Last year, The Cranberries announced that they will release a new album on Valentine’s Day, 2012 and they kept most if their promise. “Roses“, the band’s first new album in 11 years since their 2001’s “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee”, is scheduled to hit the music stores at the end of the month, on February 27, but it has already leaked on the Internet.
The Cranberries’ “Roses” A Whirlpool Of Emotions

After a touching reunion in 2009 for some shows, the members of this Irish alternative-rock band joined forces with producer Stephen Street at Toronto’s Metalworks Studio and created an amazing, more mature album. While most of their contemporaries faded into triviality, The Cranberries seems to have grown up, to have evolved, establishing their own trademark sound, without influences. Their new album bears the mark of their nice and new arrangements.
Fans will be impressed as Dolores O’Riodan hasn’t lost her vocals and brings a bit of mystery and sadness to most of the 11 tracks. “Roses” starts with “Conduct,” a mid-tempo song with few but representative lyrics: “take back my life, take back my heart”. With guitars and drums, this song reflects the band’s typical sound.

“Tomorrow“, the first single of the album, has a happy rhythm and sad lyrics, a bizarre combo of drums and guitars that revives suppressed memories. “Fire & Soul” is a quiet song, similar to “Conduct” with an insistent “uuuuuuuuu” all the time after “I’ll wait for you forever”. “Raining in my heart” is a song that you cannot help it not to love it from the very first notes, while “Losing my mind” will hit your heart instantly. it’s like a Kelly Clarkson song, a sort of lullaby that has a chorus with guitars followed by drums so that your heart will charge with emotion.

Furthermore, “Schizophrenic Playboy” is an amazing song that definitely is worth paying for. It will probably sound best performed live because it’s the most powerful and has a violin in the bridge. “Waiting in Walthamstow” is rather biographical, with the passionate rhythms of tango at the beginning, a cello and violins. “Show me” has reminiscences of their old songs,Dolores sings with a powerful voice while violins and guitars are heard on the background. It’s the most sensitive and emotional song on this album. At the end of the album the songs tend to be softer, more quiet. “Astral projection”, “So good” and “Roses” are just the right type of songs one enjoys listening on iPod while walking in the rain.

All in all, “Roses” is the most compelling album since the days of the band’s debut, the tracks sound less depressing than the songs they’ve played in their earlier days. The lyrics and the sounds are more lighthearted, mostly acoustic, which make the entire album a big surprise for the fans who were used to listening Dolores rocking hard as she did on her solo albums such as “Stay With Me”. Most will dislike the album, while others will love every word, every note that make this album a whirlpool of emotions and memories.