"The Lion and the Cobra"
Sinead O'Connor
Chrysalis Records
★★★V2
In the past few months,
Sinead O’Connor has become
the latest rage in the alternative
music press and the college
radio market. This young Irish
artist’s combination of folk,
rock and electronics has won
her a large following in a short
amount of time.
After listening to “The Lion
and the Cobra,” O’Connor’s
debut album, one can
understand why O’Connor has
been so highly touted as “the
next big thing. ”
Well, to a certain extent
anyway.
On the first listen, it is quite
clear that O’Connor has
dynamic vocal prowess. Her
vocal range extends from
whisper-like softness to high-
pitched shrieks. O’Connor’s
vocals are often quite
reminiscent of Siouxsie and the
Banshees’ vocalist, Siouxsie
Sioux.
“The Lion and the Cobra”
features lively pop-rock in
songs such as “Mandinka, ”
which also features a guest
appearance on guitar by
former Adam and the Ants’
guitarist Marco Pirroni. Tracks
like “Jerusalem” and “I Want
Your (Hands on Me)” should
find favor with the new wave
dance audiences, while music
fans who prefer raw, fuzz-toned
guitar should enjoy “Just Call
Me Joe.”
One of the best songs on the
record is the folk-oriented “Just
Like U Said it Would B.”
Acoustic guitar and a
synthesizer accompany
O’Connor’s vocals quite well
here. Fans of new age music
would appreciate this track, as
well as fans of “new” music.
While many of the songs on
“The Lion and the Cobra” are
very good, several tracks suffer
from a condition that seems to
plague so much of
contemporary music:
mediocrity. “Jackie, ” for
instance features strong vocals
by O’Connor and psychedelic-
style guitar, but curiously
enough, no percussion. The
result is a droning piece of
music that is only mildly
interesting.
“Troy” is a beatifully
orchestrated track that features
a powerful string section, but at
6 minutes 28 seconds, it just
gets old after a while. “Drink
Before the War, ” another new
age-oriented track, is just plain
uninteresting.
“Never Get Old” is the low
point of the record. The song is
repetitious to the point of being
monotonous, resulting in a
lame, lifeless track.
What all of the songs,
whether they be good, bad or
mediocre, have in common is
O’Connor’s powerful voice.
She is easily one of pop music’s
most talented vocalists. The
musicianship on “The Lion and
the Cobra” is also very good.
Guitars, synthesizers, bass,
strings and various types of
percussion combine to create
music that is sometimes
danceable, sometimes raw, but
unfortunately weak on a few
tracks.
With this record, Sinead
O’Connor has made a good
debut. However, this very
talented Irish vocalist may have
to wait a short while before she
can truly be called “the next big
thing.”
Review by Shane Hall
"Julia and Julia"
Starring Kathleen Turner
Directed By Peter Del Monte
Rated
★★★
“Julia and Julia” is a
sombre, shifting film about Ju
lia, a woman who has failed to
accept the way her life has
turned out. Kathleen Turner
plays Julia who is at once both
too weak to endure, and strong
enough to fight against a fate
that just isn’t fair.
Tragedy strikes Julia and her
husband Poalo, played by Ga
briel Byrne, on their wedding
day, and she never fully recov
ers. Julia is able to escape into
a different life where things are
happy for her until she gets
ripped back into the real world.
The movie does not try to ex
plain this, but instead allows us,
the audience, to see through
Julia’s eyes and get swept
along in her maelstorm of con
fusion and emotion until we lie
shattered, waiting for resolu
tion.
This resolution does make
the wait worthwhile, for the
ending wraps things up and ra
tifies the themes of memory. In
the end, the viewer remembers
all the subtle and oblique hints
which initially just added to the
confusion.
Julia discovers she has
shifted to a different life when
she tries to go to her apart
ment, only to find someone
else has lived there for six
years. Walking through this
house, which should be her
own, she looks out a window to
see an abandoned penthouse
across the street. This pent
house was to have been Julia’s
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and Poalo’s home after they
were married. She goes there
and faints after seeing her hus
band. When she wakes and
meets her little boy, she begins
to live the happiness which
should have been hers.
Changing back and forth be
tween these two lives, Julia be
comes romantically involved
with another man, played by
Sting, who seems to exist in
both worlds. His is a form of vi
olent love which stimulates and
repulses her, and he does her
more harm than good.
Memory is a cusse to Julia.
She would much rather re
member her charming, alert fa
ther-in-law than be faced with a
withdrawn old man that sits in
his room reading the same
books again and again.
“I forget everything,” the old
man tells her. “Rereading a
book is new each time. ”
When Julia cannot handle
this emotional strain any longer
she breaks down and visits her
in-laws again.
“I don’t want to forget,” Ju
lia tells her mother-in-law. “It’s
not fair that I should have to. ”
The photography in this film
shows great talent, and the use
of light and haunting scenes to
control the mood and em
phasize the cloudiness of mem
ory combine to create a slow-
moving, surreal atmosphere
which has an intense impact on
the viewer.
Also of merit is Kathleen
Turner, who gives a provoca
tive and sensual performance,
characteristic of her tremen
dous talent.
Although these successes
may be wasted on an audience
which is frustrated and alien
ated by the confusion of Julia’s
mind, this film is a refreshing
change from the predictability
of the “formula movie,” and is
worth seeing.
Review by Matthew Stewart
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