Import version features a different tracklisting to the US pressing. EMI.
With a distinctive voice and controversial statements, Sinead O'Connor was briefly in the limelight and quickly in the doghouse. But even her opinionated politics can't take away from the beautiful work she's contributed to the post-punk canon. O'Connor's poignant delivery of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," is still heart-wrenchingly painful. "Troy" is equally evocative. So Far... The Best of Sinead O'Connor provides a thorough sampling of O'Connor's early years. Emotionally charged rockers like "Emperor's New Clothes" and "Mandinka" are essential inclusions, as are her rhythmic explorations with Bomb The Bass, "Empire," and the early "I Want Your (Hands On Me)." Sadly, her Cole Porter contribution to Red, Hot, And Blue was omitted. But O'Connor proves she rightfully deserves diva status with her rendition of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." As if there were ever any doubts. --Steve Gdula

Customer Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS CD
Comment: I was little watching a video of "Nothing Compares 2 U" on mtv,I was wandering why her head shaved and being sad.My favorite song is "Heroine",I love Sinead singing and The Edge play guitar is awesome!.If Sinead O'Connor released another album,I would buy it in a heartbeat.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent compilation
Comment: This CD is an excellent song collection by Sinead O Connor. The mood is catching, and the tempo variates. If someone wants one CD by Sinead, this is it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sinead the Individualist
Comment: Sinead O'Connor exploded onto the music scene in the 80s like a breath of fresh air. I occasionally put this album on and it's still refreshing. Amid the posers of her era, Sinead felt real and committed to making strong music. Amid many female artists of the last 20 years, she was definitely a contender, and this compilation pretty much sums up her stylistic range. She could rock in her own way and she could swoon. Listening to "Nothing Compares 2 You" among the other tracks reveals an artist of great sensitivity.

This album succeeds in being a great introduction to a woman who was more known for having a shaven head and criticizing the pope, than her unique musical vision. There's nothing horridly 80s about this album either. Go check out her other works too.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Breathing Fire When Few Others Dared
Comment: Sporting one of the most singularly distinctive voices of the 80's, Sinead O'Connor was a baffling and magnetic presence. She was a stunning young singer who couldn't seem to figure out when to separate her art from her self-destruction. From the explosively personal one-two punch of The Lion and the Cobra and I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, Sinead created tempestuously personal music that just refused to fit a norm. She took a Prince song to number one and then proceeded to throw herself under a bus by taking peculiar political stances (the infamous refusal to play the National Anthem at a New Jersey concert, the Pope Picture rending that - to this day - NBC refuses to allow to be rebroadcast on Saturday Night Live). But it's all a back seat to a body of work that still sounds breathtaking.

Granted, the first seven songs would merit 5 stars alone, and only "Fire On Babylon" (from Universal Mother) isn't from the first two albums. Her voice, so intense and intimate, cuts through pretense and makes her songs stand apart. The CD closes with one of the most withering Ef-off's ever recorded, "Just Like You Said It Would Be." That leaves the remaining seven songs to fall in-between. The non-album cuts fare the best, with movie songs "You Made Me The Thief of Your Heart" and "Captive" being most intriguing. The vocal she contributed to Bomb The Bass' "Empire" pales to the propulsive "I Want Your Hands On Me." Then there was the misguided attempt at standards on Am I Not Your Girl?. Overproduced by Phil Ramone, it came right on the heels of the Saturday Night Live debacle and gave her detractors all the ammunition they could have asked for. "Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home" (that CD's lone original) is pretty telling, as it seems Sinead is feeling her anger and drive dissipating...which had turned resignation by under-rated "Universal Mother." If Chysalis really wanted to show Sinead's interpretive skills as a cover artist, her contribution to "Red Hot and Blue" or "UM's" Nirvana tribute of "All Apologies" would have been better representations.

However, "So Far" does a really good job of reminding us exactly why Sinead was looked upon as a great Irish hope when "Mandinka" stunned early listeners in 1987. Sinead's slow trek away from pop music has certainly had some interesting results, but frankly, none as interesting as what you'll find here.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Conservative selection
Comment: This useful round-up of the most commercially successful period in the career of Sinéad O'Connor of course kicks off with the memorably wonderful Nothing Compares 2 U and concentrates mainly on the hit singles, but in their album versions. Owners of the albums that these selections come from will find little that they don't already have, the only exceptions being a shorter Thank You For Hearing Me (at 4.34 presumably a vinyl single edit) and Empire, a Bomb The Bass track on which she guests with Benjamin Zephaniah.
Key album tracks such as the vengeful Last Day Of Our Acquaintance, I Am Stretched On Your Grave and Fire On Babylon are also included, though had the collection been a little more adventurous it would have been nice to see some of the hard to find experimental early singles such as I Want Your (Hands On Me) with MC Lyte, or the notorious Jump In The River duet with Karen Finley. As it is, this collection mostly serves the more casual listener who does not expect to soon buy any of her albums.

NB This review refers to the UK import version of this album, whose tracklisting differs slightly to that listed above at time of writing

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