Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries dead

[Serge]

Had he forgotten her name?

[Technique]

It is obscene she died so young.And to think she wrote so movingly about others who died as young. Namely John Lennon.


https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cranberries/ijustshotjohnlennon.html

Makes me think of the work of a certain poet that must have influenced her.

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/gems/the-tay-bridge-disaster

[Icehaven]

She was incredibly well off apparently. Not sure how. Anyway RIP. Wasn't a fan but that's no age.

Their first album and Zombie were absolutely huuuuuge, and back then big records still sold in the kind of numbers that could make millionaires of the artists, so if she didn't piss it up the wall and took sound financial advice and all that (ie bought a ton of property that's probably tripled in value since then) then it's not really that surprising she was so rich.

[falafel]

So there was definitely some shite, but that doesn't invalidate Dreams to my mind. Zombie wound me up even as a ten year old but i would say its net impact on the world is probably neutral to positive. If someone puts out a lovely pop song like Dreams I will forgive them ten Salvations.

[Shit Good Nose]

Absolutely hated The Cranberries, BUT was hugely in love with her throughout secondary school and therefore knew a lot more of their music than any non-fan of any band had any right to.


Was it them that most of the kewl music press at the time loathed as well, or am I thinking of another Irish band from the time of that ilk?

[Glebe]

Very sad news. That's no age.

[Captain Crunch]

RIP Mulva.

[darby o chill]

Was it them that most of the kewl music press at the time loathed as well, or am I thinking of another Irish band from the time of that ilk?

Denny Cordell* (Moody Blues, Procul Harum producer) signed them when he returned to Island Records in the early 90's and almost immediately moved them out to the states. Denny said he wanted to bypass homegrown critics and go for the jugular. They were already stars before the Hot Press and NME articles came. Worked a treat. Can't comment on whether they were loathed by the press, no clue.

*Denny died in 95.

[Chriddof]

The UK music press were generally appreciative of them to begin with, some early gigs in 1991 or whenever got good writeups in papers like Melody Maker, and looking at their Wiki page it seems they recorded a session for John Peel, so must have been seen as something promising here. "Zombie" was the point that UK critics began to turn on them, and then when the third LP came out with the aforementioned tribute to John Lennon and everything else that was on it, purely critically speaking they were fucked from that point. "Zombie" continued to be played by the world at large for many more years, though.

Shit Good Nose: When it comes to Irish bands the UK music press hated, you may instead be thinking of The Sultans Of Ping FC.

[PaulTMA]

'Dreams' was great.

[Billy]

Is it my imagination or did Zombie actually chart incredibly low in the UK compared to basically every other country in the world where it was a huge #1? Don't think it outpeaked Linger either.

In fact did the dance remake from a year or two later do better?

[Vodka Margarine]

Zombie did as well as Linger, both peaking at #14. I think the sheer amount of airplay they were getting circa '94 made it seem like they were massive number ones. They never actually got higher than #13 with Salvation Army and 1999's Promises, which I had completely forgotten about.

[Head Gardener]

vinyl by the band was always collectable and will no doubt go up even more now - no, I don't have any

[JoeyBananaduck]

The Mirror has an article on her sad past - sexually abused as a child, suicide attempts, eating disorders etc. Sounds like she did well to keep going for so long, let alone produce some really beautiful work.

[Jockice]

I'll join the consensus on Dreams. And on Zombie. With their guns and their bombs they are foighting. Etc.

[Beagle 2]

I bought No Need to Argue on the basis of Zombie (I was 13, leave me alone), and was disappointed to find they weren't actually an angry grunge band but an angsty Enya.

[BlodwynPig]

Kosheen was better

[checkoutgirl]

I'll join the consensus on Dreams. And on Zombie. With their guns and their bombs they are foighting. Etc.

To me "Zombie" is like a song specifically formulated to torture me. It completely baffles me that it gained any popularity at all.

[BlodwynPig]

To me "Zombie" is like a song specifically formulated to torture me. It completely baffles me that it gained any popularity at all.

Angst rock was big around the time? RATM, Skunk Aniseed (sic).

[Shit Good Nose]

Shit Good Nose: When it comes to Irish bands the UK music press hated, you may instead be thinking of The Sultans Of Ping FC.

No, it was a high profile band that I've actually heard of.

[Robot DeNiro]

I don't think the NME ever really liked them. I remember one album review was headlined "Hatchet the 'berries" (clever wording, cheers) which pretty much summed up their attitude.  And mine.

[Dr Rock]

As I recall the music press were dismissive or hostile towards The Cranberries very soon after they had any success.

[gilbertharding]

Were they viewed as ersatz?

I think the consensus was that they were lightweights, making their apparent attempts at seriousness all the more risible.

I didn't like them - perhaps because I was told not to.

[checkoutgirl]

As I recall the music press were dismissive or hostile towards The Cranberries very soon after they had any success.

Makes sense. The more successful they were the more the rest of us would have to endure them. That's one thing successful people don't realise. Your success increases the chance that someone who doesn't like you will hear you anyway. Which is annoying.

I'm pretty sure "Dreams" was the chosen song for the Irish Tourist Board ad campaign around the late 90s. That song was fucking inescapable as well. It's all coming back to me now for fuck sake.

I think the Cranberries were very popular in Spain and places like that. Other places. Then again Roxette was also popular there so that might explain it.

[checkoutgirl]

Were they viewed as ersatz?

I think the consensus was that they were lightweights, making their apparent attempts at seriousness all the more risible.

Lightweights? You're opening a can of worms there mate. People who liked them will defend them and everyone else is going to say they were rubbish. They were a pop band. I don't think any of their fans or the band themselves would be naive enough they were anything else.

[darby o chill]

No, it was a high profile band that I've actually heard of.

The Frames (Glen Hansard & co) ?

[gilbertharding]

Lightweights? You're opening a can of worms there mate. People who liked them will defend them and everyone else is going to say they were rubbish. They were a pop band. I don't think any of their fans or the band themselves would be naive enough they were anything else.

I know they were a pop band - and that's great. But didn't they have a song about how bad war is, or something?

[Beagle 2]

Then again Roxette was also popular there so that might explain it.

Steady.

[smudge1971]

Absolutely hated The Cranberries, BUT was hugely in love with her throughout secondary school and therefore knew a lot more of their music than any non-fan of any band had any right to.


Was it them that most of the kewl music press at the time loathed as well, or am I thinking of another Irish band from the time of that ilk?

Hothouse Flowers?

[Billy]

Zombie did as well as Linger, both peaking at #14. I think the sheer amount of airplay they were getting circa '94 made it seem like they were massive number ones. They never actually got higher than #13 with Salvation Army and 1999's Promises, which I had completely forgotten about.

#14 ain't bad I suppose, but when you look at the worldwide chart positions it was either #1 or at least top 5 absolutely everwhere - #1 in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany and Denmark, top 3 in Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, #5 in New Zealand. Not being old enough to remember it I assumed it got limited airplay/publicity in the UK due to its subject matter, yet it still seems incredibly well known.

I looked up the chart for the week Zombie peaked at #14 (its second week, rising from #20) and these were the records that outsold it:

1. Whigfield - Saturday Night
2. Bon Jovi - Always
3. Corona - The Rhythm of the Night
4. Cyndi Lauper - (Hey Now) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
5. Madonna - Secret
6. Pato Banton - Baby Come Back
7. East 17 - Steam
8. Lisa Loeb - Stay
9. Michelle Gayle - Sweetness
10. Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love
11. Elton John - Circle of Life
12. Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You
13. CJ Lewis - Best of My Love

Presumably it would have done better had it included the words "Night", "Love" or started with the letter S. Same old theme since East 17.