The power of Dolores O’Riordan lay in a striking contradiction: a woman who would stare at the floor in a fit of nerves one moment and command a stadium with an iron will the next. For the surviving members of The Cranberries, revisiting the dawn of their career is less about the statistics of success and more about the singular, electric presence of the woman who defined their sound.
As the band prepared for the deluxe re-issue of their 1993 debut, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, guitarist Noel Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler reflected on the whirlwind ascent that took them from the quiet streets of Limerick to the global stage. The album, which eventually became a sleeper hit and sold six million copies worldwide, served as the blueprint for a specific brand of Irish alternative rock that blended ethereal melodies with raw, political urgency.
Central to that success was O’Riordan, whose vocal gymnastics and fierce independence became the band’s North Star. In recalling her early days, Hogan noted that while the rest of the band was content to remain in the periphery, O’Riordan possessed an innate ability to claim the spotlight.
“The rest of us were happy to hang out in the background, but Dolores really embraced stardom,” Hogan said. “Everybody talked about how at our early gigs she’d stare at the floor or the ceiling as she was nervous, but she very quickly learned how to fill the stage and work a crowd, no matter how big it was.”
The defiance of a ‘wildness and an attitude’
To understand the appeal of The Cranberries in the early 1990s is to understand the specific magnetism of O’Riordan. At a time when the music industry often sought to mold female frontwomen into predictable archetypes, she remained stubbornly herself. This authenticity was not a calculated brand but a fundamental part of her personality.
According to Hogan, “Dolores had a wildness and an attitude – ‘This is who I am, take it or leave it!’ – which people loved.” It was this uncompromising spirit that allowed the band to transition from local favorites to international icons without losing their identity.
The transition felt, by all accounts, like a fever dream. Coming from a small town in Ireland, the band found themselves thrust into a world of luxury and celebrity that felt entirely alien. Hogan described the experience as “fairytale material,” recalling the surreal nature of flying to Los Angeles to film music videos, being greeted by limousines and receiving visits from peers like R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe on set.
Capturing ‘The Cranberries sound’ in Dublin
Before the limousines and the L.A. Sets, there was the painstaking work of capturing a sound that felt honest. The band’s journey to their debut album was not a straight line; it was marked by a series of “false starts” before they found the right chemistry in the studio.
The breakthrough occurred at Windmill Lane 2, a cozy studio located just off Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Working with producer Stephen Street, the band was able to refine the atmospheric, guitar-driven sound that would eventually define the era. Lawler noted that the memories of those sessions remain vivid, stating, “We knew Steve was going to do a great job of capturing ‘The Cranberries sound’.”
The resulting record was a masterclass in dynamics, moving from the fragile vulnerability of “Linger” to the sweeping intensity of “Dreams.” These tracks did more than just climb the charts; they established a sonic vocabulary that influenced a generation of songwriters across continents.
Legacy and the Deluxe Re-issue
The deluxe edition of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, released on May 22, serves as both a celebration and a preservation of this era. Beyond the original tracks, the re-issue provides a deeper look into the band’s global reach and the evolving nature of their influence.
The release includes several key additions for collectors and historians of the 90s music scene:
- New Stereo Mixes: Updated versions of the original tracks handled by producer Stephen Street.
- Expanded Liner Notes: Detailed accounts of the album’s creation and its impact on the alternative music landscape.
- International Perspectives: The inclusion of Spanish versions of the hit singles “Linger” and “Dreams,” alongside new cover versions by Mexican artists BRATTY and Anasof.
The inclusion of contemporary artists from Mexico underscores the enduring, cross-cultural appeal of O’Riordan’s songwriting. Her ability to translate the specific anxieties and hopes of a small Irish town into a universal language continues to resonate decades after the album’s initial release.
For the members of The Cranberries, the process of re-issuing the album is a way of honoring a colleague and friend who passed away in 2018 at the age of 46. While the “wildness” she brought to the stage is gone, the recordings ensure that her attitude—and her voice—remain indelible.
The band continues to manage the legacy of their discography, with future archival releases and remastered editions expected as they continue to curate O’Riordan’s extensive body of work.
Do you have a favorite memory of The Cranberries’ early music? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
