So Far...The Best of Sinead O'Connor 
Artist: Sinead O'Connor 
Label: Chrysalis Records, Inc. (1997) 

Derogatory remarks about the Pope and the Catholic Church certainly don't help, and embracing goddess-worship is right out.  Not to mention a penchant for creating the wrong kind of controversy with her tawdry love life and distressing past.  Sinead O'Connor is an easy target for disapproval by Christians; she is, apparently, no friend of ours.  Easy to dismiss, perhaps, but to our loss and embarrassment.  Especially when you consider many of the causes she has wholeheartedly supported and the deeply personal nature of her confessional songwriting.  She is lovingly devoted to her family, strident about her concern for children, tireless in her support of the Kurdish refugees and other disenfranchised peoples, and fervent in her revere of her native Ireland.  Sinead is an artist that feels deeply, and shares those feelings with great, unmatched gusto.  Misguided sometimes, and certainly outspoken, yet often worthy of commendation.  It's no surprise she is considered by many to be both one of the most provocative and powerful artists of the last decade.  So Far...The Best of Sinead O'Connor is plentiful proof.   
   
This 78 minute collection features 15 cuts ranging from the hugely successful Prince cover, "Nothing Compares 2 U," to her odd ode to Frank Sinatra, "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home," to her early dance track "I Want Your (Hands on Me)."  Plus there are alternative radio staples such as "Just Like You Said It Would Be" and "Fire in Babylon," and top-40 hits like "The Emperor's New Clothes."  As an added bonus (but wait, there's more!), you also get rarer gems like "Heroine" (which she sang with U2 sans Bono on The Edge's soundtrack for The Captive), "You've Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" (another soundtrack goodie culled from In the Name of the Father, which was penned in part by Bono to make up for his absence in the previous track), and "Empire" with Sinead's friends Bomb the Bass. 

All her hits and best songs are stacked here in a CD that takes the full advantage of the space limits.  The collection does not adhere to a mere chronologically ordered recitation of her songwork.  Instead, the songs have been lovingly placed in a random order that makes this nearly an album in its own right rather than just a retelling of her story.  This also results in an album with a great pace and plenty of surprises...and no dull moments. Most of these tunes originate with her first two most successful albums, The Lion & The Cobra and I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, both offering four selections.  Her later albums, Am I Not Your Girl? (made up of mostly old show tunes) and Universal Mother, each provide a pair.  Gospel Oak is not represented, in accordance with her promise that those songs would not appear anywhere else.  Additional songs that would have made agreeable additions include "Jerusalem," "Why Don't You Do Right?" and her hip-hop foray, "Famine," which is her most controversial song to date, dispelling the events of Black 47.  Regardless, it's a comprehensive retrospective for the aficionado or, as the case may be, a worthy introduction for the neophyte.   
   
In an unofficial poll, I asked several people what they liked about Sinead's music, or what first came to mind when they thought of her.  Naturally, most people commented on her formerly shorn crown. But moving deeper I heard remarks about how spunky, outspoken, and controversial she is, as well as compliments about her emotional energy and diverse yet individual style. Sinead has certainly run the gamut of expression from intense anger to nearly unspeakable sorrow in styles ranging from rap to pop to alternative ditties, so that a contemporized version of an Irish folk standard like "I am Stretched on Your Grave" is not out of place next to a love song like "John I Love You" or an upbeat celebration like "Mandinka."  Clearly, we as listeners have an unusually clear glimpse into her soul, where the outrage of vile victimization is balanced by compassionate tenderness.  Her ability to powerfully portray such a spacious spectrum of emotions is her unique God-shaped gift.  Musically and vocally, she stands alone as a sensation without similarity.  She is as much a forerunner to the current surfeit of indebted female singer-songwriters enjoying success, as Joni Mitchell served as Sinead's precursor.  Sinead was the next stage, so to speak, empowering a host of imitators.  

If nothing else, she serves as a window into the heart and mind of a generation that is on the one hand concerned about social change, yet on the other drawing dangerous philosophical conclusions.  In this respect she represents a call to action and compassion on the part of our community.  This and much more makes her worthy of our attention.  She is, after all, no mere angry oddball with a shaved eight ball, but a singer of surprising vigor and insightful value.      

By Steven Stuart Baldwin 
 
Discography: 
1986  "Heroine" from Captive by The Edge  
1987  The Lion & The Cobra  
1990  I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got  
1991  My Special Child  - An EP raising money for Kurdish refugees 
1992  Am I Not Your Girl?  
1994  Universal Mother  
1997  Gospel Oak