THE CRANBERRIES: To The Faithful Departed

Dolores O'Riordan * Vocals, guitar
Noel Hogan * Guitar
Mike Hogan * Bass
Fergal Lawler * Drums

On the strength of their last two albums, The Cranberries have emerged as one of the most significant acts of the 90's. On their third album, To The Faithful Departed, The Cranberries build on their success and in the process deliver some of their toughest and most thoughtful songs.

Co-produced by The Cranberries and Bruce Fairbairn, To The Faithful Departed probes love, life, loss and the enduring spirit that gets us through all of those experiences. "A lot of people who were close to us have passed away in the past few years," offers vocalist Dolores O'Riordan. "And obviously death is a very negative thing...but then you think about what those people taught you and you look on the bright side and feel honored because you knew them and were part of their lives. That was the driving emotion behind this album."

"Salvation" will be the first single released from To The Faithful Departed. Set to a propulsive, metallic groove, and punctuated by a blistering horn section, "Salvation" is an ironic look at drug culture, told from a kid's and a parent's point of view. As the song's co-writer Noel explains it, "On one side, you've got the kid thinking, 'drugs are lovely'...And then you've got the parents who want to tie their children up cause they're so worried. Where do you draw the line? It's a satirical song about a very serious subject."

Another track sure to provoke conversation is "I Just Shot John Lennon." A chronicle of the night Lennon was murdered, "I Just Shot John Lennon" examines the tragedy from the perspective of the fan and the fanatic. "Obviously the song is condemning the murder," says Dolores. "Even though we were all too young to actually remember when he died, his death had an impact on us."

From the loss of an icon, The Cranberries shift inward on "When You're Gone." Built on a neo-doo-wop rhythm, "When You're Gone" is, as Dolores explains it, "a really nice love song about missing someone and maybe not appreciating them fully until they've left." On "Free To Decide," The Cranberries take a look at the need to keep one's life in control -- while on the album's fierce opening cut, "Hollywood," the band focuses in on fame and all of the ensuing fantasies. From universal topics to finite matters of the heart, there's a constant thread that's woven throughout the 13 tracks that make up To The Faithful Departed. It's the sense of growth.

Nowhere is that growth more obvious than in The Cranberries' sound. "There's a trap to being successful," Dolores says, "and that's that bands tend to over-polish their work and then become a kind of very safe pop band. We didn't want that to happen." "Yeah, I guess we were kind of bored with the way it was," Fergal laughs. "We didn't want to go back into the studio and do the same thing, in the same way that we had done it before. When your creativity matches the creativity of the producer, something special happens. We were looking for something that would excite us and someone who would inspire us in a totally different way." "And Bruce," says Mike, "definitely did that.

To The Faithful Departed was recorded in Ireland in just four weeks and marks The Cranberries' return to the studio after a two year break. Many of the songs were composed while The Cranberries were on the road touring after the release of No Need To Argue, and the expediency of certain songs reflects the hectic pace The Cranberries have been keeping. "Very few takes, very few edits," Noel offers. "Pretty much what you're hearing is how we laid the tracks down."

In 1990, Noel, Mike and Fergal had a band called the Cranberry Saw Us, when a local girl named Dolores auditioned for the vacant singer slot. "We weren't expecting anything," Noel recalls, "but everybody just shut up and listened...and then we knew straight away."

Within a year of that audition, the band, now called The Cranberries, found themselves signed to Island Records.

In 1993, the band released their debut, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? The record took some time to catch the public's attention, but once it did, the dreamy, yet solid sound resonated. Driven by the popularity of "Linger" and "Dreams," the album stayed in the Billboard Top 200 for over two years and laid the foundation for a loyal fan base.

After an extensive worldwide tour, which included a performance at Woodstock 2, The Cranberries re-entered the studio to record their second album, No Need To Argue. No Need To Argue succeeded in broadening The Cranberries' appeal, and featured the international hit "Zombie."

After hitting the road in support of the album, The Cranberries were invited to perform at a special event in Italy that was held to benefit the Bosnian relief organization, War Child. The experience and the events taking place in Bosnia inspired the moving tracks "Warchild" and "Bosnia," both of which appear on To The Faithful Departed.

Three albums deep and The Cranberries' lives remain much the way that they were six years ago. The group still lives in Limerick, and maintains close ties both to the city and to Irish culture. In an age of pop super-stardom and the egos that go with it, The Cranberries have remained a close knit group, staying clear of the limelight and concentrating on their music.

"You know you can't always expect to be on the top of the world. Everybody goes up and down. That's life. But the thing is...I love singing," says Dolores. "I love making albums and we all love what we do. And that, I hope, is obvious."