Personnel: Sinead O'Connor (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion, programming); Dave Munday (acoustic guitar, piano); Andy Rourke (acoustic guitar, bass); Marco Pirroni (electric guitar); Steve Wickham (fiddle); Jah Wobble (bass); John Reynolds (drums).
Recorded at S.T.S, Dublin, Ireland.
This is the impassioned, creative breakthrough Sinead O'Connor was working toward with her extraordinary debut THE LION AND THE COBRA. Boldly combining O'Connor's hard-rock, alternative-rock, hip-hop and Celtic-folk influences, I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT was widely heralded as one of the best albums of 1990. On it O'Connor proves herself a first-rate writer, articulate, perceptive and penetrating. Her vocal magic is well under control, from tempestuous command to all-out fury; she shows that she is a world-class singer, way beyond the restrictions of being an alternative-rock diva.
The obvious highlight among highlights is O'Connor's definitive rendition of Prince's “Nothing Compares 2 U” (originally performed by The Family). Other remarkable songs here include “Black Boys On Mopeds,” a political treatise on Britian's racial affairs, and “The Emperor's New Clothes,” a pop-funk number in which O'Connor provides some anecdotal background for her seemingly strange behavior. There is not one disappointing track on this album.