When you mention the Eurythmics, the image of Annie Lennox coldly singing the synthesized hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” while dressed like a red-haired androgynous S&M temptress immediately comes to mind. After listening to Ultimate Collection, the realization that Lennox was much more than the sum of her dominatrix image becomes immediately apparent, as well as the fact that Dave Stewart was more than just the subject of the jilted artist’s 90’s solo canon.
Stewart’s talent as an instrumentalist was exceptionally vital to the duo as they moved away from the evocative keyboards of “Love Is a Stranger” and the amiable melody of “There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart),” to the R&B duet with Aretha Franklin “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and the Al Green-inspired soul of “It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back).”
In order to live up to the title of Ultimate Collection, included are a couple of tracks from the duo’s ill-fated 1999 reunion album Peace, but they sound like filler compared to the classics, as does the new millennial disco track “I’ve Got a Life.” But the 19 tracks as a whole beat out any previous hits collection Arista has put out, and show how Lennox and Stewart, as eclectic songwriters, have had a thorough impact on modern artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
