At her mid-’80s peak with Eurythmics, Annie Lennox was a gender-fuck icon who spewed white gospel fire over icy synth grooves. But when she went solo, she traded dominatrix authority for heartsick lamenting. On this solo best-of, only the five fierce contributions from her 1992 debut, Diva—where even the lightest hit, “Walking on Broken Glass,” packed tears into twinkling pop—live up. After that, globs of slick grown-up pop ooze where sleek R&B once stabbed, and excessive vocal overdubs blunt a Scottish soul cry already compromised by vague odes to dead-end love. A newly recorded remake of Ash’s U.K. rock anthem “Shining Light” should have complemented Lennox’s intricate phrasing, but the overly sweet arrangement swallows her high notes just when they should be piercing hearts.

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