The Cranberries

This highly touted Irish band hail from Limerick and boast the honeyed voice of Delores O'Riordan (b. c.1971). From a rural Catholic background, she had sung since the age of four in schools and churches. The male personnel, songwriter Noel Hogan (guitar), his brother Mike(bass) and Fergus Lawler (drums), had already been involved as a band, influenced by the Cure, R.E.M. and the Smiths, for some time. However, The Cranberry Saw Us, as they called themselves, never amounted to much, until they joined forces with O'Riordan. Resulting demo tapes sent a ripple of anticipation through record companies looking for a new Sundays. Their debut EP UNCERTAIN, on the obscure Xeric label late in 1991, revealed their promise. But it was Nothing At All which left critics gushing in their wake, one noting: ‘No band since the Smiths have sounded so spectacularly vulnerable’. However, the Cranberries began to wilt under the weight of expectation. Delores, the band's lyricist and central focus, was growing particularly tired of the press’ depiction of her as a naive young Irish lass fresh from the country. When a follow-up single bombed the group were tossed aside by the media. Geoff Travis, Rough Trade-founder, stepped in as their manager, and found them a deal with Island Records, and former Smiths producer Stephen Street was booked in to produce their debut album. If it failed to redress the balance with UK critics, it served as a platform for the Cranberries to acquaint themselves with an American audience. Co-headlining a tour with press darlings Suede, the Cranberries enjoyed a much more fervent reaction, pushing sales of EVERYBODY IS DOING IT to over the million mark. In the process it has become Ireland's biggest selling debut album ever.