| | Sinead O'Connor Universal Mother CD Sinead O'Connor Discography of CDs
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Sinead O'Connor has transcended much of the pain and anger of her public persona with this moody, evocative set of songs. Touching upon themes of fraternity and maternity with folkish grace and childlike metaphors, O'Connor's UNIVERSAL MOTHER reveals aspects of her longings and fears in cryptic freeze frames of song and sorcery that are haunting in their simplicity, and unsettling in their focus on doomed innocents.
Consecrated to the world's mothers and children, and dedicated "as a prayer from Ireland," UNIVERSAL MOTHER opens with an invocation from Germaine Greer, and the ominous overture "Fire In Babylon." With its menacing bassline and swirling mix of jazz samples and keyboards, it echoes Peter Gabriel, P.I.L. and Robert Fripp with its portents of dissolution and doom ("Life's backwards/People turn it around/The house is burned...The children are gone."). The penultimate "Famine" acts as a psychic bookend. Following a wolf's cry and an echo of "Fiddler On The Roof," the arrangement lurches forward with a hip hop collage of Miles Davis and the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," as O'Connor's narrative essays the destruction of Irish culture and history.
In between, O'Connor's intimate confessionals are framed in folkish piano accompaniments, with spare brushstrokes of strings. From the tender "My Darling Child," to a poignant cover of Kurt Cobain's "All Apologies," O'Connor's dark chamber music focuses on the joys and heartaches of childhood, scary tales of abuse, alientation from her family, and other painful rites of passage. UNIVERSAL MOTHER is an enigmatic, deeply personal portrait of the artist in flux--a triumph of compassion over rage.
Personnel: Sinéad O'Connor (vocals, piano); Van Gilliland, Ivan Gilliland, Marco Patoni, Marco Pirroni (guitar); John O'Kane (cello); Irish Chamber Orchestra (strings); Phil Coulter (piano); John Reynolds (keyboards, drums, programming); David Clayton (keyboards, programming); Reynolds, Tim Simenon (programming); The Voice Squad (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Reynolds; Phil Coulter; Sinéad O'Connor; Tim Simenon.
Illustrator: Sinéad O'Connor.
Photographers: Jill Furmanovsky; Sarah Butterfield.
Personnel: Sinead O'Connor (vocals, piano); Marco Pirroni, Ivan Gilliland (guitar); John O'Kane (cello); Irish Chamber Orchestra (strings); Phil Coulter (piano); Dave Clayton (keyboards, programming); John Reynolds (keyboards, bass, drums, programming); Matthew Seligman, Nicky Scott, Claire Kenny (bass); Tim Simenon (programming); Voice Squad (background vocals); Germaine Greer, Jake Reynolds.
Producers: Sinead O'Connor, John Reynolds, Tim Simenon, Phil Coulter, Jake Reynolds.
Rolling Stone (10/6/94, p.94) - 3.5 Stars - "...It wobbles between being an awful record and a remarkable one, and maybe that's why it works. It swings so wildly that it never sinks into that deathly muddy middle ground..."
Spin (10/94, p.107) - Highly Recommended - "...There isn't much howling rage here....Instead, UNIVERSAL MOTHER is like the aftermath of a disastrous storm--a muted, water-soaked landscape full of dazed survivors surveying the wreckage..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/16/94, p.119) - "...she cleverly probes the contradiction between mother-worshiping and mother-blaming...she has the zeal of religious fervor behind her--although she's primarily interested in healing and love..." - Rating: B+
Q (10/94, p.122) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...the bottom line is that, despite everything, Sinead O'Connor is decidedly gifted..."
Vibe (11/94, p.141) - "...O'Connor has leaned into the region of sadness before, but never like this..."
NME (Magazine) (9/17/94, p.50) - 8 - Excellent - "...Pour yourself a stiff drink; UNIVERSAL MOTHER is a heavy-going journey to the edge of Hell, a cathartic purging of demons and fears, and an emotionally naked artifact..." Universal Mother Music | List Price | $11.98 (You save $3.03) | | Category | Rock Albums, Pop CDs, Alternative, Rock/Pop | | Label | Chrysalis | | Orig Year | 1994 | | All Time Sales Rank |  36715  | | CD Universe Part number | 1135955 | | Catalog number | 30549 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Sep 13, 1994 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Recording Time | 52 minutes | | Personnel | John Reynolds - keyboards, drums, programming
SinTad O'Connor - vocals, piano
Ivan Gilliland - guitar
Marco Pirroni - guitar
Nicky Scott
Dave Clayton - keyboards, programming
David Clayton - keyboards, programming
Claire Kenny - bass
Voice Squad - background vocals
Tim Simenon - programming
Irish Chamber Orchestra - strings
John O'Kane - cello
Marco Patoni
Also: Phil Coulter, Germaine Greer, Jake Reynolds |
Sinead O'Connor Universal Mother Songs Universal Mother Music Review Average Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)  all in all, good
A great one to listen to, though could have done better without the political mumbo jumbo displayed in famine and opening sequence, which seemed to detract from the overall serene mood of the album. The vocals are simple and beautiful in these songs, as in my darling child, perfect indian and john i love you.
However, she does succeed in this vein with fire in bablyon, a wonderfully angry ballad, like you've made me in the theif of your heart which was also nicely inserted on the best of cd.
Submitted by Cinematic (Encino, CA, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  strangely beautiful
This cd is one of my favorite sinead cds. Beautifully expressive about having an abusive mother, the joy of being a mother, and her paths of love. My words just don't do it justice.
Submitted by JF (California, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
Musical Journey
This CD is an work of art which should be listened from beginning to end on headphones to fully appreciate the artistic integrity of Sinead O'Connor.
Submitted by sarah (California, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  Strange, confusing, down right weird
This is by far the strangest thing Sinead O'Connor has ever released (aside from her jazz album, 'Am I Not Your Girl?', of course). It takes off with two brilliant songs ("Fire On Babylon, "John I Love You"), but then takes you on an unusual journey through dull lifeless renditions of other peoples songs (Nirvana's "All Apologies" & John Coulter's "Scorn Not His Simplicity"), to strange recordings like "I'm not no red football to be kicked around...my womb is not a football for you" ("Red Football"), an odd recording from her small son that goes "Am I a human? It's very nice" ("Am I A Human?"), & finally...RAP!!! She raps about the famine in Ireland on "Famine". If you've survived through all that, theres actually a somewhat beautiful closing song at the end of the album called "Thank You For Hearing Me". Overall, I feel that Sinead was not together at all during the recording of this album & she should've waited a little while longer before making it so she could come up with some better material. Out of the three good tracks, two are available on her "So Far...The Best Of Sinead" cd, so I'd strongly recommend purchasing that, than torturing yourself with this one. Her first two albums are brilliant however.
Submitted by Watchingthesky (Indiana, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
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