Universal Mother
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Universal Mother
| type = studio
| artist = Sinéad O'Connor
| cover = Universalmother.jpg
| alt =
| released = 13 September 1994
| recorded = 1993–1994
| studio =
| genre = Piano rock
| length = 52:50
| label =
| producer =
| prev_title = Am I Not Your Girl?
| prev_year = 1992
| next_title = Gospel Oak
| next_year = 1997
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Universal Mother
| type = studio
| single1 = Thank You for Hearing Me
| single1date = 1994
| single2 = Fire on Babylon
| single2date = 1994
| single3 = Famine
| single3date = 1995
}}}}
{{Music ratings
| subtitle = Initial reviews (in 1994)
| rev1 = Cash Box
| rev1score = (favorable){{cite magazine|first=Steve|last=Baltin|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1994/CB-1994-09-24.pdf|title=Pop Albums — Reviews: Picks of the Week|magazine=Cash Box|date=24 September 1994|page=|accessdate=5 March 2022}}
| rev2 = Robert Christgau
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = B+{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/09/16/universal-mother/|title=Universal Mother|last=McDonnell|first=Evelyn|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=16 September 1994|access-date=29 July 2022}}
| rev4 = Knoxville News Sentinel
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}Campbell, Chuck (30 September 1994). "O'Connor Regains Her Edge". Knoxville News Sentinel
| rev5 = Los Angeles Times
| rev5score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}{{cite news|first=Chris|last=Willman|title=Two Sides of Sinead in 'Universal Mother'|work=Los Angeles Times|date=11 September 1994|page=|accessdate=21 January 2023|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-11-ca-37382-story.html}}
| rev6 = Melody Maker
| rev6score = (favorable){{cite magazine|first=|last=|url=https://flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53273241405/|title=Albums|magazine=Melody Maker|date=17 September 1994|page=37|access-date=25 October 2023}}
| rev7 = Music & Media
| rev7score = (favorable){{cite magazine|first= |last= |title= New Releases: Albums |magazine= Music & Media |volume= 11 |issue= 39 |date= 24 September 1994 |page= 14 |access-date= 20 May 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1994/MM-1994-09-24.pdf}}
| rev8 = NME
| rev8score = 8/10{{cite magazine|first=Dele|last=Fadele|url=https://flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53275266498/|title=Long Play|magazine=NME|date=17 September 1994|page=50|access-date=25 October 2023|author-link=Dele Fadele}}
| rev9 = Q
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}
| rev10 = Rolling Stone
| rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/universal-mother-19941006|title=Sinead O'Connor: Universal Mother|last=Zacharek|first=Stephanie|author-link=Stephanie Zacharek|magazine=Rolling Stone|publisher=Wenner Media|date=6 October 1994|access-date=21 August 2011}}
| rev11 = Select
| rev11score = {{rating|2|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite magazine|first=Siân|last=Pattenden|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2014/06/albums31.jpg|title=New Albums|work=Select|date=October 1994|page=100|access-date=25 December 2024|author-link=Siân Pattenden}}
}}
{{Album ratings
| subtitle = Retrospective reviews (after 1994)
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r203336|pure_url=yes}}|title=Universal Mother – Sinéad O'Connor|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=9 August 2011}}
}}
Universal Mother is the fourth studio album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released on 13 September 1994.
"That album was the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records," she explained, adding, "George Michael told me he loved that record, but could only listen to it once because it was so painful. He had to hide it."{{cite magazine|first=Tom|last=Doyle|title=The Mojo interview|magazine=Mojo|date=October 2005|issue=143|page=43}}
Background
In 1993, O'Connor started taking singing lessons in the style of bel canto. This inspired her to "talk about the things that [she] really wanted to talk about".{{Cite book|last=O'Connor|first=Sinéad|title=Rememberings|year=2021|pages=}}
Music and lyrics
The first track, "Germaine", is a recording of feminist Germaine Greer speaking about cooperation as an alternative to patriarchy.{{Cite web|last1=September 16|first1=Evelyn McDonnell Updated|last2=EDT|first2=1994 at 04:00 AM|title=Universal Mother|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/09/16/universal-mother/|access-date=2 November 2021|website=EW.com}}
"Am I a Human?" is by O'Connor's son Jake, recorded when he was a child. "'Famine'" (the quotes are hers) is a hip hop track about the Great Famine and how it impacted Ireland.
The last song, "Thank You for Hearing Me", was written about O'Connor's breakup with musician Peter Gabriel and features a trance-like backing track. The majority of the songs on the album use "delicate piano-based arrangements".{{Cite magazine|last1=Zacharek|first1=Stephanie|date=6 October 1994|title=Universal Mother|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/universal-mother-193409/|access-date=2 November 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone}}
Artwork
Critical reception
In Hot Press, Bill Graham said that it is "definitely the record of an artist determined to restart, with a totally new set of basic principles".{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/universal-mother-482593|title=Universal Mother|first=Bill|last=Graham|website=Hotpress.com|access-date=7 January 2022}} Noting the album had divided critical opinion, he suggested that its art-as-therapy approach resembled early solo work by John Lennon. O'Connor explores "the uncharted depths" of "the real loveless family traumas" that mainstream, predominantly male, rock music tends to avoid, and Graham believes her journey is made more intense by her identity "as both a mother and a daughter". Listening to the album can be "unnerving", as O'Connor "can still sing like an angel but she also sometimes writes lyrics like an emotional dyslexic". Its predominant style is "a bare chamber-folk".
Melody Maker named it "her best album to date" and "one of the albums of the year". For Rolling Stone, Stephanie Zacharek characterized Universal Mother as "record making as therapy" and described it as tenderhearted and protective.
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Universal Mother track listing
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| title1 = Germaine
| writer1 = Germaine Greer
| extra1 =
| length1 = 0:38
| title2 = Fire on Babylon
| writer2 = O'Connor, John Reynolds
| extra2 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Tim Simenon
| length2 = 5:11
| title3 = John I Love You
| writer3 = O'Connor
| extra3 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Phil Coulter
| length3 = 5:31
| title4 = My Darling Child
| writer4 = O'Connor
| extra4 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Coulter
| length4 = 3:09
| title5 = Am I a Human?
| writer5 = Jake Reynolds
| extra5 = Jake Reynolds
| length5 = 0:24
| title6 = Red Football
| writer6 = O'Connor
| extra6 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Coulter
| length6 = 2:48
| title7 = All Apologies
| writer7 = Kurt Cobain
| extra7 = O'Connor
| length7 = 2:37
| title8 = A Perfect Indian
| writer8 = O'Connor
| extra8 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Coulter
| length8 = 4:22
| title9 = Scorn Not His Simplicity
| writer9 = Coulter
| extra9 = O'Connor, Coulter
| length9 = 4:26
| title10 = All Babies
| writer10 = O'Connor
| extra10 = O'Connor, John Reynolds
| length10 = 4:29
| title11 = In This Heart
| writer11 = O'Connor
| extra11 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Coulter
| length11 = 3:11
| title12 = Tiny Grief Song
| writer12 = O'Connor
| extra12 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Coulter
| length12 = 1:56
| title13 = "Famine"
| writer13 = O'Connor, Clayton, Simenon, John Reynolds, Lennon, McCartney
| extra13 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Simenon
| length13 = 4:56
| title14 = Thank You for Hearing Me
| writer14 = O'Connor, John Reynolds
| extra14 = O'Connor, John Reynolds, Simenon
| length14 = 6:25
}}
Note: "Famine" quotes the song "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Universal Mother|others=Sinéad O'Connor|publisher=Ensign. Chrysalis|year=1994|type=booklet|id=CDP 530549}}
- Sinéad O'Connor – vocals, piano
- John Reynolds – drums, programming
- Dave Clayton – keyboards, programming
- Marco Pirroni, Ivan Gilliland – guitar
- Tim Simenon – programming
- Nicky Scott, Matthew Seligman, Clare Kenny – bass
- Phil Coulter – piano, keyboards, backing vocals
- John O'Cane – cello
- Voice Squad – backing vocals
- Irish Chamber Orchestra – strings
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1994 weekly chart performance for Universal Mother ! scope="col"| Chart (1994) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|31|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Austria|7|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Netherlands|8|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Germany|38|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|New Zealand|38|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|49|date=19940925|rowheader=true|access-date=19 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Sweden|11|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Switzerland|11|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|UK|19|artist=Sinead O'Connor|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|36|artist=Sinead OConnor|rowheader=true|access-date=18 December 2018}} |
| {{album chart|Canada|16|chartid=2612|refname="rpm"|rowheader=true|access-date=6 July 2024}} |
| scope="row"| Finnish Albums (Official Finnish Charts){{cite web|title=Sisältää hitin |url=https://musiikkiarkisto.fi/oa/_tiedostot/julkaisut/sisaltaa-hitin.pdf |website=musiikkiarkisto.fi |access-date=6 July 2024}}
| 18 |
|---|
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+2023 weekly chart performance for Universal Mother ! scope="col"| Chart (2023) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|Flanders|109|artist=Sinéad O'Connor|album=Universal Mother|rowheader=true|access-date=6 August 2023}} |
Certifications and sales
{{certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Universal Mother}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Austria|artist=Sinead|title=Universal Mother|award=Gold| relyear=1994|certyear=2001}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Sinead|title=Universal Mother|award=Gold| relyear=1994|certyear=1994}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Sinead|title=Universal Mother|award=Gold| relyear=1994|certyear=1995|id=7899-3468-2}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Sinead|title=Universal Mother|nocert=true| relyear=1994|salesamount=217,000|salesref={{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-AkEAAAAMBAJ&q=sinead+universal+mother+1,5+million&pg=PA92|title=Sinead O'Connor Starts Anew|publisher=Billboard|page=92|first=Melinda|last=Newman|date=11 July 1998|access-date=7 June 2019}}}}
{{Certification Table Bottom}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Sinéad O'Connor}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Sinéad O'Connor albums
Category:Albums produced by Tim Simenon