{"id":41956,"date":"2010-04-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/theology\/"},"modified":"2010-04-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-24T00:00:00","slug":"theology","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/theology\/","title":{"rendered":"Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been my experience ever since I could pass for 21 and sneak into bars that pubs, watering holes, and cafes were a place to wax poetic and exchange ideas. It was precisely in one of these gathering places that I engaged somebody who described Sinead O\u2019Connor as \u201ca hero\u201d and asserted that the general public should \u2013 and one day would \u2013 regard her as such. She was, of course, referring to O\u2019Connor\u2019s famously misinterpreted Saturday Night Live <\/i>protest against physical and sexual abuse in Irish Catholic schools, which involved her ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II. Controversy aside, O\u2019Connor is one of those singers who is so charismatic and emotional that she invokes an unspeakable catharsis every time I hear her voice. She has joined the lonely ranks of Nina Simone and Otis Redding in that regard. Unlike Simone and Redding, though, O\u2019Connor\u2019s music is inseparable from her message. (In this, she is more akin to Bob Marley and Woody Guthrie.) I feel so strongly on this point that I understand my writing of this review as, in the very least, an implicit endorsement of much of her activism. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

This marriage of song and message is exceedingly apparent on 2007\u2019s Theology. <\/i>The words \u201cIf God lived on Earth, people would break his windows,\u201d taken from the song \u201cOut Of The Depths,\u201d is written one word at a time on every page in the album\u2019s liner notes. Likewise, <\/i>O\u2019Connor delves into esoteric Hebrew references and metaphor, not surprising considering her long-term interest in Rastafari beliefs. Most, if not all, of her metaphors are difficult for me to understand. Take the flowing, folksy \u201cDark I Am Yet Lovely,\u201d in which O\u2019Connor implores: \u201cDark I am yet lovely as tents of Kedar \/ As the pavilions of Solomon either \/ Don\u2019t hate me because the sun has darkened me.\u201d Remember, this is not O\u2019Connor reciting a Psalm; these words were penned by the artist herself. It seems that O\u2019Connor is attempting to convey a sense of spiritual wonder and struggle, although I sense that this is just a preliminary interpretation. While not fully adept to her meaning, I still found the music enjoyable and moving. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Musically, Theology <\/i>is structured differently than any other album I\u2019ve heard. It includes two discs (the Dublin Sessions<\/i> and the London Sessions<\/i>) with both mainly containing varying interpretations of the same songs. London Sessions <\/i>is her pop album. Produced by RonTom with Up In Ear Productions, London Sessions <\/i>features a full band, a string section, and drum programming. Its music styles range from acoustic rock to hip-hop. While at times over-produced and drawn out, accounting for the B+ rating, London Sessions <\/i>is a solid album with some the most impacting drum and bass production I have heard in years.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It is in Dublin Sessions <\/i>that O\u2019Connor really shines, though. Featuring only guitars and vocals, O\u2019Connor\u2019s evocative singing pierces the heart with unspeakable joy. There are two songs in particular (\u201cThe Glory of Jah\u201d and \u201cRivers Of Babylon\u201d) in which O\u2019Connor\u2019s singing is almost unbearably beautiful, warranting me to pause the recording for a break. While producer Steve Cooney and engineer Graham Bolger were adept at capturing the acoustic depth of O\u2019Connor\u2019s voice, the clarity, precision, and power of the songs rely solely on her abilities. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Because of Theology<\/i>\u2019s lyrical depth and obscure sound, the album may be difficult for many to grasp. By including two versions of Curtis Mayfield\u2019s \u201cWe People Who Are Darker Than Blue,\u201d O\u2019Connor reminds us that she is not the first artist to write music steeped in symbolism. This does not make the task of interpreting her songs less daunting. With the resurfacing of the issue she protested on Saturday Night Live <\/i>in 1992, and with it a slew of interviews with and op-eds from the singer\/songwriter, it feels good to again engage the complexity and beauty of Sinead O\u2019Connor\u2019s music and message. <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":30302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6835],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41956","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sinead-oconnor","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41956"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41956"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}