Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'The Cranberries'

My late father had an inherent hatred of Irish people. ‘Not individually, but collectively’ he used to tell me. Where it came from I will never know now as I lost him many years ago.

What are my thoughts about the Irish race? I have met many and they have all been great. Consequently, I am the opposite of him, I LIKE Irish people.

The brings me to the indie band, ‘The Cranberries’. Dolores O'Riordan is as Irish as it comes. In many cases the accent tends to become hidden when one sings, but not in the case of this singer.

Sadly, like my father she has also now gone and I will now never be able to see in concert one of my favourite nineties bands.

Try I have; twice I have booked and paid for Cranberries concert tickets and twice they have cancelled and I have been refunded, the last time was only last year shortly before Dolores tragically died at the age of 46.

The band may be history but the music remains so let’s get on with it.

The Cranberries – Linger (Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? - 1993)

The debut album was a depressing one! I mean that in a positive way, the songs were dark and gloomy with topics about hatred, despair, loneliness, rejection and fear.

I am still undecided whether I prefer this to the next and more successful ‘No Need to Argue’ album. The album spawned a minor hit in the form of ‘Linger’ and it was a sorrowful ballad typical of its other counterpart songs on the album.

But it's just your attitude
It's tearing me apart
It's ruining every day

A long time ago I sent a tape to an ex of mine that included this song. It wasn’t intended to be a message but could be have been construed as one. Dolores sings about being manipulated and used by an ex-lover and my girlfriend at the time thought it was directed at her.

Not so, I was the innocent boyfriend sending her a tape of soppy ballads.

The Cranberries – Ridiculous Thoughts (No Need to Argue - 1994)

The pinnacle of the bands' success was the album that brought us the massive hit, ‘Zombie’.

Massive in America where I was living at the time, though the impact was not felt so much in the UK.

I’m not going to post this song as it’s been played to death and I’m here to show you songs you may not have heard previously.

This album is so full of great songs it’s hard to choose one. Like its predecessor it’s a very melancholy affair focusing on experiences by the singer and some political issues from the time. She must have had some bad times, that’s all I can say.

‘Ridiculous Thoughts’ is a more upbeat affair and a concert favourite, or should I say was.

The Cranberries – When You’re Gone (To the Faithful Departed – 1996)

The last good album in my mind was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, someone more akin to harder rock sounds. That came across in the album with the songs ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Salvation’ having more edge than usual.

In this period Dolores found love and it shows in some of the songs, the whole album being not so downbeat and depressing as the last two.

‘When You’re Gone’ was a single but largely ignored as the band were past their most famous time as this point. It’s a lovely song and more mainstream than what you would expect from them.

Three more albums were to come after ‘To the Faithful Departed’. I was disappointed with all of them, especially ‘Wake Up and Smell the Coffee’ which was very poor in my mind.

One thing I love is a good Rockumentary, particularly regarding artists and bands I know little about. You can learn so much in a short amount of time.

I found this grainy spanish subtitled one on YouTube that’s part of the MTV Rockumentary series. I'll be adding these to future 'Focus on' article's if I can find any of merit.

I have good memories about this band, particularly for first two albums. If you like moving emotional music that gets you singing in the car, you should give them a listen.