Carrie Reads...Dolores O'Riordan's "Are You Listening?"

As a child of the 90s, I grew up listening and loving the sounds of the Irish group The Cranberries. To me, they are one of the most fantastic bands of all time. I have seen them in concert several times and continue to hope that they will release another album. Several years ago the band split up to pursue solo projects. This past Tuesday, Dolores O'Riordan released her solo CD titled "Are You Listening?" I purchased it on iTunes Tuesday morning and have been playing it non-stop. While her musical accompaniement might not include the original Cranberries members (in fact, her website makes zero mention of the Cranberries at all), the tone and the sound are very Cranberries. So if you, like myself, have been missing new Cranberries material, you should probably just go ahead and purchase this. None of the tracks are quite as strong and hard as some of the original Cranberries material (think Zombie), but they are still powerful due mainly to the Dolores' unique voice and talented writing.

I recommend Track #7 "Apple of My Eye" which has quickly become my favorite on the album. If you want something a little harder, try "Willow Pattern" which has that rock style reminiscent of the original Cranberries material.

All in all, I love the CD and highly recommend everyone buy it!