Customer Reviews

Collaborations

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pity she stopped singing professionally, because as this disc so clearly demonstrates, O'Connor is one of the most powerful voices in music. This is a collection of appearances she made on other CDs and while they tend to be largely techno or world-dub with very heavy bass, once O'Connor rises up out of the mix, the songs themselves take on an incredible viatlity that is compelling, dramatic, essential. These are great tunes, whether Sinead is working out with Asian Dub Foundation, Afro-Celts, U2, Edge, Aslan. Some of the songs you'd be familiar with. I was less aware of most of the material on this disc. Along with I DO NOT WANT, I think this is her best CD.
Equally impressive is that her command of the material doesn't overwhelm it. Sinead knew what the song needed to get the heart pumping and the soul soaring and she hits it each time out. The Peter Gabriel selection was perhaps her most infamous, pressaging as it did her meltdown, but set in the contexts of these other songs, you see what an incredible contribution she made to Gabriel.
I hope she reconsiders her career, as there were just so many great things about it. Not easy though. It was not lost on me that O'Connor's new disc should arrive just after the Legacy Edition of Janis Joplin's PEARL. Not since Janis has there been a singer of such command as O'Connor, not withstanding Lennox, Hynde, laing or Emmylou. Maybe you get too close to the edge. In which case if Sinead has stuff in the vaults, that would be enough. For now, this is an incredible coda to an incendiary signer's career.

After a few definitely forgettable albums, Sinead O'Connor shows she can still pull it off. Even if it isn't her own material here, as she colloborates with some of the most relevant current new artists.

The winning element in this album isn't just the excellent choice of songs or even the intriguiing combos she forms with the other artists, but, as ever, her charismatic voice in re-interpreting these songs.

The highlights are many, but i was surprised to finally see one of the most underrated songs ever finally covered: that of Ian Dury's "Wake up and make love with me". It's easily one of the show-stealers on the whole album.

But elsewhere too it's mostly high quality stuff. "Special cases" with Massive Attack is an eerie and bombastic opener that kinda sets the tone. Interestingly the stronger songs are somehow packed in in the first half of the album, without this meaning that the latter lags far behind.

Other standouts include that with Jah Wobble ("Visions of you"), "Empire" with Asian Dub Foundation and "Guide me God" with Ghostland, and even the U2 colloboration actually hits the target rather unexpectedly.

It would be great if she could return with a strong album of her own creations but noone should complain with this here. It's packed with great tracks and it puts her among some seriously creative minds where her talent seems to come alive again.
Musically this is absolutely gripping stuff, and the misses are actually sparse if any at all.

Those that claim "Collaborations" might be O'Connor's best album yet, have a strong point and even stronger evidence backing them up in this album. In her recent albums the songwritting has been suffering and it's been left up to the vocals to carry the albums through. Predictably it wasnt enough.

Hopefully we wont have to wait years before she releases something relevant again.

The great thing about Sinead O'Connor is that you really can't believe a word she says. No one loves to speak her mind and contradict herself more than O'Connor. So when she announced her retirement a couple years ago, I was bummed not because I thought for a second she'd be gone forever, but because I wasn't sure how long this particular whim of hers would last. Luckily, it hasn't been a long wait. Earlier this year, she started performing again, and now she's setting the stage for her comeback with this release of her stray tracks (of which the liner notes indicate will very likely be the first of a few releases over time).

As with She Who Dwells, this is a long (17 songs) collection, though not exhaustive. This is not claiming to be a "best of" cd, merely a collection of collaborations that work well to demonstrate O'Connor's work with others over time.

Her voice is uniformly terrific. The songs work well together, despite the huge variety of personnel represented. It sounds as fresh today as a whole as each song (some I'd encountered before, some I hadn't) did when they first came out.

The bottom line is: Sinead O'Connor fans will love this cd. Compilations and collections can often be hit or miss, even with the best of artists, but, as with She Who Dwells, Collaborations does exactly what it sets out to do.

(footnote: This is an excellent candidate for a 4 1/2 star rating, were it available on this site.)

Who knew that Sinead O'Connor had so many winners under her belt? Well, I certainly had an inkling about it while discovering back in the day that she had a duet with Afro Celt Sound System called "Release" (the bands' finest single, by the way), but it was only when she released "She Who Dwells" (one of her most underrated albums, it's a 2-CD Set well worth checking out) did I realize she probably had more collaborations than I had previously realized.

An avid Sinead O'Connor listener since 1987, I was aware of some of her more obvious collaborations, such as the one with MC Lyte back in the 1980s, and her one off duet with Bono in the 1990s. An illegal compilation set (about 7 CDs) entitled "The Black Album" collects most of Sinead's rarities and collaborations, but for fans who are more intent on owning legally released material, this album is an absolute must-have, as it sifts through her entire catalog and picks the 17 very best collaborations from Sineads' 20+ year career.

First the best. The universally beloved Eurovision song contest winner "All Kinds of Everything" (originally by Dana), is revisited by Sinead as a duet version. This song is sweet and poignant, and works very well as an album closer. Similarly uplifting is "Blood of Eden", a duet with Peter Gabriel, which remains as powerful and passionate as it did when first released (years and years ago, one might add!).

Equally stellar are "Guide Me God" by Sinead and Ghostland (this has always been one of the best Sinead tracks, though most people had no clue it even existed), and "Harbor" - a relatively new Sinead track, with Moby. "Release", on which Sinead duets with Afro Celt Sound Systems' Iarla O'Lionaird (on a side note, I highly recommend Iarla's amazing "The Seven Steps to Mercy" album) is a definite standout. And of course, there is "I'm Not your Baby", a cult fan favorite which sees Sinead pairing up with Bono.

Perhaps the most striking thing is that this album contains songs from the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s, and Sinead sounds as appealing and refreshing on almost every track. There is no `weak' track or filler here. What you do have, are three decades worth of some stunning music, and the inclusion of that Massive Attack track alone should make this an essential purchase. Sadly, the album wasn't given wide promotion back in the UK and Ireland, and is still virtually unknown within the United States. Pity, because alongwith "Universal Mother", I would rate this the essential O'Connor album. It really is that solid and good.

If you like this CD, you must definitely check out Sinead's back catalog (one of the best back catalogs of any alternative music performer in recent memory). "Universal Mother" (containing the lovely "John" and "In this Heart") is obviously her best album, but you might also want to get "Gospel Oak" (an underrated EP that is must-own) and her 2000 release, "Faith and Courage".

In 2007 Sinead released "Theology" - which became the first Sinead O'Connor album that I absolutely despised. No matter though, because we have enough O'Connor material to last us a while. "Collaborations" is a great blind purchase because honestly, its hard to imagine anyone not loving at least four to five tracks on this. Get it with high expectations, and prepare to be dazzled.

Five Stars.

I am so pleased that I took the chance and purchased this Sinead O'Connor CD. I had no idea what it was going to be like, but I am so happy that I did. The music on this CD, Collaborations, is wonderful, unique, and probably some of the best that she has performed ever.

I have not been a Sinead O'Connor fan until now. I have enjoyed some of her music in the past but for the most part have found her too dark and angry. In contrast Sinead shines wonderfully on this compilation of songs with some outstanding artists adding to the music. Yes, the Sinead you know is still here. The first songs on the CD are what you would expect. Dark, moody and a bit angry. Except she plays with some wonderful company that brings her music and lyrics new depth, and yes, warmth.

As I listen to each song I find my self smiling at how this is the best song on the CD only to find that the next is even better. By the time I get to "Wake up and Make Love to Me" the smile goes becomes a full face grin. Sinead goes from dark to sensual and makes this song truly sexy. Now, I ask you, when was the last time you thought of Sinead and sexy in the same thought?

The whole CD progesses in this fashion and the stunning array of artists is truly special. By the final song "All kinds of everything" you will have a totally different understanding of Sinead, her music and her sense of humor.

Now for the best part. If you are in to hi fi this CD is very well produced and engineered. This is worthy of your high end systems capabilities.

Truly enjoyable!!!!

I was a little nervous buying this CD because I wasn't sure I'd like it (I've never bought a Sinead O'Connor CD before). But this is a terrific collection of interesting songs, good lyrics, and beautiful vocals. Highly recommended.

This turned out to be a very good purchase indeed. I just listened for the first time to my copy of this 17-track CD that features the vocal talents of Ireland's Sinead O'Connor, and immediately liked the styles and the songs . Sinead is an excellent singer whose voice is highly expressive and emotive and can be loud or soft depending on the mood of the piece.

The magic tracks here for me are Guide Me God (with Ghostland) , Blood Of Eden (with Peter Gabriel)- her voice here is simply beautiful, Tears From The Moon (with Conjure One)- I also like this song a lot, Empire ( with techno act Bomb The Bass and wordsmith Benjamin Zephaniah)- this track is lyrically superb and rails against the injustices of the former British Empire , and Heroine ( with The Edge)- a song I have never heard until now but which was a very early collaboration dating from 1986 . I also liked It's All Good ( with Dublin folk singer Damien Dempsey) and Release ( with Afro Celt Sound System ) - in which some exotic sounds and instrumentation blend in well with a slow techno rhythm.

None of these songs was a really big radio hit, which makes it even more pleasurable to discover as it was all "new" stuff to me - each tune comes as a self-contained work and all have different production and span 17 years from 1986-2003.

I highly recommend this CD to those who enjoy the music of the great Sinead O'Connor ,and also to those who enjoy modern "worldbeat" collaborations

This can be short and oh so sweet - what an incredible compilation of some of the most beautiful, funkiest, and heartfelt songs I have ever heard. Wow, Bomb The Bass & Sinead doing Empire, Afro Celt Sound System, Jah Wobble and 'Visions Of You'. As other reviewers have stated, many of these groups I had yet to hear of, hold the obvious: Peter Gabriel & U2.
Few things are certain in life, but, if you even think you respect Sinead's talents and/or ideology, this will absolutely make your day!

Sinead O'Connor has a new CD out. It's titled Collaborations and it's truly awesome. Fans of Sinead who liked her in the late 80's and early 90's will appreciate this CD because it seems like Sinead channeled some of her old style on this CD. The CD opens up with the incredible song "Special Cases" which features Massive Attack. This is a great song that would be perfect for a film soundtrack. This song is followed up by "1000 Mirrors" which features the Asian Dub Foundation. This is a bass driven song with a Middle Eastern feel to it. "Empire" featuring Bomb The Bass and Benjamin Zephaniah is another enchanting song. "Guide Me God," is another melodic awesome song. I just can't say enough good things about this CD. The song "Wake Up and Make Love To Me," which features The Blockheads has a reggae feel to it. "Tears From The Moon," featuring Conjure Moon is another really good song.

I'm sure alot of people really want to know about the big name collabos on Collaborations. Sinead teams up with fellow Irish artists U2 on the song "I'm Not Your Baby." This is such a good song and Sinead and Bono's voices sound really good when they sing together. He is singing louder and Sineadsings in a lower voice. Sinead and Moby team up for "Harbour," and Sinned and Peter Gabriel team up for "Blood of Eden." "Blood of Eden" is a really great song.

I found Sinead O'Conner Collaborations a pleasant surprise. It's a very musical album. It's so musical in many ways it reminded me of Moby's Play Cd because every song sounds so incredible musically.