Throw Down Your Arms

For the Burning Spear song, see Dry & Heavy (album).

Throw Down Your Arms
Studio album by
Sinéad O'Connor
Released4 October 2005
Recorded2004
StudioTuff Gong Studios and Anchor Studios in Kingston, Jamaica
GenreReggae
Length95:36
LabelChocolate and Vanilla
ProducerSly and Robbie
Sinéad O'Connor chronology
Collaborations
(2005) 		Throw Down Your Arms
(2005) 		Theology
(2007)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
The Guardian[5]
Mojo[6]
Paste5/10[7]
Pitchfork6.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Uncut[10]
Under the Radar6/10[11]

Throw Down Your Arms is the seventh studio album by Sinéad O'Connor, also known as her reggae album. O'Connor sings cover versions of classic roots reggae songs, with production by Sly and Robbie.

The album was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica at Tuff Gong Studios and Anchor Studios in 2004 and released by Chocolate and Vanilla on 4 October 2005. In her memoir Rememberings, O'Connor said that she felt so strongly about making Throw Down Your Arms that she personally paid $400,000 of her own money for the record's production.[12] 10 per cent of the profits went to support Rastafari elders in Jamaica.[citation needed]

The album contains a cover of the Bob Marley song "War", which O'Connor famously performed on Saturday Night Live in 1992 while ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II.[13]

The cover art depicts a photograph of O'Connor in the dress and veil she wore at her First Holy Communion as a child.[14]

Track listing

[edit]
Disc 1 track listing
No.TitleOriginally recorded byLength
1."Jah Nuh Dead"Burning Spear in 1978 (as "Marcus Say Jah No Dead")3:20
2."Marcus Garvey"Burning Spear in 19753:28
3."Door Peep"Burning Spear in 19763:22
4."He Prayed"Burning Spear in 19733:27
5."Y Mas Gan"The Abyssinians in 19693:49
6."Curly Locks"Junior Byles in 19744:22
7."Vampire"Devon Irons in 19764:02
8."Prophet Has Arise"Israel Vibration in 19784:26
9."Downpressor Man"Peter Tosh in 19775:08
10."Throw Down Your Arms"Burning Spear in 19774:02
11."Untold Stories"Buju Banton in 19953:40
12."War"Bob Marley & The Wailers in 19764:04
Total length:47:27
Japanese CD release bonus tracks
No.TitleOriginally recorded byLength
13."Move Out of Babylon"Johnny Clarke in 19743:17
14."Abendigo"The Abyssinians in 19693:53
15."Jah Can Count on I"Little Roy in 19753:28
Disc 2 (Dub versions) track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Intro" (Micah 4:1-5)0:57
2."Jah Nuh Dead"3:12
3."Marcus Garvey"3:29
4."Door Peep"3:19
5."He Prayed"3:28
6."Y Mas Gan"3:51
7."Curly Locks"4:17
8."Vampire"4:01
9."Prophet Has Arise"4:24
10."Downpressor Man"5:07
11."Throw Down Your Arms"4:12
12."Untold Stories"3:42
13."War"4:04
Total length:48:09

Note:

  • Sinéad O'Connor cover of "Downpressor Man" is closer to Peter Tosh recording made in 1977. But the song was previously recorded three other times by Peter Tosh with The Wailers: "Sinner Man" (1966, produced by Coxsone Dodd), "Downpresser" (1971, produced by Lee Perry) and "Oppressor Man" (1972, produced by Peter Tosh).
  • The cover of "Marcus Say Jah No Dead" is closer to Burning Spear's a cappella version featured on the Rockers soundtrack.
  • A few other reggae covers were done by Sinéad O'Connor when she was touring to promote the album, such as "Rivers Of Babylon" (by The Melodians), "None A Jah Jah Children No Cry" (by Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus), "Keep Cool Babylon" (by Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus), "Stepping Razor" and "Creation" (by Peter Tosh).

Personnel

[edit]
  • Sinéad O'Connor – vocals, low whistle
  • Sly Dunbar – drums
  • Robbie Shakespeare – bass
  • Mikey Chung – lead guitar
  • Dalton Brownie – rhythm guitar
  • Glen Brownie – acoustic guitar on "Untold Stories"
  • Robbie Lyn – keyboards, Hammond organ
  • Carol "Bowie" McLaughlin – piano
  • Steven "Lenkky" Marsden – piano on "Curly Locks"
  • Uziah Thompson – percussion
  • Dean Fraser – saxophone
  • David Madden – trumpet
  • Pam Hall, Keisha Patterson, Katrina Harley – backing vocals

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Throw Down Your Arms
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 200
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 67
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 26
Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 17
Italian Albums (FIMI)[19] 73
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[20] 36
US Reggae Albums (Billboard)[21] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[22] 24

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for Throw Down Your Arms
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Ireland (IRMA)[23] Gold 7,500^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Throw Down Your Arms by Sinéad O'Connor" – via www.metacritic.com.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ For [O'Connor] to record a full reggae set, covering each song exactly like the original, rivals Gus Van Sant's odd shot-for-shot remake of Hitchcock's Psycho. [Oct 2005, p.141]
  4. ^ Her icy-cool vocals nicely contrast with the island grooves. [7 Oct 2005, p.77]
  5. ^ "CD: Sinéad O'Connor, Throw Down Your Arms". The Guardian. 30 September 2005.
  6. ^ Determinedly singing in her own accent was a wise move. [Oct 2005, p.110]
  7. ^ "Sinéad O'Connor - Throw Down Your Arms". pastemagazine.com. 30 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Sinéad O'Connor: Throw Down Your Arms". Pitchfork.
  9. ^ The concept works better than you might think. [3 Nov 2005, p.94]
  10. ^ There's nothing particularly profound here, but the combination of skanking, roots-reggae rhythms and O'Connor's still-gorgeous voice... is a winning one. [Nov 2005, p.106]
  11. ^ Sly and Robbie provide an adequate musical magic carpet for the singer to float on, but it fails to complement her as much as it should. [#11, p.108]
  12. ^ Sinéad O'Connor (2021). Rememberings. Sandycove. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-844-88541-1.
  13. ^ Kaur, Anumita (27 July 2023). "Sinéad O'Connor called the pope an 'enemy' on SNL. Chaos ensued". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  14. ^ Falsani, Cathleen (27 July 2023). "My Favourite Things (MFT): July 27 | Sinéad".
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Throw Down Your Arms" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Lescharts.com – Sinéad O'Connor – Throw Down Your Arms". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  18. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 40, 2005". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Sinéad O'Connor – Throw Down Your Arms". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Independent Albums Chart". Billboard.
  21. ^ "Reggae Albums Chart". Billboard.
  22. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "The Irish Charts - 2005 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association.
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