I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

by Sinead O'Connor

Overview

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got became Sinead O'Connor's popular breakthrough on the strength of the stunning Prince cover "Nothing Compares 2 U," which topped the pop charts for a month. But even its remarkable intimacy wasn't adequate preparation for the harrowing confessionals that composed the majority of the album. Informed by her stormy relationship with drummer John Reynolds, who fathered O'Connor's first child before the couple broke up, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got lays the singer's psyche startlingly and sometimes uncomfortably bare. The songs mostly address relationships with parents, children, and (especially) lovers, through which O'Connor weaves a stubborn refusal to be defined by anyone but herself. In fact, the album is almost too personal and cathartic to draw the listener in close, since O'Connor projects such turmoil and offers such specific detail. Her confrontational openness makes it easy to overlook O'Connor's musical versatility. Granted, not all of the music is as brilliantly audacious as "I Am Stretched on Your Grave," which marries a Frank O'Connor poem to eerie Celtic melodies and a James Brown "Funky Drummer" sample. But the album plays like a tour de force in its demonstration of everything O'Connor can do: dramatic orchestral ballads, intimate confessionals, catchy pop/rock, driving guitar rock, and protest folk, not to mention the nearly six-minute a cappella title track. What's consistent throughout is the frighteningly strong emotion O'Connor brings to bear on the material, while remaining sensitive to each piece's individual demands. Aside from being a brilliant album in its own right, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got foreshadowed the rise of deeply introspective female singer/songwriters like Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan, who were more traditionally feminine and connected with a wider audience. Which takes nothing away from anyone; if anything, it's evidence that, when on top of her game, O'Connor was a singular talent. ~ Steve Huey

Product Details

Release Date:	02/28/1990
Label:	CHRYSALIS
UPC:	0094632175922

Tracks

1. Feels So Different
2. I Am Stretched Out on Your Grave
3. Three Babies
4. The Emperor's New Clothes
5. Black Boys on Mopeds
6. Nothing Compares 2 U
7. Jump in the River
8. You Cause as Much Sorrow
9. The Last Day of Our Acquaintance
10. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sinead O'Connor   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Lead Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Phillip King   Vocals
The Malcolm Griffiths Orchestra   Orchestra
Liam O'Flynn   Uillean Pipes
John Reynolds   Drums
David Munday   Piano,Guitar (Acoustic)
Marco Pirroni   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Peter Gabriel   Keyboards
Steve Wickham   Fiddle,Conductor
Andy Rourke   Bass,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic)
Jah Wobble   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Nick Ingman   Director,Conductor

Technical Credits

Sean Devitt   Engineer,Producer
Nellee Hooper   Producer
Sinead O'Connor   Producer,Arranger,Composer,Mixing Engineer,Drum Programming,String Arrangements
Chris Birkett   Engineer,Arranger,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Irish Chamber Orchestra   String Arrangements
Daniel Lanois   Producer,Mixing Engineer
John Owen Williams   Mixing Engineer
Phillip King   Composer,Melody Arrangement
Dominique Lerigoleur   Photography
Fachtna O'Ceallaigh   Mixing Engineer
Dave Hoffman   Photography
John Lemon   Engineer
Michael O'Donovan   Composer
John Maybury   Arranger,Cover Design
Mike Clowes   Composer
Franz Gruber   Composer
Joseph Mohr   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
John Reynolds   Composer,Mixing Engineer
Rob Dean   Composer
Karl Wallinger   Arranger
Prince   Composer
Richard Holifield   Composer
Marco Pirroni   Composer
Sylvester Weise   Composer
Chris Dickie   Engineer
Barbara Wyrick   Composer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Peter Gabriel   Producer
Philip King   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Steve Bogard   Composer
Steve Lillywhite   Producer,Mixing Engineer
Bill Coleman   Remixing
Cole Porter   Composer
Nick Ingman   Arranger,String Arrangements
Frank O'Connor   Composer,Translation
Gregory Isaacs   Composer
Donal Lunny   Arranger