Review: The Cranberries' 'No Need to Argue' 30th Anniversary 2xLP

The Cranberries were probably the smoothest band to get swept along in the post-grunge alternative tide of 1993, so they naturally became one of the most successful. In a year with several great debut albums (opening salvos from Liz Phair, Belly, Grant Lee Buffalo, Björk...), Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? was a nice one, going 5x platinum on the strength of its Cocteau Twins-lite love songs. 

Firmly established in the mainstream, The Cranberries decided to expand their viewpoint, drawing on their Irish-Catholic background to write songs about the Troubles, family, and religion, along with the usual weepy love songs, for their sophomore album. It wasn't a bad idea but perhaps too ambitious for this particular group. The strident, grungy dry-heaves of "Zombie" didn't suit them, and "Ode to My Family" mostly revealed that Dolores O'Riordan didn't really have anything to say about her family. And let's not even get into the anti-abortion "Icicle Melts", which plays particularly poorly amidst the current crackdown on women's right to not die in the maternity ward. 

A couple of the other songs came close to recapturing the pleasantness of the debut album, such as "Empty" and "Ridiculous Thoughts", but most of the others were merely forgettable. After enjoying the debut, I recall being disappointed with No Need to Argue back in 1994, and giving it a quick turnaround to the used bins to collect my two dollars.

But what the hell do I know? No Need to Argue outsold its predecessor, going 7x platinum. So I'm sure there are a lot of "Zombie" lovers out there who will be thrilled to see the album reissued as a remastered 2xLP bolstered with six bonus tracks: remixes of the album's two main singles, a demo of "Zombie", and three live cuts from Woodstock '94.