Americana Music Reviews

Sinead O'Connor
Sean Nos Nua
Vanguard Records
by Samuel L. Wereb

When I first heard Sinead O'Connor some twelve years ago, I thought I'd heard an angel sing. An extremely pissed-off angel, to be sure, but one of Heaven's choir nonetheless. I still don't think God has ever made a more beautiful voice than hers, and I'm perfectly willing to kick your ass if you say differently.

It would've been summer 1990, in fact, and somehow I had two twenties to rub together at the same time. I had just heard THE SONG on the radio, drove down to the best record store in Columbus, OH and plunked down one of my precious twenties and asked for a copy of I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The purple-haired kid working the counter was evidently a lot brighter than he looked, and had enough business acumen to sell me a used copy of The Lion and the Cobra along with it. I left with change, picked up a twelve-pack of the cheapest Irish beer in stock, and headed back to my old German Village apartment and my new Italian girlfriend. I was never more happy to be half-Irish in my life.

The girl was beautiful and I was utterly smitten by her and those records. They were monumental alternative music collections. But she turned out to be almost as mean and emotionally whacked as Sinead, herself, and when she left she took my whole record collection with her. (I still want those back, damn you.) Thankfully, I've stumbled across nicer girls since, but the British Army would have to catch me smuggling a crate of grenades into Parliament before I would say I've heard any better alt-pop records than those since.

Well, I saw that girl again about a year ago. Her beauty has faded since the last time I saw her, and she was a lot nicer to me than she was before, too. I've lost a lot of hair in the meantime, but I've made a lot more money too and I'm sure that helped. Still all I could think of at the time was, "Why was I ever so crazy about you?"

I have Sinead's new record, Sean Nos Nua, here in my house, and we finally meet again. I'm thinking the same thing now. Why was ever I so crazy about you? I got my newer copies out and listened to them again, and I remember.

You were spectacularly original then. You had the top-selling record in dozens of countries, simultaneously, and you had earned it. You sang like you were a messenger from God. The best songs on The Lion and the Cobra and I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got were authentic genius. You inspired many artists I know. Your music was wonderful, and it meant something to people.

When I was served with divorce papers, I went out and killed a bottle of Jameson's and got kicked out of the rattiest hole in town for fighting over the jukebox and playing "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" over and over.

Forget the Pope business, which you were apparently in the right about anyway. And forget all the albums you just phoned-in in between. Never mind the short hair, the long hair, the short hair again and even that retirement from the music business and becoming a female "priest." I was working and raising a family in those days, and didn't have time to pay attention.

What happened to you? Did the booing hurt you that much? Did the talk-radio backlash scare you that much? Did it break your heart to find the Irish Cause was merely a bunch of communists who used you as badly as the music business did? Is it Prozac that took the fire out of your voice, as it did the spark from my old girlfriend's eyes? Or did you just give up? Say it ain't so.

What is the purpose of this new record? "Jackie" and "Drink Before the War" are better Irish songs than these. And you wrote them. I have heard all kinds of bootleg and imported recordings of you, too. What about "Irish Ways and Irish Laws?"

So what I have here is the work of a contented, well-adjusted and non-controversial Sinead O'Connor? Well, I hate this version. Sure, I want you to be happy. But I want to hear you sing your own songs, the way you used to. And I want you to write new ones, and invest some emotion into them.

I have a dozen CDs sitting by waiting to be reviewed. They're all independent musicians; that is, they are very talented, utterly broke and completely unknown. You were once the greatest independent musician in the world. You, of all people, know what they are going through.

This record is not welcome now. It is completely unacceptable, especially from you.

For those readers who are interested in a review, Sean Nos Nua is supposed to be Irish, meaning "New Old Style." It is recorded by and with some of the biggest Traditional Irish music heavyweights, most notably Christy Moore. Sinead O'Connor can still sing better than almost anyone out there and proves it here.

O'Connor sings carefully and with a great deal of discipline and dignity on this record. They are very difficult songs to sing and she honors them with her superb vocals. None is very distinguishable from the others, but they are all interesting in a petty, nostalgic way. The musicianship is world-class, and her singing absolutely beautiful. From anyone else, I would consider this to be one hell of a good record. Maybe if it came from one of her imitators, such as Dolores O'Riordan, I might have been impressed with it. But, I have heard her at her very best and refuse to accept this. This is a pale reflection of former grace.

Traditional Irish and traditional country music are cousins. Musicologists have proven that a large part of American country music stems directly from old Irish music introduced by the Irish immigrants who came here just before our own Civil War, and labored on the railroads afterwards. The melody for "The Streets Of Laredo" comes from an old Irish song and is a good examplar. O'Connor pays tribute to these early immigrants in "Paddy's Lament." She does a lot of other classic Irish songs here exceedingly well. That's to be expected. She's always been one of the best singers in the world, but this just isn't the same.

Sean Nos Nua is purported to be a step in a new direction for Sinead O'Connor. What's next, a Christmas album?

To me, it is like watching Troy Aikman broadcasting a Cowboys' game on Thanksgiving Day. It just isn't the same.

Rockzillaworld is a hard-core music lovers' site. If you just want some nice background music for next March 17th, you might enjoy this. If you love Traditional Irish music and want to hear it sung by one of the best female vocalists in the world, you will definitely like this.

If you loved the original Sinead O'Connor, you won't.

*www.vanguardrecords.com

 
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