The Lion and the Cobra

O'Connor produced with Kevin Moloney and sang, played electric guitar and mixed; Marco Pirroni and Rob Dean played guitars, Richard Spike Holifield bass, John Reynolds drums and programming, Mike Clowes keyboards, and Enya speaks on "Never Get Old", with Leslie Winer's spoken words elsewhere. The title comes from Psalm 91:13. A Songfacts account says early sessions with the producer Mick Glossop were mostly live band takes except "Troy", and that most songs were re-recorded after he left; the producer credit also appears as Kevin Mooney there.

It reached 27 in the UK and 36 on the Billboard 200, and 4 in the Netherlands and New Zealand, with gold certifications in the UK and US. It was nominated for the Grammy for best female rock vocal performance. Sounds's Neil Perry gave five stars, writing I can think of no finer debut this year; Record Mirror called it a staggeringly strange and enticing LP; Slant's Sal Cinquemani later called it one of the most electrifying debuts in rock history, and Pitchfork ranked it 44th on its 1980s albums list. "Mandinka" reached 17 in the UK, and "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" was used in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4.