The Cranberries Album: “To the Faithful Departed (The Complete Sessions 19”

Description :

The Cranberries: Dolores O'Riordan (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, keyboards, whistle); Noel Hogan (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, background vocals); Mike Hogan (bass); Fergal Lawler (drums, percussion). Additional personnel includes: Luciano Pavarotti (vocals); Richie Buckley (tenor saxophone); Michael Buckley (baritone saxophone); Bruce Fairbairn (trumpet). Producers: Bruce Fairbairn, The Cranberries. Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland in November & December 1995. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The songs on the Cranberries' third album touch on painful topics, dealing mainly with loss and the difficulties of growing toward true adulthood. Tragic inspirations include the deaths of singer-lyricist Dolores O'Riordan's grandfather ("Joe") and John Lennon ("I Shot John Lennon"); some import pressings also include "Cordell," an elegy for Denny Cordell, who signed the Cranberries to Island Records in 1991. Much of this material is bittersweet, but the songs are saved from dreary melancholy by the characteristic quirky Cranberries sound of O'Riordan's angelic voice, scattered with her trademark yelps and other vocal tics, juxtaposed against energetic, hard-edged guitar work by O'Riordan and Noel Hogan. In addition to the newly mature lyrics, there is also a new, rougher-edged sound to this album's production, which puts the music within easy reach and lends TO THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED an earthy appeal.

Let musicians experiment, please!!! Just because an album doesn't sound familiar or what YOU expected it to sound like, doesn't mean it's bad. Departed does have a different flair then the previous two albums & in many cases it still works well for them. Seeing this tour was a definite hype with all the rock tracks added to the song sets. It may not be traditional Cranberries, but it is still good. Hey, if we can forgive U2 for POP (I think POP was a great album by the way), we can chill out on the Cranberries. Great bands are allowed experimentations, or at least they should be. But then you're... Free To Decide.

Their first album was a knockout and their second at least sounded great. For their third, they danced right into the pop bear trap: politics. But "

" enchanted because it was abstract; "

"'s big problem was that it was too concrete. Here dreamy Dolores has become top-of-the-hill full-of-herself wannabe-girl-Bono Dolores, and the songs suffer the consequences. "Joe" is pretty, "Forever Yellow Skies" shines, "The Rebels" might be great, and "Bosnia" is positively haunting--but for every four gems like these, they give us something like "I Shot John Lennon," which is actually offensive in its pompousness. If it was their sophomore effort, they might be in trouble. But if it was their sophomore effort, it would be a little easier to forgive, too.