[.ca] Lion And The Cobra

From Amazon.com:
To quote her fellow Irishman, poet William Butler Yeats, when Sinead O'Connor's debut, The Lion and the Cobra, was released, a terrible beauty was born. O'Connor has a haunting voice as dark as the Irish bogs, and her unwavering delivery simultaneously inflames and chills. She sings in two ranges: her soprano ("Never Get Old," "Jackie") is a nearly monastic chant that's angular and breathy like a pan flute or a tin whistle, while her alto, reigning in "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" and "Mandinka," is a suspended, forceful spoken-word tone that never quite yells. By switching back and forth between these two vocal modes, she yanks the listener into her turmoil, giving you no choice but to empathize. She was only 20 years old during this recording, and her difficult relationships with lovers, motherhood, her parents, and the Catholic Church were traumatic and fresh. But rather than mellow with maturity, she gained notoriety with publicly unfavorable political antics that would accompany and often overshadow her equally astounding follow-up, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. --Beth Bessmer

perfection:
This album is agueably one of the greatest pieces of work ever done in music. I know tha tthis is a bold statement, but anyone who has listened to this album will probably agree with me. After all these years, this album still gives me chills when i listen to it. it is almost impossible not to get caught up in the emotions of this album. This album is so good that all of her other work, while still great, is just dissapointing in comparison.

The Jeanne D'Arc of music:
You can truely call Sinéad O'Connor the Jeanne D'Arc of music. She's sacrified her entire career for her honest beliefs, in the honest truth. This album takes you on a journey right to the heart of lonelyness, depression, darkness and dispair. She's a knight send from god, to shout out the truth, to lead us to a safer sanctuary far away from these lies we're all told. She's flaunting the luxury of being looked at, dispair everytime she's being lied to, her dispair of being lonely and lost comes on in the song "Jackie" refering to "I've been washing the sand with my ghostly tears, searching the shores for these long years" you truly feels her dispair. One of her lighter songs on the album is "Mandinka" she truly masters the power of vocal gymnastic. Once again her dispair comes trough on "Troy" a song about a girl who would do anything for her love,but without recieving anything back. And once again her honest opinion comes trough on "Drink Before The War" she sings about the lost souls of those who fought in the great wars, clutching to their terrifying memories, and forgetting to live in the moment. She's truly god's messenger, but she's paid alot for her hero achviements, She's truly deserved the nick name of Jeanne D'Arc.

NEVER GETS OLD!!!!:
The absolute best album of all time. Has Everything: rock, dance, electronics, & most importantly passion!

Forget.... and listen:
Forget the whole SNL, tearing up the picture of the Pope thing. Forget the stunning, close-up video for the discarded Prince song. Forget the poorly handled political statements and the whole female in the clergy thing. Put this CD in to your stereo and put on some headphones. The amazing range and raw emotion of this album are unmatched. I was impressed by this album when I purchased it 15 years ago. Now I am stunned. This album is still better than 99.9% of the CDs that have come after it. Many current artists forget the impact that can be made by varying the volume and intensity of a song. The song starts, continues and ends at the same level. Songs on this album can be quiet and introspective in one moment and then be intense and demanding in the next. I have no favorites, as they are all good - from beginning to end. I admit that the Banshee screams can take some getting used to, but take the time to try. You'll be happy you did.

Classic Sinead:
I first learned of Sinead through the single "Mandinka" when I was in college. It was a cool song because it was very progressive, yet catchy and fun. Her vocals were unique and I loved how she could sing pretty and then angry in a heartbeat. When I bought this CD, I immediately loved "Jackie" because it was very haunting and the lyric's desperation are complimented by Sinead's vocals. "Jerusalem" and "Just Like You Said It Would Be" are two other songs I love and still play a lot. The CD is worth buying just for those 4 songs, in my opinion.

• Jackie
• Mandinka
• Jerusalem
• Just Like U Said It Would B
• Never Get Old
• Troy
• I Want Your (Hands on Me)
• Drink Before the War
• Just Call Me Joe