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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
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 5 stars period Jul 06, 2009
amazing amazing amazing. one of the most soulful, original, inspired, and listenable covers albums ever!
i love annie's voice. pop opera. it's over the top. of the 40,000 songs in my collection, this CD ranks in the top 10.
also check out satchel's "the family" (and other work by brad) and the tony rich project's "birdseye" and "words" for some equally intense, heart-centered rock/r&b.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
love the cd Jun 13, 2009
always a great artist. many covers on this one but well done and some very cheeky.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Thin White Duchess. Dec 29, 2008
Annie Lennox is at her Bowie-esqe best with "Medusa," trying on songs by 10 different artists. No surprise - they all fit her versatile figure, showing again Lennox's style to be one of modern music's most charming and enduring.
For someone who had no special concept in mind (just "instinct," she writes in the CD jacket notes), Lennox delivers what sounds like a spiritual/religious odyssey.
"No More `I Love You's'" leads off showing a woman in despair. The penultimate line - "The language is leaving me" - is a successful grab at the idea of giving up on speaking words - rightly or wrongly - doesn't rid us our ability to communicate. Words end up subtly written on our faces. For Lennox's exaggerated but effective demonstration see her typewritten face inside the CD.
"Take Me to The River" is about seeking escape in spirituality and/or religion. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has the uplifted soul trying to move in a new direction. The soul tries to keep to the high road but as King Solomon told us the past is always with us ("What is bent cannot be made straight," Ecclesiastes 1:15). Lennox delivers a modern translation - "...The mirror tells (told) its tale." The context and Lennox's sweeping vocals make this the most soulful version of "Whiter Shade" you'll ever hear.
"Don't Let It Bring You Down" is the uplifted soul moving beyond itself and meeting the fallen world, coming in unfamiliar contact with something it knew at a different level. There's optimism avid revulsion - "Find someone who is turning and you will come around."
"Train in Vain" and "I Can't Get Next to You" are about relationship failure. While telling us it's love that counts, the artist reminds that economic misfortunes are not to be overlooked - "Got a job but it don't pay."
"Downtown Lights" is about venturing out from unsuccessful relationships. Lennox points out the wide gulf we face in trying to establish new intimacy, especially if we attempt to compress time - "How do I know you feel it?"
"Thin Line Between Love and Hate" and "Waiting in Vain" are broken relationships - Round 2. "Thin Line," with its wrenching lyrics and well-timed harmonica is the CD's most naked blues song. Lennox went to Bob Marley to give us a more contemplative take on love's frustrations. "Train in Vain" accelerates with shouts of anger but Marley's "Waiting in Vain" has the soul sputtering to resignation.
This sets up a perfect entrance for Paul Simon's "Something So Right." This song touches on the idea that we find the most-enduring love when we're not actively looking. Lennox shows us that a lot of what keeps us away from restful love is ourselves. Her references to "a wall around me" similar to the Great Wall of China and "it took a little time to get next to me" are poignant. Perhaps these are clues as to why she entitled the CD "Medusa." Recall the Medusa of Greek mythology turned men to stone. Lennox may be admitting that parts of her personality can have Medusa-like effects on people. Not me - I'd kiss your head any time, Annie, snakes and all.
"Something So Right" contains a profundity about the retarded growth of so many - "Some people never say I love you but like a child they're longing to be told." Another comes in explaining that time can be good medicine - "It took a little time but you calmed me down." This raises the question of who or what is the "you." It's not clear if it's G-d or man. Maybe it's neither or, as the great motion picture philosopher Forrest Gump said, maybe it's both.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Medusa has seduced me Jan 04, 2008
I was 15 when this album came out and not even on this Earth when the originals were recorded and released. I remember hearing No More I Love You's on the radio a lot and the song became so magical to me. What I loved most about the album is that the songs take you to somewhere else, especially Don't Let It Bring You Down, you actually envision castles burning. I loved how Annie was the main vocalist and did her own backing vocals. It is so much work (we who are not SINGERS) don't know this, to provide ones own background vocals. So these songs became her records because her "voices" are all over the songs. My favorite song off the album is Waiting in Vain. I couldn't ever imagine Bob Marley singing the song but I can imagine him writing it. The song seems suited to a womans voice like Annie's. I always wondered why the album was titled MEDUSA. It does not matter, maybe I would have completely abhorred this album if I heard and grew up with the original songs by the original artists. But for now I am glad I did not.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Medusa Review Jan 02, 2008
This album is one of few where all the songs are good unlike most albums that have a lot of filler.
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