release date: May 8, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Dolores O'Riordan and Dan Brodbeck
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Ireland
Track highlights: 1. "Ordinary Day" - 2. "When We Were Young" (4 / 5) - 3. "In the Garden" - 7. "Apple of My Eye" - 12. "Ecstasy"
Solo debut album by Dolores O'Riordan after some years without releasing studio albums with her primary band The Cranberries who's most recent album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee from 2001, which didn't receive the best reviews, and after a time working on new material the band then announced (2003) that they would take a hiatus as The Cranberries leaving room for individual projects. During this time O'Riordan found herself involved in various projects, e.g. together with Zucchero on his album Zucchero & Co. (2004), with Angelo Badalamenti on two songs for a soundtrack and various other projects until she started working on her first solo album.
The album features a collection of songs, all written by O'Riordan, which have only little in common with the best selling songs by The Cranberries but which ultimately are not far from what the band released on its 2 most recent studio albums before 2007. The focus is on mainstream pop / rock combined with celtic rock and some alt. rock elements scattered around the album. The clearly best track "When We Were Young" is perhaps closest in style with the more traditional material by her band, and could easily have been included on either of the first two albums by The Cranberries.
Generally, I find it a bit difficult to digest as a whole - the songs simply point in all kinds of directions, but it's not just a mediocre release. There are simply too many fine traits and songs here.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
