Product Description

Direct from the popular synth-pop band the Eurythmics, Annie Lennox spreads her artistic wings on DIVA. An impressive solo debut, DIVA runs the gamut from rock epic to confessional ballad.
Depending on the song's sentiment, Lennox can be commanding or gentle, icy or tender. Always in control of the intricate dynamics, she is a diva who knows how to work through the subtleties of a lyric while soaring through demanding vocals.
"Why" is a soul-bearing narrative, buildingand bursting with passion and regret. Other highlights include the staccato string-driven "Walking On Broken Glass", the foot-tapping "Little Bird" and the languid, bluesy "Cold".There's a humorous CD bonus track, the straight-outta-the-'30s "Keep Young And Beautiful" ("...if you want to be loved."..).
Lennox's lyrics are sharp and insightful, and bode well for a substantial solo career. Even a potentially over-the-top ode like "Precious" works because of her credible delivery and Whitney-worthy vocals. Lennox definitely moves upto the rank of DIVA, without the vain vocal histrionics that often accompany that title.

Track Listing

1. Why
2. Walking On Broken Glass
3. Precious
4. Legend In My Living Room
5. Cold
6. Money Can't Buy It
7. Little Bird
8. Primitive
9. Stay By Me
10. Gift
11. Keep Young And Beautiful

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4543 in Music
• Released on: 1996-07-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although traces of her synthpop roots certainly showed through, Annie Lennox's solo debut, Diva, made it abundantly clear that her new material would veer away from gender-bending robotics of the early Eurythmics sound and continue towards the more emotionally grounded soul of later releases. On Diva, Lennox infuses each song with tenderly perceptive lyrics, hypnotic rhythms, and irresistibly soulful wailings. Her arrangements are clean and simple, utilising bare instrumentation and sometimes-languid chord work. The singles "Walking on Broken Glass", "Little Bird", and "Why" became radio mainstays, while gems such as the Eastern-influenced dream ballad "Primitive", the hauntingly autobiographical pop-lament "Legend in My Living Room", and the cheerfully satirical "Keep Young and Beautiful" gave the album a plump maturity. --Sally Weinbach

Customer Reviews

A Haunting Classic That Hasn't Dated...

This is one of my favourite CD's from the early nineties.

There's a tenderness and maturity to the songs here which hasn't dated one bit.

Everyone I know who loves this album has a different track as their favourite and the superb production bringing out all the emotion in Annie's singing.

The songs are sung with a heartfelt honesty that's still refreshing to hear, with almost none of the "pop production" that could spoil some of the Eurithmics recordings. "Money can't Buy It" and "Little Bird" are audio dem-room classics too.

At the prices here, I'd sincerely recommend you give this a try - it deserves to be in every CD collection.

incredible....nothing like it
Annie Lennox has made a huge change from a pop/new wave duo to a serious solo artist. In all honesty i think that dave stewart brings her down because her music is far more beautiful, haunting without him e.g. why or lovesong for a vampire which send shivers down your spine. this album is genious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Competent debut
The austere power of Lennox is still evident here, but this clinically produced album lacks some sort of spark that one associates with Eurythmics. Maybe the delivery is somewhat overwrought with a resultant lack of real emotion. Lennox’s vocals are graceful, crisp and exact as ever, as demonstrated during the haunting fade of Why when she sighs: “You don’t know what I fear” and the swaying, almost mid-seventies “Sound of Philadelphia” track Walking On Broken Glass. Elsewhere, Dave Stewart’s talent for engaging melodies and sharp hooks is sorely missed.