Albums discussed so far (redone -- with such small voting pool, I can recount these things) The Lion And the Cobra 4.9 I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 4.5302 Am I Not Your Girl? 3.3578 Universal Mother 4.1486 Gospel Oak 3.7942 Faith And Courage 3.68 Sean-Nos Nua 3.874 Albums Ranked: The Lion And the Cobra 4.9 I Do Not Know What I Haven't Got 4.5302 Universal Mother 4.1486 Sean Nos-Nua 3.874 Gospel Oak 3.7942 Faith And Courage 3.68 Am I Not Your Girl? 3.3578
I'm holding "Spanish Lady" and the solo version of "In Marble Halls" open for one more day, as I believe that many people who had hitherto not heard it may have heard it now.
It is, but she has her fans here and elsewhere. To be honest more people participated on the first two albums than I expected. I expected the whole thread to be 4 to 6 people, which is quite normal for these cult artists. See also Robyn Hitchcock and Belle And Sebastian.
Special Cases Sinéad’s voice really softens the very ominous music here. I like the lyrics a lot, and I assume she wrote them? I think her participation here makes this track for me, as without her beautiful voice, the music is just a tad bit too ominous for me. 4/5
I'm still listening, but didn't have much to say about the last album, and I happened to be out of town last weekend and missed the voting window. (I might give it a 3.374 score; I could do with a few more merry tunes, less echo effects.) I'll post a comment about today's song if I get a chance to hear it, but listening to the non-album tracks is tricky for me since I don't have sound on the desktop computer. I guess now would be a fair time to post this video of a Dublin concert in 2002:
"In Marble Halls" -- Sinéad solo version, Japanese bonus track. The fact that this is a region specific bonus track is maddening: it is a brilliant interpretation of a gorgeous song. I love this kind of pre-WWI era Irish ballad, from the pre-microphone days; the melody is so beautiful, alone it brings tears to my eyes. The lyric is a classic folk theme, and resonates well with someone far away, either in time or in distance. And the arrangement, dry, acoustic guitar, maybe a bit of accordion no digital echo is perfect. 5/5
"Spanish Lady"also benefits from being quite stripped back and effect-free. While the song isn't quite as exciting to me as "In Marble Halls", the song is upbeat, and Sean-Nos Nua definitely could have benefited from it because of that. I get that these tracks don't precisely fit in the album -- they sound like demos by comparison. But they are really excellent demos, un-"sexied up" by Sinéad and Sherwood, and stronger for it. That reminds me of my main criticism of hte album: either let the songs speak for themselves, in a fairly traditional way or go all out with the sexying up. 3.7/5
"Special Cases" is another cool, ultra modern sounding track. I for one love the eerie, forboding orchestra and the overall dark tone of the album. The one I own is the single mix from Collaborations, which is shorter than the album version, but I think it makes its point just fine (and doesn't fade out, which I dislike.) The lyric is a thought ful one that almost seems too trite to work but wedded to the dark, dark music it comes off as a really real warning to women who blame their partner for things that might actually originate in their own psychology, which is interesting (and potentially a good topic for discussion.) 4.5/5
In Marble Halls — solo. yeah, should not be bonus track limited by region. It's one of best things across last few albums and scattered extras, collaborations, and guest appearances. 4.95/5 Spanish Lady — solo. again, much better - production / sound included — then most of what's on the accompanying album. 3.68/5
"In Marble Halls" - 4/5 “Spanish Lady” - 3/5 Not into the Massive Attack material at all. I’ll abstain there.
Our votes for "In Marble Halls" [Japanese bonus track/solo version] 1-0 2-0 3-0 4-2 5-2 Average: 4.4875
Today's song is "A Prayer for England", written by Robert Del Naja, Neil Davidge and Sinéad O'Connor; produced by Robert Del Naja & Neil Davidge. Performed by Massive Attack featuring Sinéad O'Connor. Massive Attack – A Prayer For England Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Line Up: Sinéad O'Connor: vocals Massive Attack: Robert Del Naja & Neil Davidge with Angelo Bruschini: guitar Alex Swift: keyboards, additional programming Jon Harris: bass Damon Reece: drums Released as an album track on Massive Attacks 2003 album 100th Window.
Another dark post-modern track: not sure what Sinéad is going for: it seems to be some kind of indictment of the education system, which makes me think of her struggles with and against her Catholicism, but why "Children of England"-- maybe it's going further than that. Perhaps this song and yesterday's too is best seen in the dark context of 2003 and the post-911 world, in a time when international rhetoric was ramping up to another war. As a dark mood and an emotional statements connected to that time, it works, but I'm not quite sure what she was writing about here. 3.6/5
A Prayer For England I think this is my favorite of the Massive Attack collaborations - I really like the darker vibe. It is a bit incongruous having O'Connor singing a "prayer for England" and its children - I could understand if it were more overtly connected to anglo-Irish conflict, but as it stands it's a bit odd. I wonder if there had been some high-profile child abduction/murder or something along those lines around that time - my mind first went to Jamie Bulger, but his (absolutely horrific) murder took place a decade earlier. I was already living in the US in 2003 so I'm not as knowledgeable about local news stories at the time. Or maybe, as @Lance LaSalle suggests, it's best to think of the song in context of the general global mood at the time - although that still wouldn't explain why she specifically cared about England's kids... Regardless, it makes for a good song! 4.5/5
Another excellent track - a proper album-length collaboration with Massive Attack would be great! 4/5
A Prayer for England The music here is great. Sinéad’s part is more monotonous than in the other Massive Attack songs, although this song doesn’t really need that icing on the cake here, as the music itself is so hypnotic. It’s still nice to hear her, and she does soften the music a bit with her voice. I don’t really understand what she’s talking about in the lyrics. Who is killing children? 4.25/5
Prayer For England Don’t know why I don’t have any Massive Attack albums in my collection- I think I’ve loved everything I’ve ever heard from them. This is an excellent track 5/5
