Diva (Annie Lennox album)

Diva
Studio album by Annie Lennox
Released	6 April 1992
Recorded	Mayfair Studios, London
Genre	Adult Alternative Pop
Length	49:55
Label	RCA, Arista
Producer	Steve Lipson
Annie Lennox chronology
Diva (1992) Medusa (1995)
Singles from Diva
"Why" Released: March 1992 "Precious" Released: May 1992 "Walking on Broken Glass" Released: August 1992 "Cold" Released: October 1992 "Little Bird" Released: February 1993

Diva is the first solo album by Scottish singer/songwriter Annie Lennox, released in 1992. The album entered the UK album chart at no.1 and has since sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone, being certified quadruple platinum.^[1] It was also a success in the U.S. where it was a top 30 hit and has been certified double platinum.^[2]

Background and legacy

In 1993 the album was included in Q magazine's list of the "50 Best Albums Of 1992". Rolling Stone magazine (6/25/92, p. 41) described the album as "...state-of-the-art soul pop..." and it is included in Rolling Stone's (5/13/99, p. 56) "Essential Recordings of the 90's" list. Several songs from the album were released as singles with "Why", "Walking on Broken Glass" and "Little Bird" being the most successful.

The song Keep Young and Beautiful was included on the CD release as a bonus track (the original vinyl album had only ten tracks). Another bonus track, "Step by Step", appeared on the Mexican and Japanese editions of the album and was also included as the B-Side on the single "Precious". The song was later recorded by Whitney Houston for the 1996 film soundtrack The Preacher's Wife and subsequently became a hit single.

The album won Best British Album at the 1993 Brit Awards. That same year, it was also nominated for the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	(C)[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
The New York Times	(Positive)[6]
Q	[7]
Robert Christgau	(C+) [8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Slant Magazine	[10]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

The Rolling Stone commented:-

• State-of-the-art soul pop, Annie Lennox's solo debut is sonically gorgeous; it also declares her aesthetic independence. Ace sessionmen polish Diva's gloss, and producer Stephen Lipson (Pet Shop Boys, Propaganda) operates in hyperdrive, but these eleven songs are fiercely those of a sister doing things for herself. Three years after her last outing with Dave Stewart, her cohort in Eurythmics, Lennox voids any notion that he was her Svengali and she merely the MTV beauty with stunning pipes. Writing nearly all of Diva, she manages a whirlwind tour of mainstream R&B and retains her singular persona – an ice queen thirsting to be melted by love.(RS 633)^[11]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Annie Lennox, except where noted. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Why"	4:53
2.	"Walking on Broken Glass"	4:12
3.	"Precious"	5:08
4.	"Legend in My Living Room" (Lennox, Peter-John Vettese)	3:45
5.	"Cold"	4:20
6.	"Money Can't Buy It"	4:58
7.	"Little Bird"	4:48
8.	"Primitive"	4:16
9.	"Stay by Me"	6:26
10.	"The Gift" (Lennox, The Blue Nile)	4:52

Bonus track
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Keep Young and Beautiful" (Al Dubin, Harry Warren)	2:17

Bonus tracks (Japanese edition)
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Step by Step"	4:46

Diva video album

Lennox simultaneously released a video album for Diva, featuring promotional videos for seven of the album's tracks. The video album was directed by Sophie Muller who had worked with Lennox during her years with Eurythmics. Some months after its first release, the Diva video album was reissued as Totally Diva, and featured two additional promotional videos that had been made since the original release ("Walking On Broken Glass" and "Precious"). The only omissions from the video album were "Little Bird" (the video for which had not yet been made at this time), and the album track "Stay By Me".

Information

• Director: Sophie Muller
• VHS release date: 6 April 1992
• DVD release date: 26 September 2000
• Label: Sony BMG
• Run time: 45 minutes

Track listing

1. Why
2. Legend In My Living Room
3. Precious
4. Money Can't Buy It
5. Cold
6. Primitive
7. The Gift
8. Walking On Broken Glass
9. Keep Young And Beautiful

Personnel

• Annie Lennox – keyboards, vocals
• Paul Joseph Moore – keyboards
• Marius de Vries – keyboards, programming
• Peter-John Vettese – keyboards, programming, recorder
• Edward Shearmur – piano
• Kenji Jammer – guitar, programming
• Steve Lipson – guitar, keyboards, programming, producer
• Doug Wimbish – bass
• Gavyn Wright - violin
• Dave Defries – trumpet
• Keith LeBlanc – drums
• Louis Jardim – percussion
• Steve Jansen – drum programming

Production

• Produced by Stephen Lipson
• Recorded and engineered by Heff Moraes (also MIDI manager)
• Mixed by William (Bill) O'Donovan
• Ian Cooper – mastering
• Anton Corbijn – photography (inner cover)
• Satoshi – photography (front cover)
• Laurence Stevens – design

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[12]	Gold	25,000x
Canada (Music Canada)[13]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Germany (BVMI)[14]	Gold	250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[15]	Gold	50,000^
Sweden (IFPI Sweden)[16]	Platinum	100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17]	4× Platinum	1,200,000^
United States (RIAA)[18]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1992) Peak position Australian ARIA Album Chart[19] 7 Austrian Albums Chart[20] 3 Canadian Albums Chart[21] 8 Dutch Albums Chart[22] 5 French SNEP Albums Chart[23] 48 German Media Control Albums Chart[24] 6 Italian Albums Chart[25] 1 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[26] 77 New Zealand Albums Chart[27] 6 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[28] 11 Swedish Albums Chart[29] 5 Swiss Albums Chart[30] 5 UK Albums Chart[31] 1 U.S. Billboard 200 [32] 23

Year-end charts Chart (1992) Position Austrian Albums Chart[33] 36 Italian Albums Chart[25] 9 Swiss Albums Chart[34] 21 UK Albums Chart[35] 7 U.S. Billboard 200[36] 69 Chart (1993) Position UK Albums Chart[35] 35 U.S. Billboard 200[37] 70

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Adrenalize by Def Leppard Walthamstow by East 17

UK number one album April 18, 1992 – April 24, 1992 March 6, 1993 – March 12, 1993

Succeeded by Up by Right Said Fred Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz

References

1. ^ BPI Searchable database
2. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Database
3. ^ Parisien, Roch. Diva (Annie Lennox album) at Allmusic
4. ^ Zacharek, Stephanie (1992-05-15). "Diva Review". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,310491,00.html. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
5. ^ Hunt, Dennis (1992-05-24). "Record Rack: ANNIE LENNOX; "Diva" Arista". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-24/entertainment/ca-38_1_annie-lennox. Retrieved 2011-11-07. 
6. ^ Holden, Stephen (1992-09-11). "Critic's Notebook; For Adult Pop Music, A Quiet Sonic Boom". http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/11/arts/critic-s-notebook-for-adult-pop-music-a-quiet-sonic-boom.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved 2011-11-07. 
7. ^ Q (5/92, p.79)
8. ^ Robert Christgau review
9. ^ Rolling Stone (6/25/92, p.41)
10. ^ Slant Magazine review
11. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/annielennox/albums/album/289831/review/5940576/diva
12. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva" (in German). IFPI Austria. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin.  Enter Annie Lennox in the field Interpret. Enter Diva in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Diva&sa=Annie+Lennox&smt=0. 
14. ^ "German album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Diva&strInterpret=Annie+Lennox&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
15. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. http://www.ifpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60463. 
16. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (in Swedish) (PDF). IFPI Sweden. http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf. 
17. ^ "British album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Diva in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
18. ^ "American album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Diva%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
19. ^ "australian-charts.com Annie Lennox - Diva" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
20. ^ "austriancharts.at Annie Lennox - Diva" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
21. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-31
22. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Annie Lennox - Diva" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
23. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://infodisc.fr/Album_L.php. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
24. ^ "Album Search: Annie Lennox - Diva" (in German). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Annie+Lennox&title=Diva&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
25. ^ ^{a b} "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1992" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1992.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
26. ^ アニー・レノックス-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Diva by Annie Lennox" (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/55833/1/ アニー・レノックス-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
27. ^ "charts.org.nz Annie Lennox - Diva" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
28. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Annie Lennox - Diva" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
29. ^ "swedishcharts.com Annie Lennox - Diva" (in Swedish) (ASP). http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
30. ^ "Annie Lennox - Diva - hitparade.ch" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. Swiss Music Charts. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Annie+Lennox&titel=Diva&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
31. ^ "Chart Stats - Annie Lennox - Diva" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=46802. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
32. ^ "allmusic ((( Diva > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r58645/charts-awards. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
33. ^ "Austriancharts.at - Jahreshitparade 1992" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/1992_album.asp. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
34. ^ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992" (in Swedish) (ASP). Swiss Music Charts. Hung Medien. http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=1992. Retrieved 2011-09-13. 
35. ^ ^{a b} "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
36. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1992". billboard.biz. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/1992/the-billboard-200. Retrieved 2011-11-07. 
37. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1993". billboard.biz. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/1993/the-billboard-200. Retrieved 2011-11-07.