Sparky, spiky and troubled . . . Dolores’s magic still lingers on
THE CRANBERRIES: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? (UMC) Verdict: Fitting tribute RICHARD ASHCROFT: Natural Rebel (RPA) Verdict: Well-judged return
Caught between the fading embers of american grunge and the first sparks of Britpop, the Cranberries didn’t really fit in anywhere when their debut album arrived in March 1993.
the quartet, led by singer Dolores O’Riordan, looked to folkish melodies and the chiming guitars of the Smiths.
they also hailed from Limerick, an Irish provincial city, just as the media gaze was alighting on the newly swinging London of Suede and Blur.
Yet they became global stars. Fuelled by its singles Linger and Dreams — and the power of MTV — Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? sold more than five million copies in america.
the UK, while reluctant at first, also fell big-time for O’Riordan and her bandmates.
Now repackaged to mark its 25th anniversary — and out as a four-CD box (£35), double CD (£13), single CD (£6) and on vinyl (£21) — the album has aged surprisingly well.
In the noisy aftermath of the Nirvana era, the Cranberries were portrayed as musically flimsy. In hindsight, they sound robust, with Dolores’s haunting voice framed by imaginative arrangements.
this reissue is sadly now a eulogy to the singer. Dolores, 46, died in the bathroom of a London hotel suite in January, with a coroner ruling that her drowning had been a ‘tragic accident’.
this package, already in the works, was put on hold before the three surviving band members decided to press ahead with it. It’s
a stirring testimony to one of Irish music’s great voices, its yearning tone set by Dreams and Linger. the former — ‘oh, my dreams, it’s
never quite as it seems’ — lays bare the melancholy beneath even the band’s happiest songs, while Linger’s account of a teenage kiss that led only to romantic disappointment showcases O’Riordan’s ability to sing with conversational ease: ‘I’m sure I’m not being rude, but it’s just your attitude/It’s tearing me apart, it’s ruining everything.’
Elsewhere, love is either unrequited (Sunday), cruelly snatched away (Waltzing Back) or angrily thrown aside (Not Sorry).
I Still Do delves into the insecurities of a naturally shy frontwoman who was never comfortable in the spotlight and would often avoid eye contact with an audience. her plaintive singing is fortified by drummer Fergal Lawler and the hogan brothers, bassist Mike and guitarist Noel.
ThE latter, despite an unhealthy reverence for the tough, jangling sound that Johnny Marr brought to the Smiths, is an inventive guitarist. Stephen Street’s production is detailed and dynamic.
as well as a re-master of the original album, a string of outtakes, sessions and live recordings paint a comprehensive picture of the band’s first four years without resorting to the persistent repetition that blights so many deluxe re-issues.
AS FRONTMAN of the Verve, the enigmatic band he formed at Wigan’s Winstanley College in 1990, Richard ashcroft began his career by singing over dreamy, free-form grooves.
his enigmatic swagger eventually led the group to 1997’s allconquering urban hymns.
his approach is now light years away from those heady days. Rooted in conventional verses and catchy choruses, his fifth solo album points ashcroft, 47, towards the middle of the road.
Natural Rebel’s songs are more everyday than rebellious, but they suit his rich, melodic voice. there’s a heartland rock hue to all My Dreams and Rolling Stones references aplenty on Money Money, which echoes gimme Shelter.
But the singer’s forte remains the slow-burning melodrama. he’s in his element on that’s how Strong, and Born to Be Strangers even puts a name to his style — ‘that country soul blues thing’.
an abundance of mid-tempo numbers gives Natural Rebel a rather uniform feel, but also provides him with a solid framework to ad-lib with aplomb. It’s good to have him back.
Both albums are out today. Richard Ashcroft starts a tour at Glasgow Barrowlands on oct 26 (gigsandtours.com).