Rating: 4/5
Review:
Great versions of familiar songs
It goes without saying that Annie Lennox is a truly great singer and the production and arrangements on this album are excellent, so whether you like this album will depend entirely on whether you want another version of some of these great American classics. They are all excellent versions, but for me this genre has been rather overdone in recent years and, from the point of view of the material alone, I'm slightly less keen on this album than on some of Annie Lennox's other work.
That said, it's still very good. I have been a fan of Annie Lennox since the days of The Tourists and she was stunning when I saw Eurythmics in concert 30 years or so ago. If anything, she's an even better singer now; her voice is still great and she has a fantastic depth and control. She is in fine voice here, for sure. She gives every song real meaning and the overall sound is great, the selection of material is good, if a little predictable, and these interpretations stand very well beside the greats of the past. (Something in me still baulks slightly at a white artist recording Strange Fruit, by the way, but Annie may well have earned the right with her admirable and tireless championing of humanitarian causes. It's an absolutely stunning version, too, so it's probably a needless worry.)
In summary, it's an album of great songs, excellently sung and produced. The only issue for me is the familiarity of the material, but if you don't share my slight reservation about it then I can recommend this as a fine album by a genuinely great singer on top form.
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