Album Review: Annie Lennox - Songs of Mass Destruction (4/5)

Former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox's solo career hasn't exactly set the world on fire--she's released only four albums in the last 15 years--but when that foursome includes 1992's Diva, one of the perfect pop records of the '90s, then anything after is worth at least glancing examination. Which was all that her last album, the lackluster Bare, was worth, save for its few winning tracks like "Wonderful," "Honestly" or "A Thousand Beautiful Things."

While Songs of Mass Destruction doesn't hold a candle to the divinity of Diva, it's an improvement over Bare, a winning mix of ballads, upbeat tracks and even '80s throwbacks. At her best, Annie Lennox proves again that she is the best white British soul singer there is. In first single "Dark Road," Lennox reaches into her pain to find strength and hope amid synthetic keyboards and, at its high point, climactic organs. It's a great opening, followed by another soulful number, the upbeat "Love Is Blind," which sounds like it could have come from one of her '90s albums. "Smithereens" is the next great song, a synth and piano ballad with strong choruses, followed by energetic "Ghost in My Machine."

Then the album takes a dip with "Womankind," a typical Lennox woman empowerment song, one of two on this album, neither of which are lyrically very inspiring (they certainly don't measure up to say Diva's "Legend in My Living Room"), although the second one, "Sing," manages to be a pretty decent song despite its pretentions. It opens with an African woman talking about how the song was recorded to raise awareness of AIDS in Africa, although the lyrics are simple feminist stuff "Sing my sister sing, what won't kill you will make you strong" etc. Musically, it's pretty good though, the kind of melodic upbeat song you can't help but shake to. The big coup here is that features background vocals from the "choir of 23," which features a brigade of some of the world's biggest female artists, including Madonna, Beth Orton, Celine Dion, KT Tunstall, Faith Hill, Fergie, Gladys Knight, Sugababes, Melissa Etheridge, Pink, Sarah McLachlan, Isobel Campbell, KD Lang, Joss Stone, Marth Wainwright, Bonnie Raitt, Anastacia, and Dido. No Joke! Funny thing is, the only one I can make out distinctly is Madonna--she must have been close to the mic.

Other highlights include "Lost," a lovely piano-backed ballad about the pain of war. If it sounds familiar, it may be because you saw Paul Haggis' excellent recent film, In the Valley of Elah, where this song appears as the closing credits roll. "Coloured Bedspread" is good too, if only because it nods back so explicitly to the synth-heavy energy of the Eurythmics. I also like the classy closing number, the mellow and melodic piano piece "Fingernail Moon."

Whether the credit goes to Lennox or producer Glen Ballard (who is the producer of one of the '90s other perfect pop albums, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill) for reinvigorating Lennox's musical style remains a mystery, but kudos to Annie for getting her groove back.

Best: Dark Road, Love Is Blind, Smithereens, Lost, Sing, Ghost in My Machine, Coloured Bedspread, Fingernail Moon