Theology

Sinead O'Connor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 26, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B000P6R8KE
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Something Beautiful [Dublin Sessions]

2. We People Who Are Darker Than Blue [Dublin Sessions]

3. Out of the Depths [Dublin Sessions]

4. Dark I Am Yet Lovely [Dublin Sessions]

5. If You Had a Vineyard [Dublin Sessions]

6. Watcher of Men [Dublin Sessions]

7. 33 [Dublin Sessions]

8. The Glory of Jah [Dublin Sessions]

9. Whomsoever Dwells [Dublin Sessions]

10. Rivers of Babylon [Dublin Sessions]

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Something Beautiful [London Sessions]

2. We People Who Are Darker Than Blue [London Sessions]

3. Out of the Depths [London Sessions]

4. 33 [London Sessions]

5. Dark I Am Yet Lovely [London Sessions]

6. I Don't Know How to Love Him [London Sessions]

7. If You Had a Vineyard [London Sessions]

8. The Glory of Jah [London Sessions]

9. Watcher of Men [London Sessions]

10. Whomsoever Dwells [London Sessions]

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The uncompromising Irish artist, spiritualist, and provocateur gives a twist to the critical truism that double albums would generally be stronger if edited into a single disc. With what she terms her "attempt to create a place of peace in a time of war," Sinéad O'Connor consciously risks charges of not merely padding but redundancy, as the two discs feature practically the same set of material recorded in different settings. The "Dublin Sessions" are more minimal and acoustic, and the "London Sessions" incorporate full-band arrangements including harp, strings, horns, and percussion. Finding dual inspiration in Jerusalem and Jamaica, the material proves all the more revelatory in the contrasting settings, as the minimalist approach underscores vocal intimacy while the band arrangements build to majestic intensity. The opening "Jeremiah (Something Beautiful)" ranks with O'Connor's loveliest music to date, with "Job (Watcher of Men)" among her most tormented. The cover(s) of Curtis Mayfield's "We Are People Who Are Darker than Blue" fits perfectly, though a misguided attempt at "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (from Jesus Christ Superstar, mercifully featured only on the second disc) proves that some musical miracles are beyond even Sinéad's power. The second disc sounds more like pop; the first disc sounds more like prayer. --Don McLeese

Product Description

Sinead O'Connor sings from the heart and inspires the soul. Theology marks the first new material from Sinead since 2000's Faith And Courage - nine songs supplemented by three stunning reinterpretations: Curtis Mayfield's 'We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue', the reggae standard 'Rivers of Babylon' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's classic 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' from Jesus Christ Superstar. This unique two CD collection offers very different versions of these songs, recorded in separate locations. The Dublin Sessions CD features haunting, intimate, acoustically-based versions. The London Sessions CD is composed of more contemporary pop-rock arrangements. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sinead O'Connor shares her fabulous voice with us...., June 26, 2007

By 

Susan Millerwade "respiteseeker" (vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Theology (Audio CD)

Sinead's new cd,"Theology" is a real treat for her loving fans who have been watching a countdown to the day of this release.The first thing a person needs to know about Sinead is that she does what she considers valuable.Since she often invests her own money into her projects,she is able to choose the material that is meaningful to her,and to sing other arist's songs as she wishes.Sinead is known world-wide for her disdain for the music industry,and she works hard to keep their commercially-minded tentacles off her.
I personally love this new direction,which is,after all,not new.Sinead is also known for her spirituality and interest in world religions.Not being a religious person,I take what I need and leave the rest,but others may find all of it personally useful and moving.The music can reach anyone who can listen.There are people in little villages in Peru who will tell you stories of how Sinead's music has helped them through hard times,and given much joy.Don't be afraid of the title of this cd.
"Vineyard" is yet another of Sinead's songs that makes your hair stand up-it reaches deep inside the careful and respectful listener."Something Beautiful" is something indeed very beautiful.
I don't see a negative difference between the Sinead of today and the young Sinead with the voice of an angel.She's 40 now,with 4 children,and the self-assurance that age hopefully brings us all.Of course she's different.Viva la difference!
Potential buyers should be aware that some reviewers are suspected of not even listening to the cd before writing.Savvy readers can tell.
Sinead O'Connor still has the power,she still has the genius,she still has the guts.Her core group of fans will never leave her,but this new cd is not inaccessible to anyone.Only buy this if you love the best in music.But be aware-this is not background music.It insists that you listen and be quiet while you do,and it's worth it.She still shines on so brightly.5 stars,without a doubt.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To every season, June 27, 2007

By 

J. Marsh "Music Devotee" (Philly, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Theology (Audio CD)

I have been a fan forever and have taken a lot of inspiration from Sinead. Here in a time of world craziness she brings us a release of prayers. Beautiful, soft, pleading and very much needed. I enjoyed listening to the London sessions first, then revisiting the Dublin sessions to strip the songs back down. To me, it is truly two different CDs.

72 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, I Was Wrong: This Album is Truly Awful, June 26, 2007

By 

JordanJasper - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Theology (Audio CD)

Confession: as an ardent fan of O'Connor's musical genius since her international breakthrough in 1987 with "The Lion & the Cobra," each successive release over the years has been highly anticipated, no matter what media battles and so-called controversies the artist herself may have been fighting (or instigating) at any given time.

Indeed, the fact that O'Connor was able to maintain a global fan-base of millions over a 20-year period has been amazing to note, given her stated disdain for being a pop-star and her attempts (whether conscious or not) to sabotage her great fame. But there are good reasons why she retained a fiercely loyal following, sold 20 million albums, and enjoyed the deep respect of her peers for two decades.

Namely, her brilliant, otherworldly voice and emotive excellence has been a constant "thread" throughout virtually all of her many endeavors. Her fusion of hip-hop, Celtic, reggae, trip-hop, and rock influences (via her songwriting and arranging) was the pioneering icing on the cake. Whether she was singing about universal motherhood or black boys on mopeds, O'Connor transcended her public controversies in the studio and used That Voice and That Vision to make truly alternative records on her own and with dozens of high-profile collaborators. O'Connor has earned her mythic rock status.

But not with this album.

I bought "Theology" with the usual anticipation on the day it was released. What was not to anticipate? O'Connor singing spiritual music! Excellent. Writing her own songs again! Ideal. DOUBLE album! Woo-hoo. I played it and forced myself to like it, but after two weeks (and then a last, third week of hope), it was--shockingly!--booted out of my mp3 devices, home system, etc.

The album is really bad, and there are reasons for its badness that many O'Connor fans should have seen coming, and which merit explanations.

For one thing, O'Connor has veered away from any sort of healthy label support in the past 6 years. This is not necessarily a bad thing; O'Connor's long-term, steady success has enabled her to fund her own recordings. To escape the demands of crap-pop major labels is legit--she claimed that such labels would never allow her to make the music she really wants to make.

But that claim has been ingenuous. Many sturdy, semi-major labels (Nonesuch, Nettwerk, etc.) would likely be thrilled not only to boast O'Connor on their rosters, but offer her the much-needed support and direction that comes from a worthy production team, along with marketing strategies that are calibrated for her specific needs and audience.

O'Connor is to be admired for recording acclaimed albums of grooved-out Celtic trads and die-hard reggae roots tunes all on her very own since 2002. She's even more to be admired for attaching herself (over 20 years, but most recently) to excellent producers and collaborators like Moby, Massive Attack, Rhys Fulber (of Conjure One), Daniel Lanois, and DJs Tiesto, Creamer & K, Push, etc. These ventures, in particular, have resulted in some of her most widely appreciated work: the "Troy" and "Tears from the Moon" remixes were international hits for O'Connor, introducing the diva to new fans, as was her successful Massive Attack venture.

But these instances of strength-of-production and direction have only underscored a disturbing trend apparent in her two most recent solo albums, inlcuding "Theology": O'Connor's vocal instrument has been severely damaged by cigarette-smoking and her judgment in songwriting and self-production has hit a frightful skid.

Her 2005 reggae album (Throw Down Your Arms) was redeemed by a hard-core adherence and obvious devotion to good spiritual roots songs produced (perfectly) by legends Sly & Robbie. But the O'Connor voice was unsettlingly awry. In one UK interview about the making of the album, O'Connor herself joked ominously about how her chain-smoking might affect her sessions, but she kept on chain-smoking (among other "smokings"), all the same.

It's one thing for a singer to hit a speed-bump with lame material, but quite another for a singer whose entire artistic calling-card has been one of the most pure, pristine, ethereal voices in modern music to have such cavalier disregard for (and indeed to outright destroy) her greatest musical gift. In O'Connor's case, this calls her very artistic integrity into question: how are her listeners to believe in such serious music when the singer herself apparently no longer believes (or cares) about the value and basic health of her own voice--the voice that communicates her creativity?

This brings us (yes, at last) to the "Theology" mess. This ill-conceived album epitomizes the ruination of everything brilliant that she once was, and it hints at what precious little may remain of O'Connor as a top-flight musical artist.

To begin, O'Connor funded the album herself (which is lovely, but if one of her caliber is going to do so, why not do it properly?). Her stated goal was delineate (for herself? for her audience? for the world?) her own view of spirituality, which usually masquerades as 'theology' in the wider world. To this end, she did not really "write" brand new songs, as promoters for this record stated. She did not offer something new or innovative in terms of recording a personal spiritual document that might have accessibility and focus for a wide spectrum of listeners, like similar works in the past by peers like Dylan, Cash, and Morrison.

Instead, O'Connor lazily cobbled together verses cribbed from some of the more generic, benign portions of the Old Testament Psalms and set them to lackluster melodies, pedestrian arrangements, and (in the case of Disc 2, "London Sessions") to cheap and amateurish beats and production values. Worse, her voice is (comparative to her former heights) atrocious on virtually every track.

The evidence of cigarette-damage is so pronounced that one can hear her missing beats for failure to breathe in time, she is huffing and puffing through songs, and utilizing shameless phrasing "tricks" to mask even minor stylisms she once owned but which are now wholly inadequate. Most glaring of all, O'Connor's bell-clear alto, with all of its rich, keening, archangelic effect, has been obliterated. She is singing exlcusively here in a lower register, which is bracing, and she is singing poorly.

Adding insult to injury, O'Connor has recorded most of the same songs on this unfortunate album twice. Disc One, the "Dublin Side," features O'Connor rasping and croaking with too much reverb (again to mask the ruined larynx), her own ridiculously out-of-tune guitar, and the solid guitar accompaniment of Steve Cooney to mask O'Connor's deficiencies.

The songs here have a reverent, contemplative impact, but they are unremarkable melodically and in terms of structure. The Old Testament words co-opted are obviously worthy, but they do not offer any unique personal "theology"--they offer a specifically Old Testament patriarchal ancient Jewish theology. Which would be fine, if O'Connor had called the album "Old Testament Patriarchal Jewish Theology" and not tried to sell this record in interviews and marketing as her own unique spiritual vision.

The songs are virtually all two-chord affairs, giving the effect of same-sounding dirges and portending the sad possibility that O'Connor was too lazy to get her old guitar skills back up-to-speed to add dimension or some melodic diversity to her Psalm interpretations. She may have been able to interject more actual "writing" of her own into the mix, had she done so.

On the Dublin Disc, a song like "Something Beautiful" tries to rise above the mediocrity, but the whole tune is a wandering mess that can't seem to decide whether it's a plaintive hymn justifying a personal moment of bookstore Bible-shoplifting...or a jarringly sudden and intrusive treatise on how God views the general scourge of War and feels neglected by the global community, replete with imagery of jewel-bedecked brides and wounded masses. The themes, again, seem cobbled and incongruous, making what is otherwise a sweet (but ho-hum) lullaby into a hackneyed ramble. The Disc 2 "full band" version of this song is a miasma of awful mixing, mastering, and arranging--with O'Connor's vocals also poorly mixed and processed to the nth degree of shrill. A bizarre and disatrous take on an already iffy song.

Her Dublin Side version of Curtis Mayfield's "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" fares a little better because it's (at last!) a well-written song and O'Connor gives it an understated delivery that minimizes the breathlessness and cigarette-squawk evident on other tracks. Even so, the track bores on Disc 1 because it demands an inherently funkier treatment, and, in fact, gets one on Disc 2, which makes its rendition on Disc 1 ultimately obsolete and pointless.

O'Connor seeks to cram the bulk of her personal "theological insight" into the song "Out of the Depths," wherein she harps on (again, as in the past) that she wants to save God from religion and insitutional rules. All well and good, but the only people who are going to be (and have proven to be) attracted to this record in the first place are die-hard O'Connor fans, and they are all too familiar with this pet-obsession of the singer, no matter how noble it may be.

As it is, if O'Connor found new metaphors and more creative melodies in which to deliver this message, it might work. But "Out of the Depths" plods along with O'Connor again unforgivably out of breath, wobbling off her own bad-strumming, and hoarse as she offers a bland dirge that might just as well be sung by a stoned amateur soloist at some folk-Mass. The Disc 2... Read more ›