''Cherry Marmalade'' is the first solo album by

Kay Hanley Kay Hanley is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo. Life and career Hanley grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts across the street from the Wahlberg family. She atte ...

, released in 2002 (see

2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002. Specific locations * 2002 in British music * 2002 in Norwegian music * 2002 in South Korean music Specific genres * 2002 in classical music * 2002 in country musi ...

Critical reception

Linda Laban of the '' Boston Herald'' considered "Cherry Marmalade" one of the top ten CDs released in 2002.Katz, Larry; Rodman, Sarah; Tedrek, T.J.; Johnson, Dean; Young, Bob; Gewertz, Daniel; Convey, Kevin; Wedge, Dave; Milano, Brett; Powers, Keith; Laban, Linda.
Herald critics count down 2002's Top 10 CDs
. ''Boston Herald''. December 20, 2002. p. S3. Laban described it as "sexy, clever, catchy pop". John Wirt of '' The Advocate'' said, "Hanley's versatile voice runs from reedy and tough to airy and vulnerable. Her singing's fully exploited through multi-tracking. Hanley's music and lyrics, either written by her alone or with Eisenstein, are as fetching and varied as anything

Letters to Cleo Letters to Cleo is an American alternative rock band originating from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for the 1994 single, "Here & Now", from their full-length debut album, '' Aurora Gory Alice''. The band's members are Kay Hanley, Greg McKe ...

did.""Wirt, John.
Womack leaves less behind this time
. ''The Advocate'' (Baton Rouge, Louisiana). August 30, 2002. Wirt described "Cherry Marmalade" as "one of the more pleasing pop-rock CDs of 2002. Craig S. Simon of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette described "Cherry Marmalade" a "joyous collection of the kind of smart and spunky pop tunes that seem to be few and far between these days." Chuck Campbell of the '' Knoxville News Sentinel'' said the album "often sounds like it's lacking a focal point" and "that Hanley struggles for a sense of purpose as she works her way through the enervating muddiness". Elysa Gardner of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' called ''Cherry Marmalade'', "insubstantial and bland". After "Cherry Marmalade" did not make a large commercial impact, Hanley said, "I have to remind people all the time (especially my mom) that my goal is not to reach a mass audience but to consistently put out my own version of good pop music to as many, or few, people who want to hear it. Letters to Cleo never made massively popular records, and I probably never will either, but I'll always make music, so if you want to hear it, I'll keep making it."'Grounded for Life' makes move to new home
. ''Herald and Review'' (Decatur, Illinois). December 13, 2002.

Track listing

#"Fall" (Hanley) – 4:57 #"This Dreadful Life" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 4:32 #"Satellite" (Hanley) – 4:19 #"Chady Saves the Day" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 4:06 #"Sheltering Sky" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 4:34 #"Princely Ghetto" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 4:27 #"Made in the Shade" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 4:48 #"Faded Dress" (Hanley) – 5:11 #"Happy to Be Here" (Hanley) – 2:38 #"Galapagos" (Hanley) – 6:25 #"Mean Streak" (Eisenstein, Hanley) – 2:50 #"Trans-Neptunian Object #1" (Hanley) – 5:00

Personnel

*Kay Hanley –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Peter Adams – keyboards *Paul Buckley – drums *Michael Eisenstein –

*Tim Obetz –

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

*Carl Plaster – drums *Steve Scully –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, brushes *Jennifer Trynin – guitar *Ed Valauskas – bass

Production

*Producer: Mike Denneen *Engineer: Mike Denneen *Assistant engineer: Fred Archambault *Mastering: Greg Calbi *Mixing: Tom Polce, Scott Riebling

References

{{Authority control Kay Hanley albums 2002 albums Zoë Records albums