This is a two-CD set that goes over great with the serious Sinead O'Connor fan. (I should know, I sprang it on my wife who listens to both kinds of music: Sinead and Tori Amos.) There are some great covers here, including the Dan Penn-penned Southern soul ballad "Do Right Woman," made famous by Gram Parsons and Aretha Franklin. Then there is that get-out-your-lighters anthem for Nazareth, Boudleaux Bryant's "Love Hurts."

Covers are also found in the previously unreleased studio tracks, like Sinead's take on Abba's "Chiquita" and the B-52s' "Ain't It a Shame." There are collaborations with Massive Attack ("It's All Good") and Sharon Shannon ("The Seven Rejoices of Mary"), as well as three Brian Eno-produced tracks.

The second disc focuses on songs featured on the popular 2003 DirecTV Freeview concert. Each song is a showcase for O'Connor's sophisticated pop vocal delivery, as are the traditionals sung in Gaelic, "Regina Caeli" and "O Filli et Fillae."

- Rambles
written by Tom Schulte
published 13 December 2003