Universal Mother
Sinéad O'Connor
- LP
- Label
- Chrysalis
Universal Mother is the fourth studio album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, originally 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."
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". 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".