Customer Reviews

Lion & The Cobra

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This is one of the most amazing debut albums by any artist of any genre. O'Connor is a incredible vocalist and songwriter. Unfortunately she also possesses a self destructive streak not seen in popular music in a long time. Never before have I seen an artist of her talent involved in such career busting moments. If all you know of her is her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" you need to dig a little deeper and get this one. She covers a lot of ground, from stark, folkish ballads to hip-hop and electronic songs to straight ahead punchy rockers. My wish is that people could look past the headlines, the scandals, the retirements, the coming in and out of the closet, etc etc to give this album the attention it deserves. It is amazingly eclectic and full of wonderful songs.

About once every decade a woman comes along who changes my perspective of women in popular music and, for that matter, my perspective of music. In 1977 it was Kate Bush with The Kick Inside, and in 1987 it was Sinead O'Connor with The Lion And The Cobra. Forget the shaved head and combat boots. I'm not talking about fashion, I'm talking about uncompromised passion.

Every song on The Lion And The Cobra is underlined with naked anger, fear and despair. I've tried to imagine living in a country (Ireland) which has had an ongoing War of Independence for the past century. A country where a walk to the bakery on Sunday morning for bread may be the last. Sinead takes you through the violent streets of Belfast (Jerusalem, Drink Before The War). She also introduces the listener to the stark despair of 'Jackie' and `Troy.'

The Lion And The Cobra is potent - lyrically and musically. If your tastes are bent towards `entertainment,' may I suggest exploring the Grammy winners. However, if you're prepared to lock yourself inside the cage with the lion and the cobra, this CD is for you.

This is the CD that still blows me away. Say what you will about Sinead O'Connor and her political stunts, but you can't deny this is one hell of an album. O'Connor has a clear chilled voice that can emote an anthemic growl one minute and pain and hurt the next. She can vilify and accuse a lover (the devastating "Troy"), while still conveying hurt and sadness at the same time. The Lion and the Cobra winds itself around themes of Irish Myth and lore, Catholicism, soured relationships and O'Connor's acute sense of political awareness. Such weighty stuff might bog down an album, and at times it does a feel a little heavy and burdensome. But for the most part Cobra succeeds because the music is such a heady mix of garage rock, new wave, late 80's club and Punk. It may feel like O'Connor is getting on her soapbox, but you don't give a damn because she's testifying!

I bought this album (in record form!) when it first came out- I think I was 15 or 16. I had heard nothing off it yet and was just going on my rarely tapped album instinct. Over 15 years later, it is still one of the best whim purchases I've ever made (and now I have it on CD) and still one of my favorite albums. Sinead's voice is one of the most powerful, emotionally riveting and wrenching sounds I have ever heard and the combination of her music and lyrics is often overwhelming. Remember, she was just a kid when this album came out. Her follow up albums have, unfortunately, failed to live up to her debut. "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" is a great album and beautiful on its own, but "The Lion and the Cobra" stands on its own.

and just LISTEN to this album. I first bought it back in the late 80's when it came out and I think it stayed on my turntable for a solid year. "Troy" is the one that hooked me the most -- the perfect soundtrack for a doomed love affair. Sinead is one of the few rockers who uses dynamics effectively...beginning with her ethereal, gorgeously untrained soprano and by the end, when she's been betrayed, escalating into a truly amazing banshee wail that conveys all the pain, anger and rejection in the world.

I haven't liked any of her subsequent efforts nearly as much. Frankly, I don't think she will ever be able to top "The Lion and The Cobra." It's even more amazing when you think that she was only 19 when she made it.

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.

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.

Ok,an teenage gay James bought this straight away after hearing 'Mandinka' just once. Not long after I saw Sinead O' Connor on 'Top of the Pops' and was blown away by her presence and appearance. I read all I could in the music presses and was really impressed when I found out that originally she had long, lustrous, hair and her agent or whoever wanted to market her in that way - appearance was everything; and so she promptly shaved it all off. Essentially she was going to get far on her musical ability or not at all. So you can imagine how important she was to a young man developing his own 'un-conventional' identity.

Ok, the prelude is over ....... GASP! The tracks on the album were at the time and indeed still are uniquely different. I love the sampling with Gaelic on 'Never Get Old' as well as the beautiful lyrics - "young man in a quiet place". 'Jerusalem' and 'Jackie' are fantastic for the vocals alone and 'Troy' is my all time favourite 'angry breaking up with someone' tune.

Yeah, the album is nearly twenty years old, but yet to be equalled. Not many men like Sinead O' Connor, and neither seemingly do many women and strangely enough for the same reasons. Few people it seems like a woman who stands up for herself and believes in what she does. Ok, so I'm biased, but try it out before you disregard it out of hand.

During the mid to late eighties I was fortunate enough to have one of my dream jobs when I worked in a record store. For that brief moment in my life I was exposed to so much music and a fair amount of it has stayed with me over the decades since that idyllic period. Such is the case with The Lion and the Cobra from Sinead O'Connor. The vocal range of this gifted singer jumps out at you right away on the haunting opening track Jackie. This album is a hypnotic collection of gothic intensity, sultry acoustic strumming, pulsing beats, and angelic whispers of raw emotion.
I will admit to not following much of her career after this album beyond the inescapable Prince cover and her highly publicized political statements but I can testify that this album is a timeless and powerful collection of passionate, beautiful, and melodic songs. There aren't that many albums where you love every song and which comes to a close far too quickly. That's what you get here.

There are albums that can be reviewed casually, and then there's that less-than-one-percent or so that move and scare you so much that you're almost afraid to say anything. (Or maybe that's just me.)

To this day, this is one of those albums for me. As with Tori Amos's "Little Earthquakes" many years later, I was not entirely prepared for this particular debut. It simply showed up and said, "Will you be my friend, or would you prefer to take a hike?" The choice was not difficult.

I wrote in my review of her second album that I consider it even better than the first, and that's true, and the only problem with that argument is that the second album doesn't contain "Jackie" or "Mandinka" or the breathtaking "Troy." This one does.