Three years after her debut, Sinéad O’Connor was catapulted to a level of success she never expected or wanted. Her sophomore album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, went multi-platinum on the strength of hit single ‘Nothing Compares 2 U.’

That song, a cover of a Prince tune written for his side project The Family, spent four weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and made O’Connor a household name. Her gorgeous rendition, accompanied by an inescapable video depicting her beautiful, crying face against a black background, was the top song in the world through the winter of 1990.

The rest of I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was more in keeping with its hit single than O’Connor’s bracing debut. Most of its 10 tracks are gentle ballads, the sort of music you need to lean in to hear properly. The exceptions are singles ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ and ‘Jump in the River,’ which demonstrate that she is just as adept at danceable alt-rock.

O’Connor was nominated for four Grammys for this album, winning one, but she refused to attend the ceremony or accept the award, bemoaning the commercialism of popular music. She was never afraid to speak her mind or take unpopular stances, a quality that would cause much turmoil in her life and career.

I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was a touchstone album for me in my senior year of high school, and though I haven’t listened to it a ton since then, listening to it now puts me right back in that time and place.