The Cranberries - In the End. A Review

Well this is a doozy. Before she died of alcohol related misadventure in early 2018, Dolores O’Riordan had completed vocals for an all new Cranberries record. The last one released before her death was a collection of re-recordings. So this release is incredibly special. Not only is it the very last Cranberries record, it may be the last recordings of O’Riordan. Opening track “All Over Now” is incredibly good but the lyric about the hotel room in London takes on some eeriness these days. The track is really good and would’ve been part of the band’s next chapter.

This is a very downbeat record, very atmospheric and relatively quiet. “A Place I Know” is a great example of this, very quiet and moody but exceptionally good. It’s quite easy to get caught up in Dolores’ soothing voice. “Lost” is as morose a ballad as you can get; it’s still interesting but it’s fairly easy to get lost yourself in the emotions the track brings up. “Wake Me When It’s Over” is another great track that showcases Dolores’ mid-range, something she wasn’t showcasing much towards the end.

“Got It” reminds me a bit of “Promises,” at least the opening; “Promises” was always one of my favorites and while this song takes things down a few notches, it’s, catchy and so much better than what can be heard on the radio. In many ways, this is a far superior record to their initial reunion effort, 2011’s Roses. “Crazy Heart” throws it all the way back to “Free to Decide” and the riff kicks ass. The song is slower but that seems to be the all-around vibe here. Keeping up with Dolores’ vocals, the band turns everything down but manages to give her one hell of a sendoff. Even a tossed off track like “Summer Song” has its place here and works with the rest of the disc.

The closing title track feels weird because it’s hearing Dolores’ vocals one last time, in a quick little acoustic ditty. Her chanting adds an ethereal vibe to the song, a smidge of Cocteau Twins. Farewell Delores, your beautiful voice sure gave fans like me enough musical memories to last the rest of our lives.

Grade: B


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Wondertruck Crashed: The Tale of Mary's Danish and David King

Image
             Mary’s Danish were one of those bands that never made it. They were popular in the L.A. scene in which they were spawned but through a variety of reasons they never hit it big like their friends in Jane’s Addiction or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. What follows is a sad tale of unfortunate errors and mistakes that doomed a really great band to the dustbin of obscurity.              The band formed in the mid-‘80s by a group of friends: singers Julie Ritter and Gretchen Seager, guitarists Matt Colleran and David King and bassist Chris ‘Wag’ Wagner. The band were a little bit of everything including indie rock, alt rock, some surf influences and loads of funk to go around. They blended all of these together in a tasty stew that soon began to attract attention. After working with a series of drummers, Nick Ziegler was drafted in and the band began to attract a heavy fanbase throughout California. The band eventually signed a deal with small independent Chameleon Records and start
Read more

Don't Let 'em Kill the Cowboy: A Chat with Mark Christian of The Big F

Image
Discography: The Big F  (Elektra, 1989) Patience Peregrine  EP (Chrysalis, 1993) Is  (Chrysalis, 1993) The Big F was formed out of the ashes of ‘80s new wave titans, Berlin. Once drummer Rob Brill and bassist/vocalist John Crawford decided they didn’t want to make music like “Take My Breath Away” anymore, they amped up the sound and their image as well and linked up with well-known session guitarist Mark Christian. After releasing their debut on Elektra in late 1989, the band toured with the likes of Soundgarden and Voivod. After the disappointing reception of their 1993 sophomore disc, Is , the band split. John Crawford is now back in Berlin and Christian leads his own country-rock guitar outfit, Merle Jagger. In May 2022, he graciously set aside some time to talk about the Big F and what that ride was like and what he’s up to now. Pete Crigler: What got you interested in music and playing guitar? Mark Christian: Growing up in Southern California near Hollywood in the 1960s and 7
Read more

No Woods: A Chat with Stompbox

Image
S tompbox were a hardcore/metal/rock band from Boston. Their one album, 1994’s Stress on Columbia might be one of the more obscure alt rock records that flooded the marketplace but it’s great. A lot of good riffs and plenty of attitude; unfortunately it didn’t sell and the original band were done by 1995. In 2021, in response to a friend falling ill and having massive bills, the band reunited for their first shows in almost 27 years. With this news coming out, I reached out to guitarist Jeff Turlik and he agreed to talk about the band’s history and what this reunion really meant to them. Pete Crigler: What got you interested in music? Jeff Turlik: My grandfather was a guitarist when he was a young man. He met my grandmother at a dance that he was playing. This was in the 1930s. When I was a little kid, my grandmother filled our house with musical toys…organs and pianos, horns, drums, you name it. When I was 11, my grandfather taught me a few chords on his guitar.   My brother wa
Read more