Theology (album)

Theology is the eighth full-length album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was released in 2007 on Rubyworks (and Koch Records in the US). The album consists of two discs, the acoustic "Dublin Sessions" and the full-band "London Sessions".

Theology
Studio album by Sinéad O'Connor
Released	18 June 2007
Recorded	2006–2007
Studio	Dublin, Ireland Mayfair Recording Studios (London, England) Olympic Studios (London, England) Presidential Suite, Jury's Hotel (Dublin, Ireland) RonTom Residential Studios (London, England) WindMill Lane Studios (Dublin, Ireland)
Genre	Rock
Length	89:53
Label	Rubyworks Koch
Producer	Steve Cooney Graham Bolger Ron Tom Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor chronology
Throw Down Your Arms (2005) Theology (2007) How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? (2012)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	50/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Austin Chronicle	[3]
Hot Press	favorable[4]
The Observer	[5]
PopMatters	6/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Skinny	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Spin	4/10[10]
Uncut	[11]

The first single from Theology is "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (an Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice song from Jesus Christ Superstar). In the issue dated 14 July 2007, the album entered the US Billboard 200 chart at number 168. The album also debuted in the top 20 of Billboard's Independent Albums list at number 15. First-week sales of the album in the US amounted to 4,700 units, while the record also charted in Ireland, France and Italy.

Track listing

Disc one – Dublin Sessions

1. "Something Beautiful" (O'Connor) – 5:29
2. "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" (Curtis Mayfield) – 3:56
3. "Out of the Depths" (O'Connor) – 5:06
4. "Dark I Am Yet Lovely" (O'Connor) – 4:11
5. "If You Had a Vineyard" (O'Connor) – 6:18
6. "Watcher of Men" (O'Connor, Ron Tomlinson) – 2:34
7. "33" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 2:33
8. "The Glory of Jah" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 3:32
9. "Whomsoever Dwells" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 2:53
10. "Rivers of Babylon" (Dowe, McNaughton; additional lyrics by O'Connor) – 2:37
11. "Hosanna Filio David" (Traditional) – 0:44

Disc two – London Sessions

1. "Something Beautiful" (O'Connor) – 5:15
2. "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" (Curtis Mayfield) – 4:25
3. "Out of the Depths" (O'Connor) – 5:03
4. "33" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 2:43
5. "Dark I Am Yet Lovely" (O'Connor) – 3:31
6. "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice) – 4:13
7. "If You Had a Vineyard" (O'Connor) – 6:34
8. "The Glory of Jah" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 4:56
9. "Watcher of Men" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 3:18
10. "Whomsoever Dwells" (O'Connor, Tomlinson) – 5:34
11. "Rivers of Babylon" (Dowe, McNaughton) – 4:28

The exclusive edition sold at Best Buy stores in the United States includes five additional live tracks, recorded at Dublin's Sugar Club on 8 November 2006. Two of these, "Something Beautiful" and "If You Had a Vineyard," were made available for download on O'Connor's MySpace page in early 2007.

1. "Something Beautiful" – 6:02
2. "If You Had a Vineyard" – 6:36
3. "The Glory of Jah" – 3:51
4. "Whomsoever Dwells" – 3:54
5. "33" – 3:19

The Borders-exclusive edition includes three interviews.

Personnel

• Sinéad O'Connor – vocals, guitar
• Steve Cooney, Hawi Gondwe, Ron Tom (Ron Tomlinson), Sam Cloth Shop – guitar
• Mark Gilmour, Andrew Smith – guitar, bass guitar
• Robbie Shakespeare – bass guitar
• Donald "Don-E" McLean – guitar, bass guitar, piano
• Toby Baker – piano
• Camilla – harp
• Julian Saxi, Neil Williams, Jonah O'Leary – violin
• Diana Tice, Natalie Azario – cello
• Richard Baylis – French horn
• Nathan Tice - flute
• Bev, Chris Brown, Val Staccato – backing vocals
• Tommy "Specs" White, Matthew Phillips – drums, percussion
• John Reynolds – drums and production assistance on "I Don't Know How To Love Him"

Charts

Chart performance for Theology

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	124
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13]	58
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14]	90
French Albums (SNEP)[15]	81
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16]	86
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17]	18
Italian Albums (FIMI)[18]	56
UK Albums (OCC)[19]	157
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[20]	15
US Billboard 200[21]	168
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22]	15

References

1. Critic reviews at Metacritic
2. Allmusic review
3. The Austin Chronicle review
4. Hot Press review
5. "CD: Sinead O'Connor, Theology". The Guardian. 16 June 2007. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016.
6. PopMatters review
7. "Theology". Rolling Stone. 13 June 2007. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
8. Bermingham, Finbarr. "Sinead O'Connor - Theology". The Skinny. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
9. Slant Magazine review
10. Spin review
11. It smacks of compromise. [Jul 2007, p.109]
12. "Part of Sinéad O'Connor's ARIA chart history 1988 to 2022, received from ARIA in 2022". ARIA. Retrieved 3 December 2023 – via Imgur.com.
13. "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Theology" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
14. "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Theology" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
15. "Lescharts.com – Sinéad O'Connor – Theology". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sinéad O'Connor – Theology" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
17. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Sinéad O'Connor". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
18. "Italiancharts.com – Sinéad O'Connor – Theology". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
19. "Chart Log UK 1994–2010: The O – Ozric Tentacles". zobbel.de. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
20. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
21. "Sinead O'Connor Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
22. "Sinead O'Connor Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 July 2023.

External links

• Theology at Metacritic