[.ca] Annie Lennox: Totally Diva

From Amazon.com:
This DVD, an expanded version of the Grammy-winning 1992 video companion to Annie Lennox's solo debut, belongs on the short list of long-form videos that achieve the stylistic and thematic cohesion of a great album. In its audio incarnation, Diva isn't tied to a formally structured concept, yet its songs probe a clutch of interwoven themes, oscillating between spirit and flesh as the Scottish singer muses over ruined relationships, vain ambitions, and quests for love and identity in alternately teasing and tormented performances. On video, director Sophie Muller loosely integrates the songs through overlapping imagery, allowing costuming, locations, or lighting to supply a dreamlike coherence in lieu of more conventional plot or character. In her earlier incarnation as the vocal half of Eurythmics, Lennox had already displayed visual savvy through both live performance and the duo's arresting, early videos, and she brings an equal sense of nuance and daring to these pieces. On the elegiac "Why," she and Muller entwine romantic disappointment and show business artifice by presenting the song as an interior monologue, heard as the unadorned singer applies make-up and dons a garish costume; Lennox barely opens her mouth until the final, searing bridge. Elsewhere, Lennox uses her remarkably expressive eyes to speak volumes, often with an exaggerated intensity that fits both the lush, dramatic contours of her meticulously produced music and the neo-expressionist atmosphere of Muller's visuals, underlined by a palette that tilts through de-saturated colors toward pure monochrome. The compilation's sense of time and place veers toward period melodrama with its wittiest segment, "Walking on Broken Glass," not coincidentally a musical high point, which casts Lennox as a spurned lover raging at a callow, flirtatious John Malkovich, whose cameo is a direct allusion to his wicked starring turn in Dangerous Liaisons. --Sam Sutherland

Additional Features:
On DVD, Annie Lennox's acclaimed 1992 video album is blessed with additional tracks but cursed by a curiously awkward editorial scheme and disappointing annotation and feature descriptions. Two additional tracks, "Precious" and "Remember," are inserted into the original sequence devised by Lennox and director Sophie Muller; the second track, an instrumental, isn't noted in the program notes. Owners of the videodisc version of the original Diva concept video have also noted some examples of dropout. The audio tracks are not true Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mixes, but the resolution of the conventional PCM stereo tracks is still excellent, thanks in part to the immaculate sound of the original album audio source. --Sam Sutherland

Amazing!:
Annie Lennox is amazing and this collection on DVD is fantastic. I was thrilled to see that Walking on Broken Glass and Precious were both addes from the VHS version. Now if we could only ge them to do a version that includes Little Bird it would be perfect. If you're a fan of Annie you won't be disappointed with this one!

The only diva!:
Annie Lennox's Diva album was truly one of the classic albums of the 90's. The Grammy Award-winning video companion was a perfect audio-visual creation that was emotive and stylish. This expanded version includes Walking On Broken Glass and a bonus track Remember. The latter, an instrumental track, is placed in the collection but not listed anyway until you play the disc. In so doing, the sequence of songs got messed up after Cold. Dropouts were rather frequent but otherwise this is a disc to have. Thankfully, the original had great sound and even though the promise of 5.1 surround sound was ultimaely not delivered in this shoddy DVD, it still sounds great. 5**** for the excellent music but 0* for the package and encoding.

Nice disc:
This expanded collection of videos from Annie Lennox's first solo album is a good bargain and certainly a must for fans. The original VHS 'Diva' collection was released too early to include the videos 'Walking on Broken Glass' (featuring an appearance by John Malkovich) and 'Precious' which later became singles and are presented here. Sadly, 'Little Bird' remains unavailable on video, represented here only by an instrumental mix over the end credits. Fans should note that this collection is the only place to hear as well as see two exclusives, 'Remember' (which isn't labeled but is included) and an extended version of 'Keep Young & Beautiful'. Video quality is fair. Unfortunately the source videotape has some anomalies such as video creases and dropouts, but they are infrequent. Audio is not the advertised 5.1 but rather PCM stereo only, which still provides crisp, CD quality sound.

Annie Lennox Totally Diva Downer:
Annie is great, but her DVD version of "Totally Diva" is very disappointing. No booklet or photos. I was expecting something a bit more including several tracks from her CD that are not on the DVD. Perhaps, a revamping of the product would give it the DIVA standard it deserves. I still love you Annie.

Annie Lennox - Totally Diva:
I did review this DVD as quite disappointing the first time around. Now that I actually own the item, and have watched it twice, I must say that it is actually an item worth having. I highly recommend Totally Diva to those who either love to collect DVDs, who love Annie or to those who killed their VHS edition of Diva. To those who reviewed this a "not really worth it" or "disappointing" DVD, too bad for you. Sorry to say, but even through the disappointment of not having the chance to see the video of "Little Bird", I am satisfied for now. Maybe some day Annie will lay claims to the idea of releasing it as a DVD single or something along that matter. It's nice to have finally been able to see Annie "act" in her special video to "precious" and "Walking on broken glass". Those two songs are great, and reflect the more victorian genre of the DVD. Not to mention the whole 9 songs were not Victorian genre too, but those 2 songs are the best and most original. I love the laid back feeling of "Primitive" and the slightly sad yet beautifully haunting video of "The Gift". "Why has always been a mystery to me. What does the video mean, when she is making herself up, yet she's really sad and depressed? The little tidbits in between the songs are okay, but a bit weird too, especially the one with all of the "Totally Diva tracks' different Annie looks, right before "Keep Young and Beautiful". To house the DVD in a hard plastic case was a good idea, but where is the liner book inside? I didn't get one. Maybe there wasn't one to begin with. Speaking of liner book, the case is a bit boring because there is no artsy interior to the case except for the disc itself. Strange. Well, like the VHS edition, I will always treasure the DVD, because these songs in particular helped me through tough times for a long while. Thanks Annie for the music. Peace. Hope my re-review helped you