Medusa is the second solo album by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released in March 1995, and consists entirely of cover songs. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 and peaked in the United States at number 11, spending 60 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. It has since achieved double platinum status in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.
Background and release
The album yielded four singles in the United Kingdom: "No More I Love You's", "A Whiter Shade of Pale", "Waiting in Vain" and "Something So Right". The album was nominated for Best Pop Album at the Grammy Awards of 1996, losing to Turbulent Indigo by Joni Mitchell. Lennox took home the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award for her work on the first single "No More I Love You's". This album was re-released in late 1995 in a double jewel case containing the albumMedusa and a nine-track bonus CD featuring the studio version of Paul Simon's "Something So Right" and eight tracks recorded live from the concert in Central Park: "Money Can't Buy It", "Legend in My Living Room", her Eurythmics hits "Who's That Girl?", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart" and "Here Comes the Rain Again", along with "Why", "Little Bird" and "Walking on Broken Glass".
Critical reception
Professional reviews for Medusa were mixed, ranging from favourable to outright hostile. AllMusic notes that critics "savaged" the album upon release: Trouser Press was probably the most severe in its criticism, characterising Lennox's interpretations of classic material as "obvious", "milquetoast" and "willfully wrongheaded". Reviewer Ira Robbins did single out the track "No More I Love You's" for genuine, if backhanded, praise: "The only song here that benefits from her ministrations is 'No More 'I Love You's,' a minor 1986 hit for Britain's otherwise forgotten The Lover Speaks, and that's only by dint of the original's obscurity." Meanwhile, Rolling Stone gave the album a more positive, though still mixed review:
Annie Lennox called her justifiably popular solo debut Diva, but it's actually on the follow-up effort Medusa that she really starts acting like one. This wildly uneven album of cover versions starts with perhaps its highest point—a truly wonderful interpretation of "No More I Love You's", a relatively obscure British hit by The Lover Speaks. Unfortunately, Lennox doesn't work the same magic with more familiar material like Al Green's "Take Me to the River" and Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale".
Anne Dudley – orchestral, brass and string arrangements
''Live in Central Park''
Although no tour was held to promote this album, Lennox played a one-off concert in Central Park, New York City on 9 September 1995. This was subsequently released on videotape as Annie Lennox in the Park and on DVD as Annie Lennox Live in Central Park.
