Customer Reviews

To Faithful Departed: Comp Sessions

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is briliant, ok dolores cannot dance, who's care???? If the Cranberries once sounded as if they were sleepwalkers in a world gone weird, TO THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED sounds as if they've finally awakened. The may not like what they see, but at least they're ready and willing to scream about it."

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.

Good guitar music. Interesting when you listen to it thoroughly, and not offending if you have it just as a background when driving your car. Good sound. Good balance of being a bit "poppy" and of solid rock, maybe less experimental than that on previous records. With Dolores's voice ruling the sound, with her voice strong, soothing, breaking, vulnerable, frustrated, but also self-conscious, and time-to-time, even happy.

The words harmonize with the tunes perfectly. You'll learn there are wars in the world ... in Russia, in Bosnia. You'll hear a reflection of meeting a homeless in New York who was wounded in Vietnam. You'll see it was because of someone's political pride, because of territorial greed. From NY, another sickening experience is communicated, depicting the killer of John Lennon. You can share the worries of parents whose kids are on heroin. The group has depicted the frustration of the world around them. They admit that when they were teenage hairy rebels with black nails, they did not, however, fight too much - but they ask whether they are any better now as more mature (self-reflection is always what I value). There are some pieces from private life (loneliness being the major theme), emancipation ("I'm Free to Decide"), and also, belief in God. Not extremely crude, rather elegant and intelligent, yet still authentic. If I omit that the many times noted Bosnian capital Sarajevo is always misspelt (as Sarejevo), one would say, credible. Interestingly, in the end of the original record, i.e. in "Bosnia," Rubinstein' s classical lullaby is used.

An impressive arrangement strikes you in the opener, "Hollywood," with the distorted guitar tones. A handful of then popular radio hits appear on the disc, the major of all being the slow-pacing "When You're Gone" (the others are e.g. "Salvation" and "I'm Free to Decide"). To me, especially track 6 ("Forever Yellow Skies") is delightful (and pretty fast, too). It presents a fantastic rhythm section (base / drums), and a surprinsingly very much U2-like rhythm-guitar playing. The 5 bonus tracks are fine - not mere appendices for collectors having little to do with the content of the original recording. Although they represent divergent genres (including Dolores's live duet with Pavarotti on Schubert's Ave Maria and the nicely-cut cover version of Fleetwood Mac's major hit "Go Your Own Way"), they fit quite well into the new release. The concluding number takes advantage of some Irish folk ingredients (e.g. a nice fiddle). So I conclude with the Cranberries, "God Be With You (... Ireland") (knowing "it's not Hollywood," as they claim in the opener). The Cranberries have faithfully depicted the postmodern world (including their Ireland) of the 1990's, in their own and very special way. I appreciate having bought this extended release (72:31 min). Five stars fit.

Delores is amazing.
If you are a Cranberries fan this is a must have.

The additional songs aren't that great, so if you already have the original album, it's not much worth buying this CD solely for the bonus tracks. The original album is one of the better Cranberries albums, but all Cranberries CDs are great, and that includes this one, a must have to complete your Cranberries collection.

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 "Everybody Else Is Doing It" enchanted because it was abstract; "No Need to Argue"'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.

One thing is for sure, Dolores prove in the video of SALVATION, that she cannot dance, common Dolores ask Paula Abdul to teach you some grooves. To The Faithful Departed, came with great atticipantion, to the hypnotized fans of NO NEED TO ARGUE, how come they come from a CLASSIC, to DISPOSABLE, don't get me wrong, there are some great track like the leading single SALVATION, FREE TO DECIDE, WHEN YOU'RE GONE, but some tracks are just the worst tracks ever recorded in history I JUST SHOT JOHN LENNON, wassup with that, and others that are not worth mention, THIS RECORD ENDED A LONG TIME RELATION SHIP OF US fans with the Cranberries, sad!, because after that came favoriutes songs like THIS IS THE DAY AND PROMISES.