Concluding my list of best debut albums (with quite a few caveats)…
Sinéad O’Connor – The Lion and the Cobra (1987)
I almost didn’t include today’s album because I thought 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was likely my favorite Sinéad O’Connor album. Or if not that one, probably 2000’s Faith and Courage.
Those are both great albums. But when I re-listened to The Lion and the Cobra, O’Connor’s bracing debut, I decided that yeah, this is definitely the one.
Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor passed away last week, ending a chaotic, troubled life and robbing us of one of popular music’s most distinctive and beautiful voices.
I’ve given O’Connor a decent amount of coverage on the blog in the past, but now is a sadly appropriate time to give her a proper deep dive, featuring songs from each of her 10 studio albums. Consider the next two weeks my tribute to a unique and special talent we lost way too soon.
Of all the songs I’m featuring this week and last, Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Mandinka’ is the one I most hope shows up in the next season of Stranger Things.
Like Kate Bush, O’Connor is a unique talent who broke ground for women in rock and recorded music unlike anything else being released at the time. She has had a troubled life and career since her success in the late 80s/early 90s and deserves another moment in the spotlight.
The Random iTunes Fairy is inadvertently jumping the gun here, unaware that I’m planning a theme week on Sinead O’Connor. This track wasn’t in the lineup, though, so no harm, no foul.
‘Just Call Me Joe’ is the final track of O’Connor’s impressive 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra. For those (like me) whose first exposure to the bald songstress was through the quiet elegance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ this album was eye-opening.
Top Ten Female Vocalists – #4 – Sinéad O’Connor
My fourth ever Song of the Day was a Sinéad O’Connor tune — ‘Jealousy‘ from her great 2000 album Faith and Courage — which should give some indication of the esteem in which I hold the bald Irishwoman.
O’Connor’s lilting, ethereal voice first came to my attention on the mostly acoustic I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, on which she teased the emotion out of delicate tracks such as ‘Black Boys on Mopeds,’ ‘The Last Day of Our Acquaintance’ and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U.’ And I considered her a phenomenal vocalist based on that album alone.
Meet Me In Montauk 