The Annie Lennox Collection

by

Annie Lennox

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I was really looking forward to seeing somethnig really special on the DVD, but the videos for "A Thousand Beautiful Things" and "Pavement Cracks" are a total letdown. "ATBT" is dubbed from the "Bare" album and contains no live recording. "PC" is even worse cos the audio obviously comes from the album and is playing through while Annie is just standing there moving her hand slightly, to the beat, and not singing much, but appearing to be doing a lot of "oooooooh" as you can tell, by the facial expressions she's making. "Little Bird" is a fun video and it's nice to finally have it on DVD. Can't understand why it never appeared on Annie's "Totally Diva" video collection DVD.

There are a lot of great videos and the DVD showcases Annie's flawless ability to change her looks & style from one video to the next. I don't appreciate not being able to skip from one vid to the next. Even on my computer, the videos cannot be skipped until each one finishes, and then you can choose which one you want to see, from the menu. Seems the DVD wasn't truly thoughtfully put together. This compilation does terminate Annie's BMG contract, and I think it's more a fluke on the record company's side, rather than on Annie herself. Why would such a truly devoted artist & woman want to make her fans unhappy? I honestly don't believe the poor quality of the DVD is Annie's fault one bit, that's for sure.

As for the packaging itself, the discs are going to be subject to a lot of wear & tear because they are so tightly packed into the front and back covers of the package, they will get scratched and worn very fast. I took my discs out of their tight confinement and placed them in a suitable double sleeve which fits both discs. This, I placed inside the digipack.

The booklet (attached to the right panel of the item, contains neat pics and all the lyrics & Annie's sentiments on each song. I like this, cos I didn't know the lyrics to all the songs from "Medusa". There is a nice two-page collage featuring Annie in her video clips, as well as a few others. The last two pages are funny because it's Annie in her "Little Bird" DVD, eyes open wide and her priceless grimace.

The two new tracks are great and terminate a pretty nice collection of Annie Lennox songs quite well. Oh, and I wanted to say, in the amazon description of this item, it says there are the videos + more, on the DVD. What else is there supposed to be? Am I missing something? I say, buy the "CD Only" edition, if you're looking for quality. The CD only edition is housed in a jewelcase. Otherwise, get this deluxe edition, because if you don't already have at least the "Totally Diva" DVD, at least you'll have most of the material from it, on this DVD now. Both DVDs are good to have though, if you're a true Annie collector.

I'm not going to review the CD since there will be plenty of reviews for that on the single disc version page. This review is strictly in regards to the packaging and bonus DVD on the limited edition 2 disc version.

First, the packaging on this edition is the same as with the "Songs of Mass Destruction" limited edition. A cardboard gatefold sleeve with the discs loose inside.. no protective sleeves, so they are scratched from the moment you remove them.

The DVD: Video quality is poor. Sound is 2.0 Dolby Digital. There is no "Play All" function and each video is a separate title, so the disc returns to the menu after every video. "Walking on Broken Glass" has been redubbed using the album version, not the proper single mix (resulting in lots of black screen at the end while the song finishes). "Pavement Cracks" is the worst made-up video ever, with static shots of Annie singing the song live, overdubbed with the album version which doesn't match, and to top it off, they left the TCR timecode showing thru most of the video so it looks really stupid.

I can't recommend this version at all.