The Boston Globe
March 15, 1990, Thursday, City Edition

SINEAD O'CONNOR;
I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN'T GOT

By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff

    First, consider the title, which is about the most radical declaration of
satisfaction possible. And then consider the reputation of the artist as one of
the most restless, and raw-edged - yet, gorgeously resonant - of the new wave of
female singer-songwriters.  On her second album O'Connor's sound is often quiet
and spare, but some- times cut by crackling drum bursts. It's not bracing in a
traditional rock 'n' roll sense. But, as she gently charms, she's still out to
disarm, to haunt. It's a gorgeous, romantic tortured tale, unwound and expos-ed.
Comparisons to Kate Bush are inevitable - the music floats and glides ethereally
- but O'Connor can circle in for a kill. And kill she does. Much of the album
focuses on disillusion and breakdown, set to hypnotic moods and melodies. "I Am
Stretched Out on Your Grave" is the most startling and conv-incing of the
pieces, but the "upbeat" Prince song, "Nothing Compares 2 U" is also chilling.
And there's an intricate web, lyrical and musical, woven in each of the 10
tracks. This is one of best soph-omore efforts in recent memory - soft, yet so
hard, downbeat, yet so uplifting. So involving.