About a month ago I went to see Sting and Annie Lennox in concert. Sting was pretty good, but Annie Lennox was excellent. Based on the performance of both artists, I thought Annie Lennox should have been the headlining act.

Because I liked her show so much I decided to check out some of her albums. While I like her latest disc, Bare, the one that has been in almost constant rotation (in my CD players and my brain) is Medusa. Released in 1995, Medusa is a collection of songs written by other artists that Annie Lennox doesn’t merely cover, she transforms them and makes them her own. Her versions of the Pretender’s “Thin Line Between Love and Hate,” the Clash’s “Train In Vain” and Bob Marley’s “Waiting In Vain” have unique rhythms and instrumentations that fit Annie’s style superbly. My favorite song on the disc (and the one that’s been running through my brain for the past week) is her cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down.” Annie’s beautiful alto voice singing Neil’s wonderful lyrics along with the dreamy, musical accompaniment combine to make just a perfect song.