Roses (album)

Roses
Studio album by The Cranberries
Released	22 February 2012 (2012-02-22)
Recorded	18 April – 15 May 2011 (Metalworks Studios, Toronto) 20–22 June 2011 (Miloco Studios, London)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	44:20
Label	Cooking Vinyl (Worldwide) Downtown Records (USA) Shock Records (Australia) Gold Lake Records (Canada) Hostess Entertainment (Japan) Soyuz Music (Russia) Vertigo Berlin (Germany) Universal Records (Philippines)
Producer	Stephen Street
The Cranberries albums chronology
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (2001) Roses (2012)
Alternative cover
Deluxe edition artwork
Singles from Roses
"Show Me the Way" Released: 11 July 2011 (2011-07-11) (promo only) "Tomorrow" Released: 21 November 2011 (2011-11-21) "Raining In My Heart" Released: 19 March 2012 (2012-03-19) (radio only) "Waiting In Walthamstow" Released: 18 June 2012 (2012-06-18) (UK radio only) "Fire & Soul" Released: 5 December 2012 (2012-12-05) (Russian radio only)[1]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(59/100)[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
American Songwriter	[4]
The A.V. Club	C[5]
Consequence of Sound	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[7]
The Independent	[8]
The Phoenix	[9]
PopMatters	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
USA Today	[12]

Roses is the sixth studio album by Irish band The Cranberries, released in the Republic of Ireland^[13] on 24 February 2012 and globally on 27 February 2012.^[14][15] Produced by Stephen Street, it is the band's first studio release in ten years. Originally planned to be released in early 2004^[16] the recordings for the follow-up to Wake Up and Smell the Coffee were scrapped after the band decided to go their separate ways.^[17][18] After a six-year hiatus, The Cranberries announced their intention to record a new album during their 2009–2010 reunion tour. The title Roses was announced on The Cranberries website, on 24 May 2011. The album deals with relationships, both romantic love and love in other forms.^[19][20]

Release history

During an interview with Billboard magazine in October, lead vocalist Dolores O'Riordan revealed that the album will be released in February 2012.^[15]
On 21 July, guitarist Noel Hogan suggested the possibility of releasing an EP before the release of Roses.^[21] No plans are confirmed to this date.
There will be two rock songs on the album.^[20]

Track listing

Recording sessions

The Cranberries worked on 19 tracks^[21] for the Roses album in Toronto and London between April and June 2011 with producer Stephen Street,^[14] who previously collaborated with the band on Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, No Need to Argue and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. Seventeen tracks were finished for the album. According to producer Stephen Street, the recordings recaptures "the delicate darker mood of [the earlier Cranberries albums]".^[32] The album will include string arrangements.^[33]

First session (Metalworks Studios, Toronto)

The Cranberries recorded 15 tracks at the Metalworks Studios in Toronto (Canada) from 18 April^[34] to 15 May^[33] 2011. All album tracks, except "Waiting in Walthamstow", were recorded during the first session, along with "Someday", "Serendipity", "In It Together", "Perfect World" and "Stop Me",^[35] - ..."all the tracks will see commercial release in some form.".^[36] "Losing My Mind" was first titled "Eyelash".

Second session (Miloco Studios, London)

The band and producer Stephen Street went back into studio st the Miloco Studios^[37] in London from Monday 20 June to Wednesday 22 June, to work on four new backing tracks for the upcoming album.^[38][39] Two new songs, "Waiting in Walthamstow"^[15] and "Always", were completed during this recording session. The titles of the unfinished tracks remain unknown.^{[citation needed]}

Track information

Asked about "Tomorrow", O'Riordan told Billboard that "it's about the way we sometimes hyper over-escalate things in our minds, overthink about things...when sometimes spontaneity and just jumping in is better. Tomorrow you might not have that moment back again. So it's really about moving on and also about kind of looking at the younger generation and how they worry about all kinds of silly things. They don't think they're silly, but when you're older you know better."^[15] A one-minute preview of the song was released on 31 July 2011.^[14]
"Astral Projection" is described as "a dreamy rock song which could be catchy", while "In It Together" "is a very feel good song creating the same type of atmosphere as 'Stars' — colourful".^[40]
"Schizophrenic Playboy" is a rock song dealing about the risks of sexual encounters. Noel Hogan described the studio mix of the song as "very James Bond".^[41] A one-minute preview of the song was released on 31 August 2011.^[14]
"Fire and Soul" is a ballad with drum loops and light electronica elements. A one-minute preview of the song was released on 13 October 2011.^[14]
The songs vary in pace and mood, from the soft and summery "Fire and Soul" to the reggae infused "Raining In My Heart" and the sweeping storm that rages within "Conduct Yourself." The title track "Roses" is described as a "very sparse [...], but a very strong track". The music was written by guitarist Noel Hogan few years before the band went back into recording sessions.^[19]

"Someday", "Raining in My Heart", "Astral Projections" and "In it Together" were planned to be included on the cancelled 2004 album.^[42] The band first worked on those titles with producer Stephen Street during some recording sessions in 2003, before re-recording them for the Roses album in 2011.

Live performances

"Astral Projections" and "In It Together" were first performed live in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 29 May 2003.^[40] "Astral Projections" was later performed in 2010 at some Latin American shows during the Reunion Tour.

On 18 June 2011 the band performed "Tomorrow" at the London Feis Festival for the first time. "Schizophrenic Playboys" was first performed in Portugal on 16 July, at the Marés Vivas Festival, in Porto.

The band performed a medley of "Tomorrow" and "Dreams" on 23 March 2012 on The View.

Tour dates

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

Charts

In Canada, the album debuted at number 6 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 3,100 copies.^[46]

References

External links

• Roses at Metacritic