DOLORES O'RIORDAN

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for THE CRANBERRIES frontwoman DOLORES O'RIORDAN to release a solo album, your wait is nearly over.

ARE YOU LISTENING? will be released in the U.S. on May 15 on SANCTUARY/SEQUEL. You can pre-order it [HERE].

What does the record sound like? Well... um... sort of EXACTLY like THE CRANBERRIES, actually. Which should come as no surprise, if you think about it. Despite some fairly solid melodies, that band was always dominated by O'Riordan's keening, yodeling, often-pretty/often-exasperating soprano. SINEAD O'CONNOR-lite, one might say -- but without the Pope issues and with only one or two shades of color as palette.

Except for the somewhat BJORK-like "Black Widow," the songs on ARE YOU LISTENING? could have appeared on any previous CRANBERRIES album. Even the layered, by-the-numbers vocal overdubs remain stubbornly in place.

Bottom line: This is no artistic reinvention for Ms. O'Riordan. But maybe she wanted it that way. Her former band, after all, sold tens of millions of records. Still, something tells me that Bjork and Sinead will be remembered for a much longer time, and far more fondly.

DOLORES O'RIORDAN on MySPACE.

DOLORES O'RIORDAN's future touring >>>

May 29 2007 8:00P/Razzmatazz/Barcelona
May 31 2007 8:00P/Alcatraz/Milan
Jun 1 2007 8:00P/Kaufleuten/Zurich
Jun 3 2007 8:00P/Paradiso/Amsterdam
Jun 5 2007 8:00P/Ancienne Belgique/Brussels
Jun 6 2007 8:00P/Bataclan/Paris
Jun 9 2007 8:00P/Columbia Club/Berlin
Jun 10 2007 8:00P/Berns/Stockholm

[MP3] "Ordinary Day"

[MP3] "Black Widow"