Annie Lennox
Diva

THE REVIEW

In 1989, the Eurythmics decided to break the almost biennial continuity in the release of their studio works during the famous Eighties; the rockish and fresh We Too Are One thus interrupted a flow of some of the most precious gems that mainstream pop of that decade managed to produce, and the subsequent Greatest Hits two years later disenchanted the aficionados for a worthy inauguration of the complex and decidedly less glittery Nineties. If the Eurythmics project took a massive break, only interrupted by the timid and nostalgic Peace in 1999, the ethereal and lively Annie Lennox took advantage of the temporary divorce from her colleague David Stewart to pursue a solo career and liberate herself, but not too much, from the synth influences of the duo.

Released in 1992, in the midst of the fervor of grunge and alternative sparkle, "Diva" launched Lennox's "individual" phase, which is still semi-active with further unreleased works that have seen highs and lows in sales but with a critique that has generally welcomed her "para-Eurythmics" efforts well. The debut of the androgynous heroine of "Sweet Dreams" is indeed a great labor of sound and image in the attempt – a successful one, I would say – to build a personal artistic aura, independent and not subjugated to the mythical brand of the eighties; effectively represented and heralded by the evergreen Why, "Diva" represents perhaps the perfect multi-marriage between the delicate synth-rock fragrances of the Eurythmics at their peak with Touch, Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge, the understated soulful orchestration of early Nineties ballads (in common with then-debutante Mariah Carey, the already Olympic Whitney Houston, and partially with the emancipated Janet Jackson of the acclaimed janet.) and the emerging alternative trip-hop wave. In a pop compendium that fuses the best of the past, the present, and even the then-future, Annie Lennox's solo initiation meant the achievement of individual artistic maturity, as well as the perfection of a sonic culture through a right and proper contamination of genres and styles.

The official start with Why, one of the most incisive power pop ballads of the last twenty-five years, ascends to a chrismal anointing for Lennox without Eurythmics, who ventures into more funky and carefree orchestral territories with Walking On Broken Glass, a sort of anthem to lightheartedness in the form of strings. With Precious, Annie makes the great leap into the dreamy and mystical grooves of the emerging trip-hop, before diving again into the great jazz classicism of Cold and re-embracing the seemingly renounced maternity of the Eurythmics with the funky synth-new wave craftsmanship of Little Bird. These masterful pieces are joined by Primitive, a slow-tempo in a soul tribal-ethnic key, the further trip-hop diversion in ambient-R&B-alternative rocking sauce for Money Can't Buy It, and the intriguing chill-out/synth mix with dense retro shades of Legend in My Living Room.

Imbued with a unique sophistication of its kind, "Diva" perfectly embodies the model of the pop album that embraces, in an atmosphere of brotherhood in the form of sheet music, a remarkable display of genres, styles, influences, and inspirations. Halfway between orchestration, semi-avant-gardism, and retroactive glances, Annie's debut without David is comparable to a bridge between the before, the now, and the then, naturally referred to the distant 1992, and that little pile of beautiful songs that compose it transforms into a great rotating kaleidoscope with a thousand eyes able to reflect the past and the present and materialize them in a present with arms extended to the future. Although equally significant, Lennox's subsequent tests (Medusa, Bare and Songs of Mass Destruction) have undoubtedly stabilized her role in the musical spectroscope but did not have the same explosive detonation of the debut. While waiting for a new revival of the Queen of revival, let's enjoy one of the DOCs of Nineties pop, a pearl of an intense, sweaty, and difficult decade.

Annie Lennox, "Diva"

Why - Walking On Broken Glass - Precious - Legend in My Living Room - Cold - Money Can't Buy It - Little Bird - Primitive - Stay by Me - The Gift - Keep Young And Beautiful.