Album Review: The Cranberries : Roses (2012)

By Scott Jeffrey

Now it has been a while since the cranberries have produced some material, over ten years to be exact. But hooray they are back!

A lot has changed since 2001’s release Wake up and Smell the Coffee. But it seems like the Irish foursome have not fallen off the wagon one bit.

This latest release is a 90’s pop time warp. Songs like Tomorrow sound like they should nearly be on tape or at least spinning around in your cd player, not coming out of an Ipod. Dolores O’Riordan really is singing the same old song but with new lyrics. The chord progression is simple and predictable over some soft played drums this is a 90’s pop anthem that you thought you have heard before, but you haven’t.

Fire and Soul uses kind of a loud soft dynamic which leaves it as a good standout on the album. Its sort of modern like an indie song of the present. It’s good to see a contrast on the album.

Schizophrenic Playboy is a bit of the rockier side of the Cranberries sound that we are used to. This song is their new Zombie. Granted it can’t touch the iconic nature of that song, but it is done in a similar style. It’s rare to hear an acoustic guitar played so angrily.

Roses, the title track, is a romantic heartbreaker song. It kind of reminds me a bit of Bjork. But only because it’s such an existentially beautiful song filled with emotion much like the style Bjork would do.  An acoustic is plucked softly over strings and muted drums. With some electronic sampling adding a modern spin. O’Riordan delivers chills on this track.

5/10

Take Away Thoughts: This is a pretty high quality album, though it does not sort of fit into the scheme of our modern music scene. It is great to hear new tracks from the cranberries, they aren’t necessarily doing the same old stuff, but they also aren’t producing the same kind of hits they once were. A lot of this album is sort of 90’s filler pop. But a few of the tracks I think are something fans of the Cranberries could get into.