The Cranberries Return to NZ for one show only
By: Skip Ink
Published: Mon 12 Dec 2011 09:31 AM
Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Tickets on sale Wed, 14 December with Ticket Direct
CLASSICS SUCH AS "LINGER", "DREAMS" AND "ZOMBIE"
McManus Entertainment is thrilled to announce Irish chart-toppers THE CRANBERRIES will perform in one New Zealand concert only on March 15, 2012 at Auckland's Trusts Stadium.
THE CRANBERRIES, fronted by Dolores O'Riordan, lit up the charts around the world for more than a decade with classics such as Linger, Dreams and Zombie.
They have sold more than 30 million records and have had two number one albums in Australia, No Need To Argue (1994) and To The Faithful Departed (1996).
Other live favourites include Free To Decide, When You're Gone, Salvation, Ode To My Family and Ridiculous Thoughts. After taking a few years off to raise their families, the band are thrilled to be back with their new album, Roses (released next year through Shock Records on February 10), their first record in more than ten years since Wake Up And Smell The Coffee in 2001.
Tickets go on sale Wed, 14 December with Ticket Direct
www.ticketdirect.co.nz 0800 224 224
The original Irish four-piece fronted by Dolores O'Riordan, who lit up the charts for over a decade with classics such as "Linger", "Dreams" and "Zombie" have sold more than 30 million records, with four Top 20 Billboard albums and a total of eight hit singles.
They've performed to millions of fans across the globe including several appearances for the Pope. They've graced the covers of Rolling Stone and SPIN Magazine, performed on Letterman and Leno. And now after taking a few years out to raise their families, the band are thrilled to be back with Roses, their sixth studio album and the first since Wake Up And Smell The Coffee in 2001.
"I always had the attitude that there would be another album," says guitarist Noel Hogan. "We just agreed we needed to get away from it for a while. But now it's great to be back. "
Originally formed in 1989 as The Cranberry Saw Us, Noel, Mike and Fergal first met Dolores O'Riordan in May 1990 after she auditioned for them shortly after their original singer left the band. They knew instantly they had found an extraordinary voice and a songwriter whose lyrics could compliment Noel's unique guitar sound. The hits were just around the corner and soon after signing to Island Records the single "Linger" was adopted by MTV in America who played the video every hour. The soft-sided tune went on to become a massive worldwide hit, followed by the sharper edged "Dreams". A fairytale start to an unforgettable decade.
The Cranberries returned in 1994 with the second Stephen Street produced album, No Need To Argue. Keeping abreast of the 90s taste for grunge, the album skipped between the fully loaded "Zombie" which scorched a trail to the No. 1 slot across the world and the softer, more reflective "Ode To My Family". Album sales were huge. Between them, the first two releases alone notched up more than 20 million copies. Demands on the band's time rose, fans rioted at a free show in the U.S. By the time they came off the road to record the follow-up, The Cranberries were among the biggest bands in the world.
The third album, To The Faithful Departed was released in 1996 and mirrored the frantic pace of the lives of the four members. With Aerosmith producer Bruce Fairburn at the controls, the band's sound put the innocence away and turned up the volume in favour of a faster, harder rock style with songs like "Free To Decide", "When You're Gone" and - still a big crowd pleaser to this day – "Salvation."
In 1999, they released their fourth album Bury The Hatchet, a way of making peace with the pop and rock audience. With a two year interval from the public gaze they served up a more relaxed mix of pop and rock in singles such as "Promises", Animal Instinct" and "Just My Imagination." After a lengthy world tour, they reunited with original producer Stephen Street in 2001 to make their fifth album Wake Up And Smell The Coffee, featuring top tracks "Analyze" and "Pretty Eyes". The tours rolled out one after another and in between performances they somehow found the time to promote Stars, a 20 track compilation of their very best, released in 2002.
In September 2003, as they considered recording another album, the band put the brakes on what had turned into an endless routine of performing and recording and went their separate ways. Glad of the break, the four who had all married by this time stepped out of the glare and returned home to raise their young families. The break proved quite successful in that respect. At a recent children's party in Limerick, to which all four members were invited, they realized there are now more than a dozen little Cranberries!
But during their time off from each other, some of the members continued to explore new sounds. Dolores released two solo albums, Are You Listening in 2007 and two years later No Baggage. Noel continued to write and produce releasing Mono Band in 2005 and later, Arkitekt. Fergal fed in to several acts in the local Limerick scene including The Low Network and Brendan Markham. And Mike stayed out of studios altogether, preferring to run a successful restaurant in Limerick city.
In 2009, Mike joined his brother Noel to perform some Cranberries songs at a college event in Dublin to honour Dolores. Of the performance Dolores says "The minute we started playing it felt like we'd never stopped. There's something about playing with the Cranberries, it's like putting on the pair of perfect shoes. It's a chemistry. It just fits." By then, Noel was back in touch with his former lead singer, sending her a variety of musical ideas for new songs. The small acoustic event helped ease the partnership back together again and within the year the Cranberries were testing the waters with some low-key shows. The following year saw them back up to speed again with a world tour featuring the very best of The Cranberries.
Some of the songs from the latest album date back to the days before they paused The Cranberries in 2003, like "Astral Projection" and "Raining In My Heart". Others come from the sound checks in 2010, like "Serendipity," "Conduct Yourself," and the seize-the-day themed first single "Tomorrow." But there were still a few surprises at the last minute during recording at Metalworks in Toronto in April and May of 2011. On an evening off as Dolores was going in to watch the movie Limitless, she listened to a melody Noel had saved for her. She loved it instantly and later that night wrote the lyrics to it calling the song "Roses". The song is now the title of the album, the sixth from The Cranberries and one they are confident will please their fans and win a legion of new ones.