Come on now, admit it - who here likes/has liked the Cranberries?

salvation is also great

Yeah, I don't get it. I thought "Linger" and "Dreams" were some kind of Irish country music when I first heard them. Thought "these lyrics are dumb". But subsequently found "Zombie", the rest of NNTA, then "Salvation" and "Free To Decide" completely irresistible and loved this band to death until I noticed via a music magazine they weren't a cool band to like.

Had a conversation at 14 with my crush where we both complained at how bad the first album was in comparison to NNTA. Not standing by that assessment, but I never understood the latter day opinion that first album >>>>>>> everything else

I just don't think The Cranberries ever did that kind of sound well, and usually when the distortion and powerchords arrived, then Delores would use it as an excuse to do her seal-barking/bellowing vocal on it, which isn't the prettiest sound in the world. They sounded far more natural and at home with tracks like 'Twenty-One': arpeggiated, lightly chorused guitar, with acoustic guitar backing, Delores singing in a low register and softly (none of the bellowing), and buffed up to perfection by Stephen Street. People can say whatever they like about the quality of the songwriting and the musicianship on those first two Cranberries albums, but the production on Everybody Else and No Need To Argue is top notch.

i'd agree with that re: production

i just don't think they ever had an idea of what kind of band they wanted to be

I wish they'd decided to be the band that made "Salvation" and songs like "Salvation" forever. People who call her voice annoying should really think for a second about their Siouxsie and E Fraser fandom bc some women sing like that and it is awesome

yeah. i like when her singing gets guttural because it is sort of unexpected based on what her voice usually sounds like, and it sounds like she is straining to sing like that which produces a compelling kind of tension. also in zombie, the quivering/cracking thing she does is perfectly executed. that song is anything but a "slog"

xpost:

Yeah, but then Delores sings like that and it doesn't sound awesome. In my opinion, anyway. The sad thing is, after the success of 'Zombie', and then To The Faithful Departed, Delores never quite regained the softer voice she once had on the first album and portions of the second album. Even when they tried to return to their early sound on some of their later albums, Delores' voice was still in jackhammer mode, as if it were poised to belt out 'Hollywood' for all eternity.

And as for Delores herself, her transition from shy/butter-wouldn't-melt circa the first album to the arrogant, preachy and downright nuts woman she was circa the third album was quite something.

she was good in that Father Ted episode tho

heard "dreams" on the local classic rock station last week, which struck me as an odd song to cross over in that direction.

jesus, i can muster up some defenses of delores but she's not even in the vicinity of e. fraser.

sometimes it seems like delores did not have much of a natural ear.

I'm thinking "Garlands" -> "Treasure" E. Fraser and there is not an ocean between them. There is a river and some mix decisions

Beyond that tho yeah there's an ocean and a continent

i like the 2 cranberries songs i have heard and honestly did not realize ppl were so angry about them for ages

Salvation is bellowy dolores at her worst imo, zombie is fine, dreams and linger great, ode to my family i find in my head more than any of em

Terrible live iirc

darragh otm. I think my favorites of theirs melody-wise may be "Empty" and "Free to Decide," the lyrical silliness of the latter notwithstanding.

Every time I think of this band now I get the song "Bosnia" stuck in my head and I can't stop giggling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUz9xCTOPRw

aaahaha fuck, beaten to the punch on that video. oh well. warrants a second viewing, certainly

i miss the random googlers

Think I'll revive this thread instead of some of the other ones. Dolores O'Riordan has suddenly passed.

https://www.rte.ie/amp/933526/?__twitter_impression=true

oh shit! whoa. that's really too bad. I can't say I liked anything after the first two albums but those records were good enough at the time.

wtaf

I loved 'Linger': a special record. And admired the whole first LP: it was always curious how good it was.

Horrible news. The only people who dislike Linger and/or Dreams are soulless hipsters.

this is devastating

she was having some sort of breakdown last year, i hope its not suicide

Dreams and Linger are great songs yes

RIP :(

Zombie is also a great song.

"Linger" is forever

"died suddenly" suggests it could be suicide

loved those first two albums. RIP

46 man, no age.

I'd hold off on the suicide speculation, frankly. I still remember when the God Machine's Jimmy Fernandez died suddenly as a young man during sessions for their second (and last) album, out of nowhere. More information will come as it does.

can't imagine my life without 'linger'.

Whoa

https://youtu.be/Y95VtBO_zZA

This will get a big wave of tributes in the Irish press. They look after - or, are very interested in - their own.

I loved 'Linger': a special record. And admired the whole first LP: it was always curious how good it was.

― the pinefox, Monday, 15 January 2018 17:23 (forty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Agreed

i really liked them, and her. i only heard the first couple of albums so i can't speak to anything from the third album on but those first couple were pretty fine albums overall.

Wow. I feel like I've been hearing the Cranberries name-dropped recently more than ever, it seemed the critical revival (or just rediscovery by younger listeners?) was happening.

aww man

Was never much of a fan of the Cranberries but Dreams is one of the all-time great songs by anyone

They were obviously making top shelf dream pop (heavy on the pop). I don’t know what happened in the 90s but the critical ambivalence they attracted — or the idea that they were a “guilty pleasure” — made no sense.

I still really like that first record a lot. She seemed troubled in recent years. RIP.

Dreams, Linger, Empty, Twenty-One, Free to Decide, When You're Gone all K-classic to me.

Her singing voice, with that Irish lilt, was absurdly beautiful.

I liked the first two LP's, especially the production. The third one is where I jumped ship.

RIP.

it's a slow work day today so i've put on everybody's doing it in the office

definitely takes me back

what a loss