release date: Aug. 24, 2009
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,98]
producer: Dolores O'Riordan and Dan Brodbeck
label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Ireland
Track highlights: 1. "Switch Off the Moment" (live) - 2. "Skeleton" - 3. "It's You" (4 / 5) (live acoustic) - 5. "Stupid" (4 / 5) - 6. "Be Careful" - 7. "Apple of My Eye"
2nd and last solo album by Dolores O'Riordan and also the second with producer Dan Brodbeck is a more uptempo collection of songs compared to the slower and more introvert solo debut from 2007. The style is not far from The Cranberries - it seems more balanced towards a mainstream audience with an obvious grounding in the celtic rock heritage, and contemporary pop / rock and singer / songwriter styles - much like the debut, although, that one is somewhat more narrow and simple when it comes to the production sound. In that sense No Baggage shares the more spacious dream pop style of her regular band without being anything close to ambient. The track "Apple of My Eye" was also included on her debut, but here it's been rearranged to a more electrified version.
I really like this album and find it clearly bettering her solo debut. It's also bettering her last three albums with The Cranberries. Despite being a more uptempo album, the two best songs are also two slow and sentimental compositions: "It's You" and "Stupid" - both very strong singles, which deserve so much more recognition.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
2009 Favourite releases: 1. Kent Röd - 2. Gossip Music for Men - 3. Dolores O'Riordan No Baggage
