Considering that Annie Lennox released her first solo album Diva shortly after the Eurythmics disbanded, you would think that she wouldn't take so long with subsequent releases. True, the three-year gap before Medusa came out wasn't a HUGE break, but Bare didn't appear until 2003. Now, Annie comes at us with her fourth album, Songs of Mass Destruction.

Although some of the songs on here are a little dark, they aren't as blatant as what was found on much of Bare (which isn't a bad album, by the way). Such songs include "Through the Glass Darkly", "Lost" and "Dark Road". And Annie's activism also has a presence on here, as evidenced by the feministic tracks "Sing" and "Womankind".

Another good selection is the final track, "Fingernail Moon". Speaking of which, as was the case with most of her post-Eurythmics albums, there are mainly ballads on here, and when she shoots for funky tracks, she hits ("Ghosts in My Machine") and misses ("Love is Blind"). Her vocals go a little off-key from time to time too. Oh, well; while Diva remains her best solo album, Songs of Mass Destruction proves that Annie's talent is still going strong.

Anthony Rupert