January 4, 2008 | 12:00am
Surely one of the best albums to come out of 2007 was Songs for Mass Destruction by Annie Lennox. I’m sure that fans still remember Lennox as one of The Eurythmics and of how she fared beside the great Aretha Franklin in Sisters are Doing It for Themselves. She proved then that she had the same sort of soul in her voice and in the same magnitude.
It was then that we knew that Lennox, by herself, was more special than The Eurythmics or any of the hit songs she created with the group. Think Here Comes the Rain Again, No More I Love Yous, When Tomorrow Comes, There Must Be an Angel Playing with My Heart or Thorn in My Side and Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.
Further proof of future greatness came when she titled her solo album Diva and nobody complained. Nobody exclaimed, how dare Lennox! I guess it was because she simply oozed with female power and her singing sounded like a diva’s in every sense of the word. Remember Little Bird, Pavement Cracks and Walking on Broken Glass.
Best of all though, I guess it was because Lennox was unique and sounded like nobody else. She still doesn’t and with Songs of Mass Destruction, she has not only offered more proof of her high-powered vocals, she has also produced a brilliant showcase for this wonderful gift.
I was quite curious about her singing in the new CD. Given the passage of time, Lennox has been singing for over 25 years and is now in her fifties, one would think that there would be attempts to take things easy and for the arrangements to skirt around difficult passages. Those things happen more often than we care to think with the greatest singers. Not in Lennox’s case though. In fact, her vocals remains strong and full and she literary soars with great ease on the highest notes ever.
There is nothing mass destructive about the songs in the CD, all of which Lennox wrote herself. It is a message collection from a woman who is taking stock of her surroundings, talking about what she sees and how she feels and her hopes for finding ways to relieve the suffering. I know that themes like those come across as heavy stuff. Take note though that those words are set against such beautiful arresting melodies and are sung by a voice so smooth, so dramatic and so powerful.
Ghosts in My Machine is the best of the lot. Sing, which is a fund-raiser for AIDS crisis in Africa, is the album’s epic, relevant piece. Expect birit babies hereabouts to try out Through the Glass Darkly. Hopefully, the song will teach them how to use their pipes like Lennox does. And every Pinoy will marvel over the high notes she cuts into in Big Sky and Fingernail Moon. Other tracks included are Dark Road, Love is Blind, Smithereens, Womankind, Lost and Coloured Bedspread.
It is unfortunate that Songs for Mass Destruction was relegated to the back shelves with the arrival of higher-profiled products from the likes of Britney Spears and Celine Dion during the last months of the past year. But it is not too late. The CD is still in the stores waiting for listeners who prefer substance over froth from one of the most incredible voices ever heard.
Make sure you don’t miss out on this one.
Holiday albums for 2007
As the Christmas Season nears its end, here are the top Holiday albums for 2007. Noel by Josh Groban; Christmas Song by Mannheim Steamroller; The Lost Christmas Eve by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; Christmas Eve and Other Stories by Trans-Siberian Orchestra; Let It Snow by Michael Bublé; A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio; Now That’s What I Call Christmas 3 by Various Artists; Stockings by the Fire by Various Artists; Christmastime in Larryland by Larry The Cable Guy; and A Classic Christmas by Toby Keith.
Hereabouts, the new Christmas album nobody should be without is Voice of Christmas by singing champ Jed Madela. Add this one to your two volumes of Pasko by the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Chorale; The Company Christmas Album; and Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts and you will be off to great Yuletide listening for years and years to come.
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