Amazon.com: To quote her fellow Irishman, poet William Butler Yeats, when Sinead O'Connor's debut, The Lion and the Cobra, was released, a terrible beauty was born. O'Connor has a haunting voice as dark as the Irish bogs, and her unwavering delivery simultaneously inflames and chills. She sings in two ranges: her soprano ("Never Get Old," "Jackie") is a nearly monastic chant that's angular and breathy like a pan flute or a tin whistle, while her alto, reigning in "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" and "Mandinka," is a suspended, forceful spoken-word tone that never quite yells. By switching back and forth between these two vocal modes, she yanks the listener into her turmoil, giving you no choice but to empathize. She was only 20 years old during this recording, and her difficult relationships with lovers, motherhood, her parents, and the Catholic Church were traumatic and fresh. But rather than mellow with maturity, she gained notoriety with publicly unfavorable political antics that would accompany and often overshadow her equally astounding follow-up, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. --Beth Bessmer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Has it been over twenty years already?
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 ... Read More
Rating: - The Lion and the Cobra by Sinead O Connor
This is arguably one of the best albums ever made.The passion in this woman's voice has never been equalled. The Passion she evokes with her magnificent voice is unbelievable and moving.
It is a ... Read More
Rating: - This One's for the Books!
I still have no idea why i had purchased the Lion and the Cobra, all i knew about Sinead O'Connor back then was that she had been appearently banned from the face of the earth after that infamous incident ... Read More
Rating: - Byrd's Greatest Hits
I finally got the correct CD for the Byrds. Be careful--somehow there has been a problem with the UPC code on this CD crossing over to a Sinead O'Connor CD. Verify with the seller that you are definitely getting ... Read More
Rating: - This album changed me
I was 14 when I first heard this album. I had never experienced anything like it before. Her voice captivated me, I couldnt listen to it enough. I still listen to it all the time . I know that Sinead is misunderstood, ... Read More
- Byrd's Greatest Hits