Description
Annie Lennox – Songs Of Mass Destruction / Sony BMG Music Entertainment Audio CD 2007 / 88697154522
UPC 886971545227
Songs of Mass Destruction is the fourth studio album by Annie Lennox, released on 1 October 2007. It was her first album of new material since 2003's Bare and to date her most recent of original material.
Ann Lennox OBE (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Appearing in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit, the BBC states, "all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze". Subsequent hits with Eurythmics include "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again".
Tracklist:
| 1 | Dark Road | 3:47 |
| 2 | Love Is Blind | 4:18 |
| 3 | Smithereens | 5:17 |
| 4 | Ghosts In My Machine | 3:30 |
| 5 | Womankind
Rap – Nadirah X |
4:28 |
| 6 | Through The Glass Darkly | 3:29 |
| 7 | Lost | 3:41 |
| 8 | Coloured Bedspread | 4:31 |
| 9 | Sing
Choir – Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton, Beverley Knight, Bonnie Raitt, Celine Dion, Dido, Faith Hill, Fergie (2), Gladys Knight, Isobel Campbell, Joss Stone, K.D. Lang, KT Tunstall, Madonna, Martha Wainwright, Melissa Etheridge, Pink, Sarah McLachlan, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Sugababes, Performer [Additional Performance - Jikelele / Globally] – The Generics |
4:48 |
| 10 | Big Sky | 4:02 |
| 11 |
Fingernail Moon | 5:04 |
- Accordion – Eddie Baytos
- Arranged By, Producer [Additional Production] – Mike Stevens
- Bass – Sean Hurley
- Design – Allan Martin (4)
- Drums – Blair Sinta
- Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Scott Campbell
- Guitar – Joel Shearer
- Keyboards – Annie Lennox, Glen Ballard, Mike Stevens, Randy Kerber, Zac Raeon
- Mastered By – Ted Jensen
- Mixed By – Tom Lord-Alge
- Mixed By [Mix Assistant] – Femio Hernandez
- Photography By – Mike Owen (3)
- Piano – Annie Lennox, Randy Kerber
- Producer – Glen Ballard
- Vocals [All Vocals] – Annie Lennox
- Written-By – Annie Lennox
Ending her long association with Stephen Lipson, Lennox's fourth solo album, Songs of Mass Destruction, was recorded in Los Angeles with veteran producer Glen Ballard (known for producing Alanis Morissette's album, Jagged Little Pill). It was released on 1 October 2007, and was the last studio album of Lennox's contract with BMG. It peaked at No. 7 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Lennox stated that she believed the album consisted of "twelve strong, powerful, really emotive songs that people can connect to". If she achieves that, she says, "I can feel proud of [it], no matter if it sells ten copies or 50 million." Lennox described it as "a dark album, but the world is a dark place. It's fraught, it's turbulent. Most people's lives are underscored with dramas of all kinds: there's ups, there's downs – the flickering candle." She added, "Half the people are drinking or drugging themselves to numb it. A lot of people are in pain."
The album's first single was "Dark Road", released on 24 September 2007. Another song on the album, "Sing", is a collaboration between Lennox and 23 prominent female artists: Anastacia, Isobel Campbell, Dido, Céline Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Fergie, Beth Gibbons, Faith Hill, Angelique Kidjo, Beverley Knight, Gladys Knight, k.d. lang, Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Pink, Kelis, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright. The song was recorded to raise money and awareness for the HIV/AIDS organisation Treatment Action Campaign. Included among the group of vocalists are TAC activist members' own vocal group known as The Generics, whose CD of music inspired Lennox to make "Sing". To promote Songs of Mass Destruction, Lennox embarked on a primarily North American tour called Annie Lennox Sings, which lasted throughout October and November 2007.
- Eddie Baytos – accordion
- Mike Stevens – arrangements, additional production
- Allan Martin – artwork design
- Sean Hurley – bass guitar
- Blair Sinta – drums
- Joel Shearer – guitar
- Zac Rae – keyboards
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Femio Hernandez – mixing assistant
- Mike Owen – photography
- Annie Lennox – vocals, piano, keyboards
- Randy Kerber – piano, keyboards
- Glen Ballard – producer, keyboards
- Scott Campbell – recording engineer
