creative directors at major ad agencies with American car accounts are sitting up and taking notice of these songs: Big, over-the-top soundtracks for Escalades hissing down rain-slicked streets.

One of the consequences of production that pushes Lennox two inches off the tip of your nose is that the songs themselves are foregrounded as never before--the only possible use of this collection is for Undivided Listening. Doubtless, that was the intent; I can't imagine anyone reading the Sunday New York Times with Mass Destruction playing in the background. But now that Annie has our complete attention--what's being offered?

Overall (and of a piece with the aggressive production), it's a painfully obvious collection--47 brick-through-plate-glass-window minutes of grave sincerity and no nuance whatsoever. It's a succession of Big Moments with Big Labels: Art, Politics, Womankind (her term, not mine), Global Problems, et. al. Not forgetting, of course, that Big Title itself: Songs of Mass Destruction. Someone needs to explain this to me. The infamous "weapons of mass destruction" were never found--and that means exactly what for this set of songs? That they're similarly illusory? That, like the namesake weapons, the songs are an excuse for (intellectual) aggression? Unfortunately it smacks of grand gesture--a title chosen simply because it sounded Political, Important and Smart in a Sunday-morning-pundit way.

Not surprisingly, then, the songs' biggest collective problem is their sanctimony. Though Lennox has been headed this way for a while, with Mass Destruction, she's joined the twee, sloganeering ranks of Bono and Sting. The Entertainment Tonight substitution of celebrity for expertise is on display here. One of the dodgy arguments seems to be `I have one of the great singing voices of the past 100 years and I've made very popular synth-pop--so listen to me about Feminism.' But I wonder if the logic works the other way? Based on her impeccable credentials, would we equally humor Gloria Steinem if she said `Hey, I'm a guiding light of Feminism--so listen to my new synth-pop release.' I'm thinking probably not . . .

I guess I can't shake an annoying tendency to see distinct and important differences between a pop album and a lecture series. I'm not saying that pop can't be bludgeoned into the form of a lecture; unfortunately, it happens all the time. But be honest--when was the last sunny Saturday morning where you woke up, slotted "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and just cranked that sucker up? Yeah--me neither. It's the same reason "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is notably absent from practically every iPod playlist in the world. Pop, meet Lecture Series--Lecture Series, meet Pop.

And natch, all this High Seriousness comes with its own equivalent of a PowerPoint presentation: Apparently the deluxe edition of Mass Destruction features track-by-track Lennox Commentary. The mind reels at the need for an adjunct explanation of "I've seen too much/I know too much/I hurt too much." Might I gently suggest that this is not really the same as Ingmar Bergman clearing up an obscure point on a DVD edition of The Seventh Seal? I'm just saying. Looking back, however, this approach was anticipated by Annie's back-of-jewel-case Cliff Notes that carefully explained the Approved Interpretation of Bare's cover image.

Ultimately, Mass Destruction is forcing me to re-examine Lennox's body of work. Essentially, she's been in two long-term artistic collaborations her entire career--Stewart and then Lipson. Has she always been this irritatingly obvious and humorless? Did Stewart and Lipson somehow manage to counterbalance these tendencies? Maybe the big mistake has been hunkering down with Glen Ballard--who's never met a rock anthem he didn't like. Here he functions as an enabler of Annoying Annie, rather than acting as a collaborator.

I'll be very interested to see how this recording fares. It seems to fall between a lot of cracks: Too much mainstream California Angst for founding members of her fan base, not rocking enough for the crowd that once bought Heart albums. Too nominally smart for the Middle America and yet too naive for someone like me. From my vantage, Pet Shop Boys' Fundamental is precisely the collection that this release desperately wants to be. That I'm happy to trade Neil Tennant's dusty vocals for the transcendent high notes of La Lennox is evidence that content really is still king--even in pop.

Personal to Ms Lennox--Presumably, you still have Stephen Lipson's number in your speed-dial. Please keep it there, and next time, for god's sake, make that call.

If you need me, I'll be getting the taste of this thing out my mouth with repeated plays of Bare . . .

UPDATE (10-09-07): Songs of Mass Destruction entered UK album charts at #7--the lowest entry for a Lennox solo release to date. "Dark Road" entered the UK singles charts at #58, making it the first solo Lennox single to miss entering the British Top Forty.

UPDATE (10-21-07): In Lennox's second week on the UK album charts, Songs of Mass Destruction dropped 11 places to #18. On the US Billboard Top 200 Chart, Songs of Mass Destruction also fell 11 places; from its Week 1 entry at #9 to a Week 2 spot at #21.

UPDATE (10-26-07): In its third week on the UK charts, Songs of Mass Destruction falls 21 places to #39. On the US Billboard Top 200 Chart, Songs of Mass Destruction falls 7 places in its third week to #28.

UPDATE (11-02-07): Lennox's fourth week on the UK charts shows Songs of Mass Destruction falling an additional 18 slots to #67. On the US Billboard Top 200 Chart, Songs of Mass Destruction falls 15 more slots to #43.

4 out of 5 stars

The iconic diva returns with a mixed bag. October 2, 2007
27 out of 32 found this review helpful

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 cliche, 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"

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