To The Faithful Departed, the 3rd studio alblum from The Cranberries has often been panned as "one of the worst alblums of all times". I don't get it. The songs are produced wonderfully, paying special attention to the era of 90's alternative rock, and even a little ska. There is a lot of musical experimentation on this alblum that is very refreshing, and not the same as "No Need To Argue", where you tend to not know when the song is ending, and a new one is starting. You WILL know when tracks change on this alblum!
The start of the disc really grabs your attention with the hard rocking opener "Hollywood". It stays true to who The Cranberries are as a band, with the classic yodel of Dolores O'Riordan's beautiful voice.
"Salvation", the first radio single from this alblum, is a great anti-drug anthem, and with the help of a wonderful, yet creepy promotional video, moved this song to the top of the Modern Rock Charts in 1996. With ska music becoming ever popular in the early to mid 90's, this song contributed a wonderful brass section to the song, and makes it one of the best tracks on this alblum.
Other great songs on the alblum are "Forever Yellow Skies" with Dolores once again yodeling away to a hard rock beat. "I Just Shot John Lennon" is a wonderful rock song with hard guitar riffs, and Dolores pounding vocally away.
To make this alblum more diverse from there other 2 alblums before, The Cranberries decide to go a little more experimental, and in my opinion they do a wonderful job. It does sound experimental, and even a bit weird at some points, but what's wrong with that? I don't like it when reviewers say that "the alblum sounds just like their old stuff, why don't they do more experimenting", and then when the do experiment they pan saying, "a little too experimental, and not an accessible alblum".
This alblum is very accessible, and has wonderful sound. Give it a listen.

Christopher Sorick
Council Bluffs, Iowa

This CD is the first I have bought of the Cranberries, and if I had not explored their earlier releases, it would be the last. This was a band with extraordinary potential: truly unique lead vocals, distinctive sound(s), and real presence. They squander it, at least in this album, giving a jerky, distasteful performance. They are hooked on the idea of the yodeling punk band, and the result is miserable. There are moments, the gentler bits of "Electric Blue" and the delightfully gypsyish "Will You Remember?" that are truly decent, rich and potent instrumental segments. Then they yodel their trite and bland lyrics (most songs have only four or five lines, repeated to the gnawing point) and all falls down. What does she even mean, yelling over and over that "Salvation is Free"? There is always a cost to such things. If you're going to preach, preach something worth saying.

Look at the earlier stuff; it's calm, rich, and well-balanced. At least it seems that way in comparison. The lyrics are still dull, but it's ok somehow. And then write a review of it for me!

My only complaint is that the album art book is very thick and makes it hard for the CD case to close properly and fit in with my CD's.

My knowledge of The Cranberries never stretched beyond Zombies for most of my life, however a while ago I got the sudden urge to start listening to them. To The Faithful Departed was the first release I bought. Originally I wasn't impressed at all, but my tastes have changed greatly since I bought it so I decided to give it another chance. Much to my surprise, I love everything about this CD now. Delores' vocals are so powerful and so different from everyone else's that it's almost irresistible. The band, for the most part, creates moods excellently. From the dark feeling of Hollywood to the eery feel of Electric Blue or even the almost upbeat feel of I Just Shot John Lennon, everything just clicks. Such is the case with about 90% of To The Faithful Departed.

Automatically, whenever you say you like The Cranberries you get one of two reactions.

1:) Disgust, and a reply along the lines of "I hate them."
OR
2:) A pleasing reaction, and a reply along the lines of "Yeah, they're really good."

With my experiences I get the first of the two, which leads me to believe The Cranberries are an extremely acquired taste. I can't see how people don't like them though. Most of their songs are insanely catchy and quite accessible, so with music where it is nowadays, I'd think The Cranberries would be getting only more fans.

I mentioned a few of the many different moods included on this CD but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Basically, any mood you're in, this CD has a song with that same mood. Hollywood is dark, almost with a depressing vibe, Free To Decide has a nearly uplifting feel, War Child is a terribly depressing song, I Just Shot John Lennon is dark but with an almost happy feel, and Electric Blue is one of the more dreamy tracks included. So there you have it, a CD full of different emotions.

My favorite songs are Hollywood, War Child, I Just Shot John Lennon, Electric Blue, and I'm Still Remembering. I won't say this CD is perfect, but the good parts vastly outweigh the bad. If you're new to The Cranberries I'd start with the Best Of that they have, it's a suitable starter, but by all means, this is well worth the money.

Read a significant number of these reviews and you'll get a sense of the band's following whining about the more aggressive musical tone to the songs, complaints about "over-production" by Bruce Fairbairn, and the political nature of several of these tunes. While the 3rd plaint is a valid one (O'Riordan's lyrics are often the weak link to the band) the first two are NOT. Taken as a whole, this is a better collection than EVERYONE ELSE is frankly and probably more cohesive than NO NEED TO ARGUE (though the highlights of that disc are better tunes than the best work here).

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Salvation" is an anti-drug screed that would be sunk by the vapid lyrics ("To all those people doin' lines/Don't do it/don't do it/Inject your soul with liberty..") were it not for the relentless drive of the tune and some great quirks (the brass section that comes in in the song's 2nd half). "When You're Gone" is Irish doo-wop, O'Riordan's accent combining with the "doobie da" backing vocals and a chord structure that recalls 50s rock. "Free to Decide" is another anti-war anthem, more or less asserting the individual's right to refuse to fight. The rollicking lament "I Just Shot John Lennon" is another standout, calling the December shooting of the ex-Beatle "a sad and sorry and sickening sight". "Will You Remember?" is a despairing look at marriage as O'Riordan asks if her fiancee will remember the details of the nuptials (her lipstick,dress,the black limousine,the champagne) before concluding "I won't remember the things that we swore/I will just love you in vain".

LOWS:
I agree with what others have said about "Hollywood"..it simply feels like a rehash of "Zombie" musically but not as potent. "Sarajevo" is political commentary on the level of South Park's Mr. Mackey (you know, the counselor who says "Drugs are bad..you shouldn't do drugs). Witness this couplet: "Bosnia was so unkind/Sarajevo changed my mind". It's all produced to sound big and anthemic (a children's chorus contrasted with O'Riordan asking "When do the saints go marching in?",orchestra,musicbox flourish at the end to indicate the spent innocence of the kids in the war ravaged land) but it isn't enough to salvage the mess.

BOTTOM LINE:
This disc is an easier listen overall than either of the 2 discs before it, which were either spotty at times (NO NEED) or tended to blur together (EVERYONE ELSE). This is probably the most accessible disc if you've already got the STARS compilation and you're wondering where to go next.

3 1/2 stars