The Cranberries

1989–1991: Formation and early years

Brothers Noel Hogan and Mike Hogan, descendants of the nineteenth-century Irish poet Michael Hogan, met Fergal Lawler in the mid-1980s. The young kids who grew up together in Limerick, Ireland, also shared their love of 1980s English/indie music and were "galvanised by punk's DIY ethic". Lawler received his first drum kit as a Christmas present when he was about seventeen; two months later, Mike Hogan received his first bass and his brother his first guitar. Niall Quinn, who also lived in the region, played with his own group called Hitchers and occasionally shared his experiences with the trio. Thereafter, they moved towards the idea of a four-piece ensemble and Quinn decided to stay on with the band. In mid-1989, Mike (16) and Noel (18)...

Musical style

The Cranberries were defined as an alternative rock band. The band's sound, characterised by Noel Hogan's guitar-driven indie rock, combined musical genres ranging from jangle pop, dream pop, indie pop, and folk music styles (notably Irish folk) – to post-punk, embodied by the drumming style and O'Riordan's voice. Their debut single "Dreams", "introduced the world to the band's unique twist on the Celtic rock tradition"; The Michigan Daily's Kaitlyn Fox wrote, "one of the most well-known and influential groups from the Irish music scene is the Cranberries". They also incorporated string arrangements to various effect; writer Simon Vozick-Levinson described "O'Riordan's impossibly tender vocals" on "Linger", mingled with "the orchestral...

Influences

O'Riordan was influenced by The Smiths, Duran Duran, The Cure, R.E.M., and Depeche Mode. Lawler, Mike and Noel Hogan were inspired by The Cure, Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, and The Smiths. Hogan stressed that at the band's beginnings, "All these roads led to The Smiths, who became very big in our lives later on."

Linger

"Linger" is a song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries from their debut studio album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (1993). Written by band members Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan, and produced by Stephen Street, "Linger" was first released as the second and final single from the album on 15 February 1993 by Island Records.

It was later re-released on 31 January 1994.

Background

When O'Riordan was auditioned as the lead singer for the band, she wrote the lyrics, turning it into a song of regret based on an experience with a 17-year-old soldier she once fell in love with. Drummer Fergal Lawler recalled the process in an interview, saying:

Critical reception

Jason Elias of AllMusic described "Linger" as "a song of regret, epic in scope and sweeping", praising the instrumentation and O'Riordan's vocals: "While this isn't lyrically novel, the full-on emotionality of lead singer Dolores O'Riordan makes this stand out. Singing in a strong Irish brogue she comes off both needy and detached here. It's that emotion that powers this track". David Stubbs from Melody Maker commented, "Fragile, underwhelming acoustic thing with strings in which the girl, in prim, unsullied Irish vowels, pleads for her partner to put her out of her misery and end the relationship he's no longer interested in. Don't all rush to Virgin Megastore at once." Upon the 1994 re-release, the magazine's Caitlin Moran concluded,...

Music video

The music video for "Linger", shot in black-and-white, was directed by American director Melodie McDaniel and based loosely on Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 science fiction noir film Alphaville—a "film that considers the potency of desire". In one of the rooms of the hotel, a silent film is being shown which features 1950s stripper and burlesque performer Blaze Starr.

Zombie

"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries. It was written by the lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, about the young victims of a bombing in Warrington, England, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The song was released on 19 September 1994 by Island Records as the lead single from the Cranberries' second studio album, No Need to Argue (1994). Critics have described "Zombie" as "a masterpiece of alternative rock", with grunge-style distorted guitar and shouted vocals uncharacteristic of the band's other work.

Background and composition

The Troubles were a conflict in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to 1998. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), an Irish republican paramilitary organisation, waged an armed campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland and unite the region with the Republic of Ireland. Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries killed more than 3,500 people, many from thousands of bomb attacks. One of the bombings happened on 20 March 1993, as two IRA improvised explosive devices hidden in litter bins were detonated in a shopping street in Warrington, England. Two children were killed in the attack: Johnathan Ball, aged 3, and Tim Parry, aged 12. 56 people were injured. Ball died at the scene of the bombing as a result of his...

Production and release

Soon after "Zombie" was completed, the Cranberries added it to their set list. Lawler said they performed it for a year before recording it, and audiences responded with enthusiasm. The song was recorded and mixed at the Manor Studio in Oxford and at Townhouse Studios in London in 1994 with producer Stephen Street. They spent a long time working on getting the guitar settings right to give a suitably expansive sound, with O'Riordan noting "the sound came organically, because we were using our live instruments, we were plugging in a lot, and we started to mess around with feedback and distortion". Hogan contributed rhythm guitar to provide textures under O'Riordan's riffs. "Zombie" departed from the strings and jangle guitar of the...

Music and lyrics

"Zombie" has been characterised by commentators as alternative rock and grunge. O'Riordan later said it was not a concerted effort to ride the grunge movement, but she stated that "this wasn't grunge, but the timing was good", adding that, "We were just a different type of a band... and we had a lot of our own ideas". Hogan noted in a Rolling Stone interview that the Cranberries were beforehand accepted by "the same kind of [grunge] audience". O'Riordan was responsible for the heavier sound, a mere expression of her musical taste, as she would say later "we got it out of our system... all that anger out of our system". Discussing the musical approach and the requirement of a sound significantly louder, Hogan explained in a 2012 interview...

Background and production

"Zombie" was released with a music video in October 1994. The video was directed by Samuel Bayer, produced by Doug Friedman of HSI Productions, and edited by Eric Zumbrunnen. The music video was filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the heart of the Troubles with real footage, and in Dublin. Bayer insisted on going to Belfast for authenticity regarding illustrating "something this visceral and intense". To record video footage of murals, children and British Army soldiers on patrol, he had a false pretext, with a cover story about making a documentary about the peace-keeping efforts in Ireland. Bayer stated that a shot in the video where an SA80 rifle is pointed directly at the camera is a suspicious British soldier asking him to leave,...

Dreams

"Dreams" is a song by Irish rock band the Cranberries. It was originally released in October 1992 by Island Records as the band's debut single and later appeared on the band's debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (1993).

The song reached the top 50 of the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top 30 of the UK Singles Chart. A 1990 demo version was released in Ireland only in the summer of that year under their initial band name, the Cranberry Saw Us.

Background

According to lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, "Dreams" was written for an early love; she explained, "I wrote that about my first love when I was living in Ireland ... It's about feeling really in love for the first time". The song was later released on a demo tape with "Linger" that helped generate excitement for the band.

Critical reception

Upon the 1992 release, Ian Gittins from Melody Maker named it Single of the Week. He complimented it as "intoxicating, beguiling, a gossamer waltz across sacred ground", and concluded, "So enjoy the delicate but profound delights of 'Dreams' now. The Cranberries may never be this good again." On the 1994 re-release, the magazine's Paul Mathur felt it "doesn't quite scale such heights" as 'Linger'.

Music videos

There are three versions of the music video for the song, all three videos being their respective directors' only videos for the band. The first version features Dolores O'Riordan donning her original hairstyle that is seen on the Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? album cover. The video revolves around O'Riordan with the other band members while she's sitting down in a chair with a cross as a back or a close up of her face and eyes. The video shows a mirrored image of O'Riordan to show she does the background vocals and towards the end the band members fade in and out constantly in front of O'Riordan. This video was directed by English director John Maybury.

Other covers

A Cantonese cover of the song, "Dream Lover" (Chinese: 夢中人), with backing vocals by herself, was a hit single for Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was included in her 1994 album Random Thoughts, and the song was prominently featured in the same year's film Chungking Express, in which Wong starred. Wong also recorded a Mandarin version, "Elude" (Chinese: 掙脫), on Sky. Both versions are popular in the Chinese media, and was used in the release date trailer of the 2027 video game Ananta.

Just My Imagination

"Just My Imagination" is a song by Irish band the Cranberries. It was released as the third single from the band's fourth album, Bury the Hatchet, in August 1999.

A music video, directed by Phil Harder, was released to promote the single. In 2017, the song was released as a stripped-down acoustic version on the band's Something Else album.

When You're Gone

"When You're Gone" is a song by Irish band the Cranberries. It is the third single from their third studio album, To the Faithful Departed (1996).

The music video was directed by Karen Bellone and was released at the end of 1996. The song was first played during the North American leg of the No Need to Argue Tour in late 1994.

Music video

The music video was directed by Karen Bellone and Jake Scott. It is mostly in black and white. It features the "yellow room" from the album cover burning over a body of water.