Although it's not an anniversary or anything, the Cranberries' sophomore album has just been given the deluxe treatment -- a remastered and expanded version featuring 36 tracks including live versions, demos, remixes and more.
Originally released in 1994, "No Need to Argue" was the band's biggest-selling album with global sales in excess of 17 million and contained the band's most commercially successful single, "Zombie." The video for "Zombie" has since been viewed over one billion times on YouTube, making the Cranberries the only Irish band to pass this milestone and putting them in a very small club of artists to do so.
The expanded 2-disc and digital versions of "No Need to Argue" include a remaster of the original album and three B-sides: "Away," "I Don't Need" and "So Cold In Ireland" from the original tapes. Also included are 19 previously unreleased tracks including two songs not officially released in any format: "Yesterday's Gone" -- recorded unplugged for MTV in New York in 1995 -- and a demo of "Serious," which until now has only existed as a low quality live bootleg on YouTube. The 2CD edition features previously unseen photographs taken from the album photo sessions.
I have a bit of a strange relationship with the album. For starters, I wasn't too keen about "Zombie," which was a big departure from "Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We" and its sublime singles, "Dreams" and "Linger." And I acquired the compact disc through the Columbia Record and Tape Club, which made it feel like I hadn't actually paid for it -- so I never put it in heavy rotation like I might have when it was first released. Over time -- and with the help of my '90s hubby -- I've grown to appreciate it though, particularly today's song of the day, "I Can't Be With You" and the title track.
The death of singer Dolores O'Riordan in 2018 was heartbreaking, but not entirely shocking to me. Although most Americans barely remember who the Cranberries were, I can recall being on a flight in the U.K. and picking up an Irish tabloid someone had left on the plane with screaming headlines about the Queen Cranberry, detailing her latest drama and trauma. (There were a lot of them, I learned, ranging from childhood sexual abuse and anorexia to suicide attempts and drug/alcohol abuse.) In her Native Land it appeared she was living under a microscope typically reserved for someone like Liz Taylor, and I specifically remember thinking given her fragile state of mind that it might make sense for her to perhaps relocate to, well, just about anywhere else in the world, where she could have lived in peace. (Apparently she had, at times escaped to Canada and New York City.) Here's hoping she's found it now.
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