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Annie Lennox: Bare

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: RCA Records
Released: 2003.06.10
Time:
 49:16
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD Enhanced
Web address: www.annie-lennox.com
Appears with: Eurhytmics
Purchase date: 2004.03.04
Price in €: 3,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] A Thousand Beautiful Things (A.Lennox) - 3:07
[2] Pavement Cracks (A.Lennox) - 5:10
[3] The Hurting Time (A.Lennox) - 7:32
[4] Honestly (A.Lennox) - 5:01
[5] Wonderful (A.Lennox) - 4:16
[6] Bitter Pill (A.Lennox) - 4:00
[7] Loneliness (A.Lennox) - 4:01
[8] The Saddest Song I've Got (A.Lennox) - 4:08
[9] Erased (A.Lennox) - 4:40
[10] Twisted (A.Lennox) - 4:12
[11] Oh God [Prayer] (A.Lennox) - 2:51

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


ANNIE LENNOX - Keyboards, Vocals, Producer, Liner Notes, Photography
STEVE LIPSON - Guitar, Programming, Producer

TIM CANSFIELD - Guitar
PETER JOHN VETTESE - Keyboards, Programming, Soloist
STEVE SIDELNYK - Programming

PRO ARTE ORCHESTRA OF LONDON - Orchestra
GAVYN WRIGHT - Orchestra Leader
DAVID SINCLAIR WHITAKER - Orchestral Arrangements

AMY WRIGHT - Producer
HEFF MORAES - Engineer, Mixing
TONY COUSINS - Mastering

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2003 CD RCA Records 8287652247-2
2003 DVA J-Records 52350
2003 CD J-Records 52350
2003 CD J 52072

The much anticipated follow up to Annie's last solo outing (some eight years previous), showcases a new sound of a mature woman going through a mid-life crisis and coming to terms with a relationship breakdown.



It's been eight years since Medusa, Annie Lennox's last studio album, was released. It's been 11 since her debut solo effort and five since the short-lived Eurythmics reunion. And while she may not be prolific, Lennox is always enigmatic. Bare is a collection of self-penned tracks, as the artist explains in the liners: "This album contains songs that are deeply personal and emotional. In a sense I have 'exposed' myself through the work to reveal aspects of an inner world that are fragile...broken through experience but not entirely smashed. I am not a young artist in their (sic) twenties. I am a mature woman facing up to the failed expectations of life and facing up to 'core' issues." Sound pretentious? One listen proves that Lennox lives up to her claims in spades. Here are 11 wholly — even infectiously — accessible, lyrically savvy, and gorgeously wrought pop songs full of spiritual and emotional depth that make for a deeply moving whole. On Bare, soul, adult contemporary, subtle yet unmistakable pop hooks, and an elegant use of electronic soundscapes converge in song styles to create not a tapestry, but a work of such interwoven depth that its only visual counterpart would be a fine Persian carpet. On "Wonderful," the refrain brings a Hall & Oates-styled Philly soul refrain to one of Lennox's trademark ballads constructed from repetitive fingerpicked electric guitar lines, a simple rhythm-machine loop, and gentle synth washes in the background. But it's in the lyrical paradox where the grain of her voice goes straight for a truth and need that the listener almost feels she's peeled off one layer too many — not hers, ours: "I wanna hold you/And be so held back/Don't wanna need you/But it's where I'm at/Thinkin' about you every day/How come I was made that way...God it makes me so blue/Every time I think about you/All of the heat of my desire/Smokin' like some crazy fire/Come on here/Look at me/Where I stand/Can't you see my heart burning in my hands?/Do you want me? Do you not?" The previous track is a guitar-kissed ballad with limpid choruses that sear with the truth of having believed — perhaps willingly — each lie a lover ever told; it is destined to be played in every post-midnight, brokenhearted, half-empty bedroom for decades to come. And though the previous examples come from near the middle of the album, they don't begin to tell the whole story, as each track fits hand in glove with another. It not only can be taken as a whole, it must be, for it rains down on the heart of the listener with such a fierce life force, despite the depleted spirit exhibited in many of the cuts. There are no more words for the ravaged, triumphant Bare — the truth of its fineness and devastating beauty is in the hearing.

Thom Jurek - All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2004 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Heartbreak is the theme at the center of Bare, Annie Lennox's first album of new material since 1995's covers collection, Medusa, and her first set of self-penned songs in a decade. The 11 songs ache with a sense of loss and longing and, with Lennox's legendary voice, make for some extremely soulful pop. Recorded in London and produced by longtime collaborator Steve Lipson, Bare is true to the forward-thinking pop that put Lennox on the map with Eurythmics. The album's gorgeous arrangements mesh well with Lennox's subdued yet powerful chops -- ranging from the chugging electro-pop and soaring vocals that blossom from the ambient "Pavement Cracks" to the robust harmonies and Aretha Franklin–like phrasing framing "Twisted." Some of her more unsavory feelings of betrayal are even transformed into the sassy, mid-tempo strut "Bitter Pill." Ballads, however, continue to be this 48-year-old's forte, and she delivers with standout tear-jerkers such as the subtle, string-and-harp-accented "A Thousand Beautiful Things" and the shimmering search for hope and strength, "Oh God (Prayer)." With Bare, Lennox lets her emotions flow freely and communicates them, seemingly one-on-one, to her audience. The limited edition includes a bonus DVD featuring a previously unseen interview with Lennox and an acoustic performance of Bare's "A Thousand Beautiful Things" and "Wonderful."

Dave Gil de Rubio - Barnes and Noble



The chalky beauty of Lennox's voice, and the haunted-echo instrumentation with which producer Stephen Lipson surrounds it, is amply effective in communicating the isolation, lonliness, and dread that dominate the singer's first solo album of original material since 1992's Diva.

[B-]

Ken Tucker - Entertainment Weekly



Annie Lennox's first album of original songs in 11 years on is a stylish tour de force that showcases the former Eurythmics chanteuse in all her chilly, shimmering splendor. Her formidable voice is still a supple and intriguing instrument, lithely shape-shifting between emotions, personas, and musical forms. Lennox moves effortlessly from the sparse and pristine lament of "A Thousand Beautiful Things" to the deceptively simple "Pavement Cracks," a solemn ballad that is transformed by electro dance beats that recall some of the best of the Eurythmics. But Lennox's quixotic voice is best utilized as an old-school soul instrument; she makes a metaphoric journey to Motown on "Hurting Time," a reflective ballad could have been lifted off a Miracles album. "Honesty," shows the Scottish diva at her well-mannered best, occupying the same sophisticated space formerly held by Carly Simon.

Jaan Uhelszki - Amazon.com



Auch wenn ihre ersten beiden Soloalben schon Jahre (Medusa, Diva) zurückliegen, auf Annie Lennox ist, jenseits aller Trends und Moden, Verlass. Zum ersten Mal seit ihrem Solodebüt hat sie die Songs wieder selbst verfasst und ihnen eine sehr berührende Note gegeben. Eine Art von Selbsttherapie, um all die persönlichen Rückschläge und Enttäuschungen der letzten Jahre zu verarbeiten. Auch wenn einige Stücke einen Rückzug in die Innerlichkeit nahe legen, Annie Lennox ist viel zu sehr Vollblut-Entertainerin, um sich ganz den persönlich motivierten Gefühlsaufwallungen hinzugeben.

Nach und nach gewinnen auf Bare wieder positivere Töne die Oberhand, wie zum Beispiel in dem ungewöhnlich zupackenden "Bitter Pill". Auch wenn der lyrische Ton, der angeschlagen wird, die Enttäuschung für jeden Zuhörer spürbar macht, nie verliert sich sie sich in wehleidigen Mitleidsorgien. Die Stimmung bei Stücken wie "The Saddest Song I've Got" oder "Loneliness" ist extrem verhalten, doch nie geht die Hoffnung auf Erlösung vollkommen verloren. Das Annie Lennox auch jetzt durchaus in der Lage ist, die schönen Dinge des Lebens zu genießen, zeigt sie mit dem wunderbar arrangierten und instrumentalisierten Opener "A Thousand Beautiful Things". Der schönste und zugleich bewegendste Song des Albums leitet eine Song-Revue ein, in der Annie Lennox gewohnt souverän zwischen Pop und Soul pendelt und nie die musikalische Balance verliert.

Norbert Schiegl - Aus der Amazon.de-Redaktion



Die letzten Jahre müssen schlimm gewesen sein: Erst läuft ihr der Ehemann weg, dann werden die Kinder eingeschult, und schließlich leidet sie unter Depressionen. Kein Wunder, dass Trauer und Schmerz der Dreh- und Angelpunkt ihres dritten Solo-Albums sind. Doch Frau Lennox wäre nicht eine der innovativsten Musikerinnen der 80er und 90er, würden ihre Songs deswegen durchweg melancholisch klingen. Dafür ist sie einfach zu clever. Vertontem Herzschmerz wie "Loneliness" stellt sie vielmehr emotionale Leichtgewichte wie "1000 beautiful Things" oder "Wonderful" entgegen. So entsteht eine emotionale Achterbahnfahrt, die genauso spannend ist wie Annies Stimme sowie die opulente Instrumentierung aus Keyboards, akustischen Gitarren, Harfen und Geigen. Anspruchsvoller, filigraner Pop mit zartbitterem Nachgeschmack. Lecker.

(ma) - Kulturnews



On Bare, her first album of new songs in eight years, Annie Lennox offers few surprises - and that's fine. She has claimed a brand of stylish, postmodern soul singing - pained but detached; theatrical yet spare - as uniquely her own, and she presents it here with all the confidence her experience has earned. As always with her, the ballads (e.g., "A Thousand Beautiful Things") work best; searching for hope amid heartbreak is the essence of her art. And when she gives her desire for deliverance a metaphysical spin on "Oh God," she's both moving and convincing. There are missteps: The thumping funk chorus of "Wonderful," for example, sounds forced. But Lennox knows her strengths and her limits - and, most important, how to satisfy her audience without pandering.

ANTHONY DECURTIS - © Copyright 2004 RollingStone.com
 

 L y r i c s


A 1000 BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Every day I write the list
Of reasons why I still believe they do exist
(a thousand beautiful things)
And even though it's hard to see
The glass is full and not half empty
(a thousand beautiful things)
So... light me up like the sun
To cool down with your rain
I never want to close my eyes again
Never close my eyes
Never close my eyes

I thank you for the air to breathe
The heart to beat
The eyes to see again
(a thousand beautiful things)
And all the things that's been and done
The battle's won
The good and bad in everyone
(this is mine to remember)
So ...
Here I go again
Singin' by your window
Pickin' up the pieces of what's left to find

The world was meant for you and me
To figure out our destiny
(a thousand beautiful things)
To live
To die
To breathe
To sleep
To try to make your life complete
(yes yes)
So ...
Light me up like the sun
To cool down with your rain
I never want to close my eyes again
Never close my eyes
never close my eyes ...
That is everything I have to say
(that's all I have to say)


PAVEMENT CRACKS

The city streets are wet again with rain
But I'm walkin' just the same
Skies turn to the usual grey
When you turn to face the day
And love don't show up in the pavement cracks
All my water colours fade to black
I'm goin' nowhere and I'm ten steps back
All my dreams have fallen flat

(Love don't show in the pavement cracks
There will be no turning back)

Time and space will pass us by and by
When we don't see eye to eye
I would have done anything
For happiness to bring ...
But it don't show up in the pavement cracks
I can't even cover up my tracks
I'm goin' nowhere and I'm light years back
Ooh I wish you well

How come
Every day
I'm still waiting for the change?
How come
I still say
Give me strength to live?

Where is my comfort zone?
A simple place to call my own
'Cause everything I wanna be
Comes crashing down on me
And it don't show up in the pavement cracks
I can't even recognise my tracks
You and I can't turn the whole thing back
Ooh I wish you well


THE HURTING TIME

To everything there is a purpose ...
To every blade of grass
And every leaf on every tree
Every livin' thing will surely
Come to pass
And what will be will be ...
That's when the hurtin' time begins

And all the things you never said
Or didn't have the strengh to say
And everything you ever did
That time won't ever wash away
Fears that you've been livin' with
Come runnin' down your face
Runnin' down your face
When the hurtin' time begins ...

So tell me what the day brings
Has it lost it's thrill?
Are you still searching
Hoping for that
Space to fill ...
Everything you turn to
Is like a mirror on the shelf
And the only one you're blaming
is yourself

A million little deaths you've died
The times that you've been crucified
The more you've loved and lost and tried
And still could not be satisfied
When will you be satisfied?
When will you be satisfied?
Not till the hurtin' time begins


HONESTLY

The beauty that you gave
Has turned upon itself
And all the things you said
Evaporated
Evaporated ...
Was I blind
Deaf and dumb
To the words slipped from yur tongue?

Honestly ... honestly ... honestly
Alone in my bed
The things that you said
Go round in my head ... still
It seems to be true
That nothin' I do
Can influence you ...

I tried and tried again
(Don't you know I tried and tried again
to make you listen to me
But everything I said it always seemed to go right through you)
To make you notice me
(I turned myself into a person that I didn't like
But please believe me when I say I know it wasn't right)
But talking to myself
(I never thought that things would
get to be so complicated
I never thought that you and me would end up o frustrated)
Won't catch you attention I see ...
(You'd think that something had to come from all those good intentions
But in the end I needed something more than intervention)

Was I mad?
Was I ... mad?
Foolish me
Foolish ... me
To succumb so easily
To suc...cumb
Easi...ly
So easily
So easily

Honestly... honestly... honestly...
(Alone in my bed
The things that you said
Go round in my head ... still
It seems to be true
That nothin' I do
Can influence you... still)

Fools like me get so easily taken
And fools like me can be so mistaken

Honestly... Honestly... Honestly

The promise that you gave
(Don't you know the promise that you
gave just turned it's back upon me
I stopped believing but you couldn't take the whole thing from me)
Has turned it's back
(I never thought I'd have to pay the price to set you free)
And all you represented
Was just my projection you see...
(You know I never thought I'd ever
live a day without you
And that's the reason why
it makes me sad to think about you
and you know I never thought
I'd make it if you wasn't there
And now I'm tryin' to eject myself
from this despair)

People come
People go...
Never say I "told you so"
Honestly

Everything I know you said
Goin' round inside my head

Never thought I'd see the day
Always got a price to pay

Nothin' that I ever do
Ever seems to get to you


WONDERFUL

I wanna have you
'Cause you're all I've got
Don't wanna lose you
'Cause it means a lot
All the joy this world can bring
Doesn't give me anything
When you're not here ...

Idiot me
Stupid fool
How could you be
So uncool?
To fall in love with someone who
Doesn't really care for you
It's so obscure...

But I feel...
Wonderful
Yes I feel...
Wonderful

Got it makes me be so blue
Everytime I think about you
All of the heat of my desire
Smokin' like some crazy fire
Come on here
Look at me
Where I stand
Can't you see my heart burnin'
In my hands?
Do you want me?
Do you not?
Does it feel cold baby?
Does it feel hot?

I wanna hold you
And be so held back
Don't wanna need you
But it's where I'm at
Thinkin' bout you every day
How come I was made that way?
It's so surreal...

But I feel... wonderful
Yes I feel ... wonderful


BITTER PILL

Bitter pill to swallow
Slidin' down my throat
Bitter pill to swallow
How it makes me choke
How the hell am I gonna find
Happiness and peace of mind
When I'm losin' all the time?
Yes... bitter

Don't you ever call me
I don't wanna see your face
Don't you dare to call me
Don't darken up this place
What the hell d'ya expect from me?
Emptiness and misery
Took it all away ya see
Yes... bitter

Ooh it means nothin' to me
Ooh you mean nothin' to me
Ooh it means nothin' to me
I paid the price
Sacrificed
Sacrificed...

Bitter pill to swallow
How can I abide
The taste of rage and anger
Burnin' me inside?
How the hell
Will it ever change?
Slowly drivin' me insane
Let me cover up this pain
Yes... bitter

When I'm feelin' low
And there's no place to go
And I'm on my knees
Fallen back down on the floor
And I've had enough
And the situation's tough
And I'm hangin' on
By my nails
Holdin' on... hopin' I won't fail
This is what reality is made of can't
You see I'm relatively twisted

Laid myself upon you
Underneath your feet
Laid myself upon you
Didn't that look sweet?
Finally the truth has come
Guess I know it all along
Nothing else I could have done
Yes ...
Bitter
Bitter
I'm bitter
So bitter


LONELINESS

Loneliness
Is a place that I know well
It's the distance between us
And the space inside ourselves
And emptiness....
Is the chattering in your head
It's the call of the living
And the race from life to death
Woa and I know
Yes and I know
What you feel...

And I've got a longin'
That's hard to find
Won't give me no peace of mind
Something that I've lived with all along
Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong

Hopelessness
is the darkness in your heart
It's the sound of one hand clapping
While it's pulling you apart
Woa and I know
Yes and I know
What you feel

And
I've got a longin'
That's hard to find
Won't give me no peace of mind
Something that I've lived with all along
Days and weeks and months and years
Filling in the time my dear
Tryin' to find the place where I belong

And
I got a hunger that's
Hard to fill
Driving me on overkill
Tellin' me that everything's gone wrong
Got me a need
That I can't break
More than I can hardly take
Somehow I still keep on going strong

When I call your name
I'm gonna scream out loud
I'll say...
"here I am standing in the crowd"
You'll say "come to me"
With your open mind
you never know
What you still might find"
But you keep me here
Like a cancelled flight
An empty train
Running through the night
An orphan child
A broken shoe
and I'm still down here
Looki' out for you
Are you there for me?
'Cause I'm here for you


THE SADDEST SONG

Darling are you feeling
The same thing that I'm seeing
The troubles of the day
Took my breath away
Took my breath away
Now you're no longer talking
And I'm no longer listening
There's nothing left to say
Said it anyway
Said it anyway
And I want you not
And I need you not
I'm dying
Cos this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got
Darling are you healing
From all the scars appearing
Don't it hurt a lot
Don't know how to stop
Don't know hot it stops
Now there's no sense in seeing
The colours of the morning
Hold the clouds at bay
Chase them all away
Chase them all away
And I'm frozen still
Unspoken still
Heartbroken
Cos this is the saddest song I've got
The saddest song I've got


ERASED

I'm gonna put it all behind me
Like nothing ever happened between us
Nothing ever took place between you and me...
Yes
Nothin' ever happened
And if you se me walkin' down the street
I won't even recognise you
I'll just erase you from my memory
Put it all behind me
Because you are erased
All erased...

you'll be sittin' on someone else's couch
You'll be eatin' off a stranger's plate
Everything is gonna get wiped out
Like a new start
Like a brand new fresh clean slate
Well here I go remembering again
All the anger and the blame...
People in glass houses shouldn't throw those stones
but ... something just flew through my window pane

My my my my ... (oh mama did it touch you well?)

I'll be in a brand new pair of running shoes
And you'll be walking on down different street
in a brand new suit and a fresh clean shirt
Makin' telephone calls...
Keepin' in time with someone else's feet
Keepin' in time with someone else's feet


TWISTED

I didn't want to know you
I didn't mean to be a friend
But now it seems
I'd run through burnin' fire
Just to see your face again

I didn't want to hurt you
(or be hurt by you)
At the closing of the game
but now it seems
Too late for that desire
I watched it all go up in fames
I watched it all go up in flames

Tell me
Darlin'
What would it take
To untie the twist in us?
'cause it's makin' my heart ache

Under a cloak of darkness
Under the covers where we laid
there I spent my dreams with you
Now I've hid them all away
I guess I've hid them all away

Nothin'
And no-one
Touches me like you
But how could I believe in this
When none of it was true?
Yes

(I knew from the first time that
i set my eyes on you)

I didn't mean to make you suffer
I didn't mean to make you cry
you didn't mean to make me suffer
You didn't mean to make me cry

Oh my darlin'
Oh my lover
All the words come back to me
I remember I remember
Everything you said to me
We went walking
Out in silence
Underneath the cherry tree
Falling blossom
Falling blossom
Falling from the cherry tree
I remember
I remember


OH GOD

Oh God...
Where are you now?
And what you gonna do
About the mess I've made
If there was ever a soul to save
It must be me
It must be me

Dear god...
Oh how can I survive?
Will I make this drop this dive?
When it all comes to this
I'm looking down at the abyss
Where you don't exist
You don't exist

but if you hear me
If you can see me...
I know I can't be that strong
'Cause everything I ever did went wrong
Everything I ever did went wrong

Oh god
Now where do I come in?
Gone and broken everything
So I hope you'll understand
if someone needed a helping hand
It must be now
It must be now

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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