Sinead O'Connor Collaborations CD

An outstanding lineup of collaborators makes this Sinead O'Connor release an essential purchase for an incredibly broad range of contemporary music buyers.

Personnel: Sinéad O'Connor (vocals); Sinéad O'Connor; Sonia Mehta (vocals); Kieran Kiely (whistling, tin whistle); Rob OGeigheannaigh (whistling); Ed O'Brien , Steve Howe, Brian Eno (guitar); Louis Beckett (organ); Don Hozz, Reece Gilmore, Carmen Rizzo (programming); Terry Hall (vocals); The Colourfield, Conjure One, The Edge, Jah Wobble, Afro Celt Sound System, Massive Attack, Moby, Peter Gabriel, Asian Dub Foundation, Aslan , The The, U2, Benjamin Zephaniah, Damien Dempsey, The Block Heads, Bomb the Bass.
Audio Mixers: Tim Simenon; Moby; David Bottrill; Felix Kendall; Howie B; Ian Grimble; Adrian Sherwood; Alan Branch; Mark "Spike" Stent; Brian Reeves.
Audio Remixers: Gil Norton; Steve Lillywhite.
Liner Note Author: Adrian Thrills.
Recording information: Metway Studios, Brighton; On U Studios, London, England; Sound Innovation, London, England; Stanford Street Studios, Santa Monica, CA; The Church, London, England.
Photographers: Linda Nylind; Mick Hutson; George Chin; Paul Bergen; Mark Borthwick.
As one of alternative rock's most sought-after collaborators -- having Sinéad on even one track would garner enough press to render a release noteworthy -- O'Connor racked up enough "guest vocalist" credits during the late '80s/early '90s to warrant two of these compilations. For the most part, her forays into dub, dance, and Anglo-Irish rock were successful, culminating in multiple platforms for her distinctive and often otherworldly voice to rise into the great beyond from. Spirituality -- despite her habit of tearing up pinups of pontiffs -- has always played a huge role in O'Connor's artistic persona, and many of the songs featured on Collaborations rely on Eastern mysticism ("Visions of You" with Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart) and deconstructed Christianity (Peter Gabriel's gorgeous "Blood of Eden"). This preoccupation with the inward serves her well on lush, mid-tempo projects with the Asian Dub Foundation ("1000 Mirrors") and the The ("Kingdom of Rain") but has a tendency to fall short on works recorded with the Edge ("Heroine"), Moby ("Harbour"), and Terry Hall (the latter's whimsical and sugar-coated "All Kinds of Everything" sticks out like a sore thumb here). All in all it's as essential a piece of O'Connor's history as anything in her catalog -- although the omission of "Haunted" with Shane MacGowan & the Popes is nearly unforgivable -- and a huge missing chunk in the puzzle for fans who had to sit through records by Afro Celt Sound System and Damien Dempsey to get the pieces in the first place. ~ James Christopher Monger
Because of her adamant political message and strong voice, coupled with her repudiation of the stereotypical image of women in pop, Sinead O'Connor is, in many ways, the Joan of Arc of modern pop music. Additionally, the trademark nature of her voice and lyrics has made O'Connor one of pop music's most inspired collaborators.
COLLABORATIONS showcases O'Connor's most notable collaborative efforts from 1986 through 2003, many of which appeared on import singles as B-sides. O'Connor's voice injects emotion into the dark trip-hop of Massive Attack's "Special Case," as well as the haunting South Asian dub of Asian Dub Foundation's "1000 Mirrors." On the Eastern-tinged "Guide Me God," a dance hit in 2002, O'Connor duets with Natacha Atlas (Ghostland), while delving further into worldbeat on Afro Celt Sound System's dub-influenced "Release." "Harbour" by Moby features O'Connor at her most melancholy, begging "sink me in the ocean, to sleep in a sailor's grave," before resolving in quiet, downtempo majesty. O'Connor reachers her zenith with Peter Gabriel's "Blood of Eden," on which she compliments Gabriel's throaty baritone for a powerful atmosphere. Additional collaborations with U2, The The, Colourfield, Conjure One, and seve