THE CRANBERRIES
Wake Up And Smell The Coffee (MCA)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The Cranberries captured the early nineties with three platinum albums in as many years and a grinding touring schedule that led to a crash and burn in 1996, as the band took time out for domestic pursuits until their excellent comeback with 1999's Bury The Hatchet. Since then a more measured pace has helped them maintain health and sanity while reestablishing them as frontrunners in the international pop pack.

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee maintains the Cranberries' high standard. While it doesn't carve out any particularly new ground, it represents a maturation of their established style, with strong tunes and committed performances.

As always, the most distinctive feature of the music are the vocals of Dolores O'Riordan Burton, whose voice can range from breathy dream pop stylings to piercing intensity. Over the years that intensity has been a bit too piercing for some listeners, but she is consistently at her best throughout this one, avoiding the excesses that have bordered on histrionic in the past without yielding a bit of either her sensitivity or power.

A decade into their career, the Cranberries seem to have found an appropriate pace that allows them to maintain both lives and careers. It may be a bit slow for some of their most fervent fans, but the good news is that what they're doing is well deserving of repeated listening until the next album comes around.

Track List:

Never Grow Old * Analyse * Time Is Ticking Out * Dying Inside * This Is The Day * The Concept * Wake Up And Smell The Coffee * Pretty Eyes * I Really Hope * Every Morning * Do You Know * Carry On * Chocolate Brown

© 2001 - Shaun Dale