Annie Lennox's new album,
Medusa, is a cover (other peoples songs) record. There seems to be a movement among major
artists (Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello among others) to do this. It's interesting to see what
songs influential songwriters choose to sing. In the liner notes, Ms. Lennox states she chose
these songs on instinct. So it obviously wasn't a planned out thing. She definitely picks
some good songs but I'm surprised she picked songs that have been covered by so many other
artists. For example, Take Me To The River (111K/au). Of course it's a great song, but how many times
has it been covered, and well? This version is over-produced; especially in the
bridge section. The vocals are so far back in the mix it is as if she didn't
like the melody and wanted to bury it.
A Whiter Shade Of Pale (86K/au) is almost foolproof. Her version is o.k. but as with most of these songs, their Lennoxization doesn't really add anything. When Lennox writes and records her own songs the production really compliments the melody and her vocal style. When she forces this style on covers it highlights her vocal weaknesses rather than strengths. I love Annie Lennox. She is a brilliant performer and a sometimes-great songwriter. She has a unique voice that fits her style, but her high atmospheric voice is without a lot of cojones on the low growly end. It is never more obvious than on The Clash's Train In Vain. A raucous scream of rejected love is turned into a synth lounge number (86K/au). Just the drum machine (86K/au) at the top makes me cringe. No matter how much you make a song your own, you still must try to capture it's essence on some level. Sometimes on Medusa, Annie Lennox obscures that essence. She doesn't let the songs speak for themselves. There is so much gilding on every song that you lose sight of how great some of these tunes are.
On Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down, (86K/au) Ms. Lennox's voice is more comparable to Neil's whine but the arrangement is so antiseptic and undynamic it puts you to sleep. It starts and ends on a five with lots of five in between. This surprises me because Annie Lennox is one of the most theatrical, dynamic, pop singers around.
Waiting In Vain, the classic Bob Marley tune, sounds good. It's done with relative simplicity. Just classical guitar fills, some synth strings and percussion. The melody has a chance to affect you because it's given it's due. Of course she can't resist some backup vocal freakery in the second verse (86K/au) "ooh boy ooh boy"- why? It's extraneous. The song stands on it's own without baroque attachments. The songs that work on this disc are the more ballad-like numbers, No More "I Love You's", Downtown Lights, and Paul Simon's Something So Right.
Annie Lennox fans who love her sound will probably like this record. She does her thing, no surprises. For me, the interpretations, mostly in arrangement, weaken the impact these songs could have. If you had never heard Train In Vain done by The Clash you wouldn't know why she chose it. I love Annie and her music, Diva was a great record, but her producer should have given it to her straight. Sometimes less is more.
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