The Boston Globe
September 18, 1992, Friday, City Edition

Is that you, Sinead?
Her new album veers off in a surprising directionBy Steve Morse, Globe Staff


    Hold on. There's a new Sinead O'Connor loose in the world. But it's not the
O'Connor who crossed over from alternative rock to the mainstream with 1990's "I
Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," an attitude-rich album packing the runaway hit,
"Nothing Compares 2 U." O'Connor's new music is a shocking departure into
orchestral pop and jazz swing. Forget any skin-peeling rock 'n' roll. Her new
album evokes the easy-listening side of Julie London, Ella Fitzerald and Doris
Day - all of whom are thanked on the album sleeve. What, you say? "These are the
songs I grew up listening to. They are the songs that made me want to be a
singer," O'Connor writes on "Am I Not Your Girl?," which comes out Tuesday. A
stranger career move could not be imagined. She unveils lushly arranged music
for a '50s generation in songs like "I Want to Be Loved by You," "Secret Love"
and Richard Rodgers' "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered." But isn't O'Connor
supposed to be a rock visionary for the '90s? Maybe these songs have a personal
lure for her, but she's likely to seriously alienate the audience that made her
an overnight star.

   And isn't this the same woman who was blasted by Frank Sinatra for not
allowing the national anthem to be played before her 1990 show in New Jersey? So
she turns to music tailor-made for Sinatra fans, but will they buy it? Where is
the sense in this? What she does, she does well on the new record, but it's not
exactly an original concept.

   Why is she doing what Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon and Natalie Cole have all
done quite well before her - that is, make an album of standards? Do we really
need to hear O'Connor with a 40-piece orchestra? Do we really need to hear her
try to sound like Peggy Lee? It's almost inconceivable to think how fast this
album might bomb.

   Not that there aren't a few saving graces. She does a spectacular treatment
of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Evita."
And she sounds like an ethereal Edith Piaf in "Love Letters." She also delivers
a haunting tristesse on "Gloomy Sunday," about the death of a loved one. She's
always been able to connect uncannily with sad numbers, explained by the well-
documented history of child abuse during her youth in Ireland.

   But there's nothing remotely approaching rock 'n' roll on the new album. The
best O'Connor can hope for is some airplay on adult contemporary radio stations;
and maybe some jazz stations. Other than that, her charter audience will be in a
holding pattern until next time, though they can still discuss the controversy
she's bound to stir up with the surprise statement she makes at the end of the
new disc.

   Although most of the album has a nostalgic ring, her statement seems right
out of a talk-show appearance yesterday. In it, she defends herself from the
many detractors (like Sinatra) who have ripped her beliefs, including her
decision to boycott last year's Grammy awards when she claimed the music
industry was too materialistic.

   "I'm not a liar and I'm not full of hatred, but I hate lies and so the liars
hate me - the same who can't stand the sight of a starving baby," she says in
the statement.

   "Can you really say you're not in pain?" she adds, warming up to an
out-of-the-blue attack on organized religion. "Pain is what their lies have kept
us in, but the war has started now and truth will win. Many of us are going to
lose our lives and that's OK, because to live, we have to die. The enemies of
God will say it's chaos. Just remember what Jesus did in the temple and be
patient. Exactly why do you think he was assassinated? Who was it that did the
dirty deed? Who didn't like the answer they'd received? Look at the one wearing
the collar. Then or now, there's only ever been one liar and it's the Holy Roman
Empire. And this is exactly what they did. They told us lies to take us away
from God. So yeah, I am angry, but I'm not full of hate. I'm full of love. God
said, 'I bring not peace, I bring a sword.' "

   Hmm. Go figure. In the meantime, many of us will wait for the next album.
This one's a bit too bizarre.