''Faith and Courage'' is the fifth studio album by Irish singer

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

, released on 13 June 2000, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. It was O'Connor's first release in three years, her previous album being the greatest hits compilation '' So Far... The Best of Sinéad O'Connor'' in 1997, and her first studio album in six years. O'Connor composed a majority of the tracks on ''Faith and Courage'' and production duties were shared by a variety of artists including

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

, David A. Stewart,

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs,

Anne Preven Anne Preven (born February 25, 1965) is an American songwriter, music publisher, and record producer. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, she co-wrote " Torn" which was covered by Lis Sørensen (Danish), Trine Rein (Norwegian), a ...

and

Scott Cutler Scott Michael Cutler is an American songwriter, musician, record producer, and music executive. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, he co-wrote " Torn" which was covered in 1997 by Natalie Imbruglia. Her recording became the wo ...

among others.

Background

In 1998, Sinéad O'Connor left label

Ensign Records Ensign Records was a record label started in 1976 by London-born Nigel Grainge, elder brother of UMG Chairman Sir Lucian Grainge. History Nigel Grainge began his career in the record business as a sales office assistant at Phonogram UK in 1 ...

and signed with

, but her album was delayed due to her personal struggles, including the birth of her daughter, an alleged suicide attempt, a bitter custody battle and becoming a priestess in a religious order. O'Connor described ''Faith and Courage'', her first album with Atlantic, as a record about "survival" which depicted her own troubled "journey" as she bared her soul on a series of autobiographical and often cathartic songs. "It's exciting and a little scary to be back. I wanted to make a record which was strong and positive. It's about getting my spirit back on its feet and standing up", she said. Andy Murray, marketing director of Warner Music Europe, commented: "It's the right time for her to break her silence. ..and everybody seems to think it's her best album since her first record. The marketing campaign is about reminding people who she is. But actually, despite the long gap, nobody seems to need reminding. There's a real excitement around the record, which has surprised a lot of people".

Critical reception

''Faith and Courage'' received positive reviews from music critics, including the best ones she had received in years. Irish ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' magazine suggested that the album was O'Connor's equivalent of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's '' Blood on the Tracks'' (1975). It was placed on ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

's list of best albums of the 2000s at number 99.

Chart performance

The album was certified gold (35,000 Copies) in Australia in 2000. As of 2014, sales in the United States have exceeded 219,000 copies, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals *

Skip McDonald Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949) is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe. Career Early career Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who played blues guitar at w ...

– guitar, backing vocals *Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie – bass, piano *Professor Stretch – programming, keyboards *

Rusty Anderson Rusty Anderson is an American musician best known for his work as lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001. He has worked with an extensive list of other artists in addition to his own solo career. Career Anderson became a p ...

, Derek Scott, David A. Stewart,

– guitar *Paul Bushnell,

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

– bass *

Scot Coogan Scot Coogan is an American musician known for his accomplished drumming and vocal skills, working as both a session and touring musician. Scot resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he records, performs and has worked as a counselor at Rock and Ro ...

, Lil John, Chris Sharrock, John Reynolds – drums *

Jeff Turzo Jeff Turzo, as singer/programming and songwriting/production partner in the electronic rock band God Lives Underwater (GLU), spent the better part of the 1990s as a producer and touring artist, first signed by Rick Rubin to American Recordings ...

, Simon Mundey, Mark Price, Andy Wright – programming * David Campbell – strings arrangement, viola *Joel Derouin – violin *Larry Corbett – cello *Ed Rockett – low and high whistle * Caroline Dale – strings *Blandinna Melky Jean – additional vocals on track 4 * Chucho Merchan – additional bass guitar on track 6 *Little Roy – backing vocals on track 6 *Zac Rae, Kieran Kiely, David Levita – keyboards *

– backing vocals on track 9 *Karren Berz – orchestral arrangement *Bonjo I Abinghi Noah – percussion

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000 albums Sinéad O'Connor albums Albums arranged by David Campbell (composer) Albums produced by Brian Eno Albums produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) Albums produced by Wyclef Jean Atlantic Records albums 2000s in Irish music