Cranberries lyrics and Cranberries guitar tabs, Cranberries pictures and biography

This band emanate from Limerick, Eire, and boast the honeyed
voice of Dolores O'Riordan
(b. Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan,
6 September 1971, Ballybricken, Limerick, Eire). From a
conservative, rural Catholic background, she had sung since the
age of four in schools and churches. Her guitarist and main
co-songwriter is Noel Hogan
(b. 25 December 1971), and the
line-up is completed by his brother, Mike
(b. 29 April 1973; bass),
and Feargal Lawler
(b. 4 March 1971; drums). The male members
had been involved as a band for some time but it had never
amounted to much until they joined forces with O'Riordan.
The group's original vocalist had given them their previous name -
The Cranberry Saw Us. Their debut EP Uncertain was released
in late 1991 on the Xeric label, whose owner, Pearse Gilmore,
became their manager. With its circulation the buzz surrounding the
band transferred to mainland UK, where Island Records underwent
tough negotiations
(not least due to Gilmore's self-interested
protectionism) to tie up a six-album contract. However, Uncertain
disappointed many journalists who had been given a preview of the
far superior songs on the demo
(which included 'Put Me Down',
'Dreams' and 'Linger'). Sessions for their debut album also produced
rancour, with Gilmore attempting to act as producer, leading to the
end of that relationship. The band contacted Rough Trade Records
supremo Geoff Travis, who had been interested in signing them but
who instead took over management
(with Jeanette Lee, a former
member of Public Image Limited ). The album was started from
scratch at Windmill Studios, Dublin, with Stephen Street. Everybody
Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? was finally issued in March 1993,
following the release of 'Dreams' and 'Linger' as singles. By now much
of the original impetus had dissipated, though a 1993 tour with Belly at
least seemed to offer some exposure. It helped the band renew their
confidence, and was followed by dates with Hothouse Flowers.
However, it was American audiences who would first truly appreciate
the band. On 10 June they began a six-week tour with The The and
they were picked up by college radio. The USA proved to have none
of the preconceptions associated with the capricious British press, and
the band soon became a hot radio and concert ticket. In July 1994
O'Riordan married their tour manager, Don Burton, in a ceremony
distinguished by her see-through bridal attire. The Americans kept buying
the album in their droves, and it was also successful in the UK, reaching
number 1 in the UK charts in June 1994. No Need To Argue followed
in October - and with its release the Cranberries were crowned as the
new kings of AOR. Including the strong single 'Zombie'
(despite its
rather crude and untimely lyrics concerning the Northern Ireland struggle),
the album caused the band to be welcomed anew by the UK media
that had long since deserted them. The only doubt hanging over the
band's future was the much-repeated opinion that O'Riordan was the
star and that, ultimately, she did not need her compatriots. Fortunately
this notion was in abeyance on To The Faithful Departed, as both chiming
guitar and solid drums were very much in the picture. The instruments
were solid as O'Riordan wafted in and out with more political diatribes
and tortured love stories. This time, 'Bosnia' and the anti-drugs song
'Salvation' shared space with the perplexing 'I Just Shot John Lennon'
and the wonderful doo-wop-styled 'When You're Gone', all contributing
to another hit of considerable magnitude.