Combining much of the spirit of other Seattle bands, namely Alice In Chains, Diva is a surprisingly strong record musically. Surprisingly, because the group's metal roots have been exhausted countless times by less capable bands to the point where the mere mention of the genre makes one shudder. However, on songs such as "Hands and Feet" and "I'm Sorry," the group does much to update the stale genre, creating riff-heavy tracks that are melodic as well. Though the lyrics are for the most part ridiculously poor, they are delivered with enough attitude that the listener will hardly notice unless he reads the album booklet. ~ Steve Kurutz, All Music Guide
My Sister's Machine (Arranger), My Sister's Machine (Producer), My Sister's Machine (Main Performer), My Sister's Machine (Concept), Ronnie S. Champagne (Producer), Mr. Colson (Mixing), Steve Knapp (Studio Assistant), Robert Lang (Studio Assistant), Howie Weinberg (Mastering), Steve Culp (Assistant Producer), Saulius Pempe (Artwork), Saulius Pempe (Art Direction), Saulius Pempe (Design), Saulius Pempe (Photography), Saucy Pierre (Guitar), Saucy Pierre (Keyboards), Saucy Pierre (Vocals), Owen Wright (Guitar), Owen Wright (Lyricist), Chris Ivanovich (Bass), Chris Ivanovich (Artwork), Chris Ivanovich (Art Direction), Chris Ivanovich (Design), Nick Pollock (Vocals), Nick Pollock (Lyricist), Nick Pollock (Artwork), Nick Pollock (Art Direction), Nick Pollock (Design), Nick Pollock (Vox Organ), Rick Eakes (Studio Assistant), Chris Gohde (Drums), Randy Hall (Photography)
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. It was also a success in the U.S. where it was a top 30 hit and has sold in excess of 2 million copies there.
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.
Totally Diva, a special video album, was also released at the same time, directed by Sophie Muller who had worked with Lennox during her years with Eurythmics. The video album featured promotional videos for nine of the album's eleven tracks (the video for the single "Little Bird" had not yet been made at this time, and no video was made for the album track "Stay By Me").
Track listing
All songs written by Annie Lennox except where noted.
