I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Sinead O'Connor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 28, 1990)
• Original Release Date: March 20, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000003JB7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,756 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Feel So Different

2. I Am Stretched On Your Grave

3. Three Babies

4. The Emporer's New Clothes

5. Black Boys On Mopeds

6. Nothing Compares 2 U

7. Jump In The River

8. You Cause As Much Sorrow

9. The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance

10. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before Sinead O'Connor became conservative America's most reviled musician when she ripped up a picture of the Pope on TV and refused to perform live at a New Jersey venue following "The Star Spangled Banner," she vocally supported the IRA at home in Ireland and generally roused the rabble. Indeed, she's one female pop star who's truly earned her army boots. Though her once meteoric musical career has suffered due to her outspokenness, the powerful voice and presence found on her second album is beyond reproach. Best known as the source of O'Connor's breakthrough cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," this is a moving, intensely passionate work full of dark beauty and longing, constructed with a fierce independence and a taste for the unique. This undeniably pop album (albeit with modern-rock and folk elements) has more than held up through the years. --Lorry Fleming

Product Description

CD

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "...That All I'd Need Was Inside Me" December 26, 2003

By Samhot

Format:Audio CD

Through all of the controversy and scorn she's endured for her beliefs and public behaviour, Sinead O'Connor remains a formidable talent, and in the end, her music should always be the focal point. Her 1990 release _I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got_ was her biggest breakthrough, and what's astonishing is how well it holds up nearly a decade and a half since it's release.

Sinead also possessed one of the most powerful and moving voices in all of rock music: beautiful and ethereal, and at other times, frightening and disturbing. This album is a perfect showcase for that, as well as her most introspective, soul-searching lyrics. These lyrics mostly deal with Sinead's relationships, failed and/or unfailed, her strength to preservere through hardships, and ultimate resolution.

"Feel So Different" opens up with a spiritual soliloquy before turning into a slow, moody orchestral ballad. Sinead's vocals slowly and steadily progress from hushed and calm, to climactic cathartic releases. The strings, which steadily increase in dynamics during these vocal progressions, add a sense of drama to the whole thing. The orchestral arrangements in general are lovely and elegant.

"I Am Stretched On Your Grave" is mostly a Frank O'Connor poem set to music, but arranged by Sinead herself. A progressive mix of exotic, Gaelicesque vocal musings with a funky, hip-hop drum beat, along with a steady, one-two note bassline sandwiched inbetween. Later in the song, there are some violin scrapes which add an extra dose of atmosphere.

"Three Babies" is an acoustic-folk track with subtle use of orchestration. On here, particularly, Sinead serves up her chameleonic vocal ability - ranging from hushed voicings, to near-possessed, upper register wailings, to disturbing, echo-filled, cathartic yellings, so to speak. Sinead herself strums the acoustic in quite an introspective manner. A very beautiful track.

"The Emperor's New Clothes" has a wonderful melody drenched in it's bouncy rhythm. The lyrics are intensively open and confessional, showcasing Sinead's defiant and determined nature when facing odds. She also mentions her children, and the effects of being pregnant in a few of the tracks here. These lyrics here seem written to a former lover, exhibiting reflection, but not necessarily regret, and the sense of moving on, with, or without the protagonist's presence.

"Black Boys on Mopeds" was Sinead's take on British policemen chasing down an African-American who they suspected of a crime he didn't commit, and was killed during the chase. Sinead offers up some scathing lyrics on Margaret Thatcher, and England in general. The music is low-key and melodic, and in particular, the melody and Sinead's smooth, yet grave and powerful way in delivering the vocal is painfully affecting.

"Nothing Compares 2 U" is the big hit of the album, of course. Though written by Prince, it was Sinead's version of the song which became popular. Though I liked this song when it first came out, it wasn't until a few years ago that I really began to love and appreciate it's beauty very deeply. The lush, achingly beautiful strings and Sinead's haunting voice blend nicely to create this autumnal and monumental beauty. Stands the test of time.

"Jump In The River" is a hard-driving rocker, and probably the edgiest track on this otherwise, mostly low-key album. The lyrics on here obviously deal with one of Sinead's love relationships, and the lyrics are quite open. Sinead is credited as playing the crunching electric guitar parts.

"You Cause As Much Sorrow" contrasts low-key ambience with more pronounced acoustic strumming. Whispery vocals give way to more pronounced vocal atmospherics. A mostly low-key track, Sinead tells a certain protagonist, as well as her audience, that she's really a sweet, gentle and caring soul underneath her apparent brash exterior.

"The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" is a slow, absorbing, hushed number with Sinead exhibiting a naked vocal performance alongside her acoustic guitar. This song, like others on here, deals with a relationship, and as the title of this track suggests, it's based on a relationship that has ended. The lyrics, Sinead's emotive vocals, and the smooth, low-key atmosphere make this song very poignant, and almost painful to listen to at times. By the track's end, it becomes more upbeat, as if the pained atmosphere of the first half -- and in Sinead's soul -- has disappeared, and Sinead has found the strength to heal herself.

The title track is an a capella soliloquy, and is extremely affecting, especially in some of the lyrics addressed. Very personal, spiritual and forward-looking, it's basically Sinead saying she doesn't know exactly what lies ahead for her, but whatever it may be, she's willing to face it.

An excellent album from an excellent artist. This is an album that will age very well. It's held up nicely for the past decade plus, and will only continue to do so in the future. Introspective, intelligent and moving, this album is recommended to all with a taste for human emotion expressed frankly and unflinchingly.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Overdue Re-Master April 22, 2009

By JordanJasper

Format:Audio CD

People tend to forget that O'Connor truly became a star in 1987, when her breathtakingly feral debut album, 'The Lion and the Cobra,' went platinum, astonished critics, garnered a Grammy nomination, and thrilled modern rock fans and college kids on both sides of the Atlantic. The fact that people forget she had already scored big is all the more testament to the power of her 1990 follow-up, 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.' Truly one of the most acclaimed albums of the 1990's, this Grammy-winning set deservedly rocketed O'Connor from sensation to global superstar. Though much of that success is due to her phenomenal and definitive cover of the Prince-penned 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and the stark accompanying video, it was really the impact of the entire album--O'Connor as superb singer-songwriter--that won her legions of fans and paved the way for the coming slew of angst-ridden girl-power pop/rockers. Every one of this album's originals has been remastered and the sound is a major improvement upon the prior mix. O'Connor is even more crytsalline, if that's possible. All her classics shine--"Emperor's New Clothes," "Three Babies," "Black Boys on Mopeds," "Last Day of Our Acquaintance" and, naturally, her monster-hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U." Though the bonus disc has excellent extras (esp. a haunting Daniel Lanois-produced version of 'Night Nurse'), it's the long overdue remastering of this groundbreaking classic pop/rock album that makes this purchase mandatory. Though O'Connor derailed subsequently for a variety of reasons, few artists since have been able to come close to the perfection of this set.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Jump in the river and buy this! January 14, 2000

By valentine brown

Format:Audio CD

Sinead O'Connor burst onto the music scene in the last months of 1987.As an artist, she seemed fully formed.An arresting look, a voice from a siren and some of the most interesting and lyrical songs ever heard.An opiniated artist who never backed down from controversy,she seemed too good to be true-then came her second album! A breathtaking,ambitious and personal album,I'm amazed it sold so many copies in an era of Paula Abdul and Vanilla Ice. I can't begin to describe the beauty and emotion of this album.Every track is a stunner! The album opens with a prayer for understanding and wisdom with 'Feels so different'and ends,with her lone voice,singing of her own affirmation and strength.'Three Babies' and 'Black Boys on Mopeds' are political songs that are so personal and sung with such heartbreak even Margret Thatcher must have been in tears.Sinead's power of interpretation,in covering a Prince song and the traditional 'I am stretched on your grave',is so inventive it puts the original versions to shame. it's hard to believe it's been ten years since this album came out.The lyrics and arrangements are as fresh and relevant today as they were then.A timeless masterpiece and easily one of the top ten albums of the decade.Thank you Sinead, for enriching my life with this album.