Aside from her public antics, she has produced some stunning music that seems to come from the depths of her soul. Her first album was full of Irish anger caused mostly by love gone wrong. Very few songs ever reach the emotional peak that "Troy" attains when she shouts "I'd kill a dragon for you!" or attain the heartfelt anger at indifference in "Drink Before The War."
Her second album was when I started to become a "true" fan. Despite the enormous overplay that "Nothing Compares 2U" received, she outdid herself with this collection of sadness and sorrow. The lost love theme rears its head a few times, but you can tell that this time she's strong enough to move on and learn. The really touching songs on this album are, no doubt, a direct result of the birth of her son, Jake. "Black Boys on Mopeds" is just as intense for me as "Troy" was but in a sad, resigned way. Being a self-described fan of hardcore rap, she also successfully experimented with adding some hip-hop beats to a couple of songs. The final cut, done a capella, was a little pretentious and frankly monotonous, but easily the only weak song on the album.
Her third album was a huge disappointment for me. I like her singing and she does well on this collection of standards and personal favorites, but I think everyone knows her strength lies in her songwriting.
Thus, I was very excited to hear last fall that she had put out a new album. My first impression of what to expect came from 120 Minutes on eMpTV where they debuted the video for "Fire On Babylon." I was not impressed but noted that she was still fascinated with the hip-hop thing. My second impression came when several Internet Nirvana fans panned her version of "All Apologies." My curiosity was piqued even more when Stereo Review gave it a mediocre review noting that "John I Love You" was possibly the best song she had ever written. Given that there was possibly a song better than "Troy" or "Black Boys on Mopeds", I had to purchase the album.
Since it came with several other discs in a giant 2 for 1 BMG purchase, it received a quick listen and was quickly filed away after I mentally noted that "John I Love You" was not the best song on the album. The disc continued to sit on the shelf until this week when I picked up all four and trucked them off to work one morning intending to stuff them in the six disc changer and get a full perspective of her life's work. The result? Am I Not Your Girl? is not nearly as bad as I thought and Universal Mother is outstanding.
In typical fashion, she opens with a soundbite of some feminist doggerel that segues into "Fire On Babylon", which is actually pretty good assuming you have good bass reproduction. The next track is the SR-ballyhooed "John I Love You" which features a lovely little piano part (a trait that is seen throughout) accompanying some of her better singing. Although the song is likely written for her son's father, John Reynolds, it comes across as urging a child to explore and grow. This theory is reinforced by the segue into "My Darling Child." Although the lyrics are very simple, you have to smile when she sings "me little Ninja, me little streetfighter" (although you also have to wonder if she is properly censoring the child's access to media). This touching medley is capped off with a few seconds of Jake Reynolds, her son, singing a composition of his own.
This tranquility is soon replaced with an angry declaration of her personal freedom in "Red Football." I like the part about the alligator best:
I'm not no crocodileEven though the metaphors are simple, the whole song holds up to any of her best political stuff except perhaps "Drink Before the War." Following that is her cover of Nirvana's "All Apologies" which is disappointing if only because she doesn't push her pipes like I know she can. Any fan knows that the allure of her voice is not just in the tremendous range, but in the sheer power that she can exert. Here, as in "Someday My Prince Will Come" on the Stay Awake Disney compilation, you think that she's building towards the big finish, but are disappointed when she doesn't. Still, it has attractive qualities and is certainly not a faithful cover of the original (which should be considered a plus).
Like the one in Dublin Zoo
Who lived in a cage the length and
Breadth of his body
With a window which people could look
Through
And throw coins on his back to taunt him
'Though he couldn't move
Even if he wanted to
The next song, "A Perfect Indian," sustains the generally mellow vibe of this album. By this excerpt,
He's shy and he speaks quietlythe song could be construed as a love song or possibly a song for a statue, but it occurs to me that the sequencing and the references to a "beautiful daughter" could make it about Cobain, although I have not heard anybody indicate that. Regardless of the intent, the song is simply beautiful and her lilting voice is magnificent in certain parts, particularly where she sings "I'm sailing on this terrible ocean." She is accompanied by piano again.
He's gentle and he seems to me
Like the elf-arrow
His face worn and narrowed
Is he a daydreamer like me
"Scorn Not His Simplicity" is, by far, my favorite song on the album but was written by some guy named Phil Coulter, who plays the gorgeous piano throughout the album. Evidently written for a disabled child, this is a genuinely touching song.
See him stareHer inflections, phrasing and emphasis are all perfect. This is probably the best song she has ever sung. If you're in the habit of buying CDs for only one song, then this justifies purchase.
Not recognizing the kind face
That only yesterday he loved
The loving face
Of a mother who can't understand what
She's been guilty of
How she cried
Tears of happiness
The day the doctor told her
"It's a boy"
Now she cries
Tears of helplessness
And thinks of all the things he can't enjoy
The next few tracks are throwaways compared to the rest of the album. "All Babies" has her voice soaring in the tradition of the first album, but the content is a bit too sanctimonious and self-righteous. It makes me wish that she would leave the religious undertones out of future releases. She doubles the obnoxiousness by choosing to use "she" and "her" to refer to God, thus slipping in the old feminist agenda. "In This Heart" is a love song but is arranged like a hymn--a format that I don't appreciate much. It is much like "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" in form (a capella), rhythm, melody and general feel. I don't like it much.
"Tiny Grief Song" has a self-evident theme done a capella. You may have already guessed that I don't appreciate her a capella stuff much, but this song is the best of the genre (in her material). It does make me wonder whether little Jake was actually born on her Mother's funeral day.
She finishes the album strongly, though, with "Famine" and "Thank You For Hearing Me." The former finds her re-exploring hiphop, but this time full-force. Complete with samples ala Public Enemy and a radical view of generally accepted fact. In particular, she claims that...
OK, I want to talk about IrelandThis song comes off surprisingly well. It brings to mind the numerous weak attempts that other non-rap artists have made (such as Annie Lennox) only to fall flat on their face. She has evidently learned well from listening to Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and NWA. This is my second favorite song on the album (but I'm a rap fan).
Specifically I want to talk about the "famine"
About the fact that there never really was one
There was no "famine"
The final song is one of her best, as well. The verses are simple and she sings most of them three times, but again the phrasing and singing are outstanding. It starts out a capella:
Thankyou for hearing methen we get a few high hat brushes and light computer percussion
Thankyou for loving mewhich build until a funky bass line is added and we groove into
Thankyou for seeing meUp until now, she's been singing in that almost-a-whisper voice, but now she breaks out strongly with
And for not leaving me
Thankyou for staying with meEverything but the light percussion computer percussion stops and she continues
Thankyou for not hurting me
You are gentle with me
Thanks for silence with meAnd then it all starts back up and she sings even stronger now, each verse except the last once
Thankyou for holding meand then this twist at the end
And saying I could be
Thankyou for saying "Baby"
Thankyou for holding me
Thankyou for helping me
Thankyou for breaking my heartAnd it ends with some tasteful synthesizer licks while the song fades down.
Thankyou for tearing me apart
Now I've a strong strong heart
Thankyou for breaking my heart
Conclusion: this is the album that I wanted to be her third. She has once again proven herself to be a great songwriter and that she chooses the songs she doesn't write very well. What is really attractive is that each album has been almost completely different than the one prior to it. The first conveyed anger via heart-rending string arrangements and heavy duty electric guitar, the second utilized acoustic guitar extensively, while this one seems to revolve around piano accompaniment. If you like Sinead O'Connor, you'll like this. If you don't like her, why have you read this far? :)