Dolores' first single 'Ordinary Day' will be released on April 30th and the album Are You Listening will be available at your record store on May 7th (if you are in the UK or Europe) Many of us have already had a chance to hear some of the audio samples floating around, what are your impressions so far?

When you get a chance to listen to the album, come talk about it here!

The album will be released in North America on May 15th and in Japan/Australia on May 21st.

The video for Ordinary Day is being discussed here.

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I'm way too tired (and lazy) to write a proper review but I'll give a couple of short complaints and praise...... Best songs: Ecstasy! (by far), Black Widow, and Stay With Me....... Worst tracks: Apple of My Eye (the only song that doesn't do it for me on the album), Accept Things and In the Garden. The last two are still pretty damn good, there are just better on the album that's all....... Strengths of the album: the music is a lot stronger than I've heard Dolores/the Cranberries do in ages, Dolores' voice is (like always) angelic and Dolores shows her surprising talent for songwriting off....... Weakness of the album: You know what I'm going to say. It's the lyrics. Dolores' lyrics have always (quite frankly) sucked and they still do. I cringe every single time I hear "I think you pretend that you are my friend" and "Don't stand in my way with nothing to say". Otherwise there isn't much to complain about............ Btw welcome to the staff Gwen. Just to warn you, I'll have a bundle of questions for you sooner or later, lol.

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Gwen:

Dolores' first single 'Ordinary Day' will be released on April 30th and the album Are You Listening will be available at your record store on May 8th. Many of us have already had a chance to hear some of the audio samples floating around, what are your impressions so far?
When you get a chance to listen to the album, come talk about it here!

Well, Gwen, the most assiduous members of the forum have been talking about Are You Listening? for weeks, so I guess there isn't much more left to say.

Meg, thank God you were too tired and lazy to write a proper review!  I'm afraid you would have left us with a treatise...  You already know I agree with you about the lyrics: "always be yourself along way", "I'll never let you down", "October, October, the summer is over"...  Come on, Dolores, you can certainly do better!

I haven't listened to it yet... But yeah sometimes her lyrics are kinda weak... But she makes up for it with her voice... Something about it... It's sooo pure and nice and I can't even explain it with the right words...

OD is number one everywhere in Greece!!!!:-) goooooooooo dol gooooooo

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as the days go by the apple of my eye,i'll always wait for you...
www.myspace.com/dolitsastralprojection

doLitsa:

OD is number one everywhere in Greece!!!

I thought it wasn't out yet...

Ahh c'mon - there is still LOADS to talk about! Any guesses as to what it might chart at in your country? What the setlist is going to be at shows during the tour... I could go on, and ON...

 

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Lol, our dear Luca isn't much of a fan of AYL?..... not yet at least. As for lyrics, I do think they tend to be bad. But as Flow said her voice more than makes up for it. As for the line "always be yourself along the way" I rather like that. I find it inspiring. Btw, Gwen I highly doubt Dolores' album will chart anywhere in my country. The US doesn't seem to listen to Irish artists (Ex. the Cranberries, Sinead O'Connor) for long before they get bored aside from U2. And really who needs that? Lol.

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Meg:

Lol, our dear Luca isn't much of a fan of AYL?..... not yet at least.

The "not yet" specification is appropriate, because lately I'm starting to appreciate it.  I always need to "metabolize" an album for awhile before I start to like it.

Meg:

As for the line "always be yourself along the way" I rather like that. I find it inspiring.

Its meaning is definitely inspiring and "always be yourself" is always a very good advice.  However, in my opinion it's quite trivial: you can find it in hundreds of songs.  Have you ever read George Orwell's 1984, Meg?  George Orwell imagines a kind of song generator that churns out all the songs in the world, all stereotyped, conventional and thus cold and trivial.  Well, "always be yourself along the way" could have been generated by George Orwell's fantasy machine.  Luckily, Dolores' voice can't be generated by any machine.

Meg:

Lol, our dear Luca isn't much of a fan of AYL?..... not yet at least. As for lyrics, I do think they tend to be bad. But as Flow said her voice more than makes up for it. As for the line "always be yourself along the way" I rather like that. I find it inspiring. Btw, Gwen I highly doubt Dolores' album will chart anywhere in my country. The US doesn't seem to listen to Irish artists (Ex. the Cranberries, Sinead O'Connor) for long before they get bored aside from U2. And really who needs that? Lol.

 

Meg are you saying you aren't a fan of U2? GASP - thats a shame. Really, I'm a fan of most music out there, but I have to agree with you, I doubt that AYL will make a dent in the charts here in the US, and thats a shame. I find myself listening to more artists/bands from other countries than my own. I hope she does well around the globe, and I look forward to seeing her live...... 

I don't particularly like U2 either..... the only song I know that I like is Sunday Bloody Sunday. Nothing else has ever caught me. But that's off topic.

I've only listened to a few songs (the ones that leaked forever ago, have been played live, or were b-sides on Ordinary Day) so I don't have enough for a complete review/decision.

In the Garden: my favorite. It's so... I don't remember the word for it.
When We Were Young: the guitars remind me of Where is My Mind? - The Pixies. WWWY should have been the first single.
Angel Fire: that live version from the Vatican was better than the album version.
Loser: makes me laugh. the people who listen to good radio in the Bay Area (live 105) would like it. Short and not-very-sweet, like Teenagers - My Chemical Romance (no I'm not comparing Dolores and MCR, just the length and mood of the song.)
Black Widow: I've only heard it a few times, but it sounds good.
oh yeah.. Letting Go: never really liked it. Still don't.

Overall, I'm not so scared of being really disappointed anymore.

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Anna... previously known as anyuta_zaichik.
"She said 'I think I'll go to Boston, I think I'll start a new life, I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name...."

^OMFG, I was so afraid I was going to dislike the album when I first heard Angel Fire. And while I like the studio version way better than the live one, it still is rather boring. After listening to When We Were Young though, I knew I was going to like it.

Luca:

Meg:

Lol, our dear Luca isn't much of a fan of AYL?..... not yet at least.

The "not yet" specification is appropriate, because lately I'm starting to appreciate it.  I always need to "metabolize" an album for awhile before I start to like it.

Meg:

As for the line "always be yourself along the way" I rather like that. I find it inspiring.

Its meaning is definitely inspiring and "always be yourself" is always a very good advice.  However, in my opinion it's quite trivial: you can find it in hundreds of songs.  Have you ever read George Orwell's 1984, Meg?  George Orwell imagines a kind of song generator that churns out all the songs in the world, all stereotyped, conventional and thus cold and trivial.  Well, "always be yourself along the way" could have been generated by George Orwell's fantasy machine.  Luckily, Dolores' voice can't be generated by any machine.

Well it is quite a bit over-said, but Dolores being my hero and all it's kind of nice to hear her sing something like that. It *is* very cliched but like I said it's Dolores O'Fricken-Riordan... my pet name for her.... Actually no, everyone tells me I'd love the book cos it's right up my alley reading and I've meant to forever but I'd never gotten around to it. I seriously should check it out from the library.....

kellymurphy:

Meg:

Lol, our dear Luca isn't much of a fan of AYL?..... not yet at least. As for lyrics, I do think they tend to be bad. But as Flow said her voice more than makes up for it. As for the line "always be yourself along the way" I rather like that. I find it inspiring. Btw, Gwen I highly doubt Dolores' album will chart anywhere in my country. The US doesn't seem to listen to Irish artists (Ex. the Cranberries, Sinead O'Connor) for long before they get bored aside from U2. And really who needs that? Lol.

 

Meg are you saying you aren't a fan of U2? GASP - thats a shame. Really, I'm a fan of most music out there, but I have to agree with you, I doubt that AYL will make a dent in the charts here in the US, and thats a shame. I find myself listening to more artists/bands from other countries than my own. I hope she does well around the globe, and I look forward to seeing her live...... 

Actually for the longest time I *hated* U2 with a passion just cos they are so popular. Now listening to some of their stuff over again I admit to liking them as hard as it is for me to admit. ...... I know I think the only American bands I really listen to are Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam.

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Meg:

Actually no, everyone tells me I'd love the book cos it's right up my alley reading

Sue had to read 1984 this year for school and said it was really creepy. I don't remember her saying it sucked though.

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Anna... previously known as anyuta_zaichik.
"She said 'I think I'll go to Boston, I think I'll start a new life, I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name...."

tincantragedy:

Angel Fire: that live version from the Vatican was better than the album version.

If you're talking about the Christmas concert, this year it was in Monte-Carlo, not in the Vatican.

Meg:

I think the only American bands I really listen to are Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam.

What about REM?