Representatives from The Cranberries Official Homepage have confirmed that the band will be working with artist Storm Thorgerson for their next album. Thorgerson designed the art for “Bury the Hatchet”, its singles, “The Complete Sessions”, as well as “Beneath the Skin”, released earlier this month on DVD. He is best known for, however, his exotic art for bands such as Pink Floyd. The band has commented in several interviews that their first three albums were like a trio, and perhaps they’re looking to make another.

Source: Noel Hogan

“Beneath the Skin”, The Cranberries’ new VHS and DVD concert was just released in Mexico on Sunday (the 21st). The response from the public has been overwhemling thus far. The release has sold over 10,000 copies in Mexico since its release, enough to push it to #2 on the Top 10 Selling Videos in Mexico. Videos have been flying off shelves there, making it nearly scarce to find. No word yet on American sales figures, but The Herald will do some research, and we’ll see what we can find.

Source: Thanks to mexfan

The official page has been updated with some great news!
First, to begin, “Bury the Hatchet: The Complete Sessions” will be released in the United States in March!! The 2-CD set was released in Europe last April, and therefore only available as an import. Disc 1 includes the full album of “Bury the Hatchet” and the UK bonus track “Sorry Son”. The second disc includes five more B-sides and several live tracks, most recorded in Paris, December 9th, 1999 (the “Beneath the Skin” show). The US release will have an MSRP of $19.99. Please, please include something new! (New packaging, different tracks… something!)

Fascinating! A news story from Zombieguide made it to the official page! To clarify, the “greatest hits” CD was intended only as a promotional pack-in to the Turkish magazine “Blue Jeans”, and is not a separate release. According to online rare music retailers, the compilation is licensed by Universal, however it was probably something handled by the record company entirely and the band was never notified.

Odds are, we WILL indeed hear “Analyze” before autumn! As previously reported, the track didn’t make it to the soundtrack. This is due to Universal’s decision to delay the track. Because the new album is now slated for October 2000, the company wants the track to be on a movie closer to it’s release. (”Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”, anyone? Nah, it’d be out of place.)

Click here to read the news, straight from Fergal. (Link no longer available)

Source: The Cranberries Official International Homepage

Dario G’s “Dream to Me” is doing fairly well in Europe, appearing in several European Top 10 lists. The track is a dance remix of the Cranberries’ hit “Dreams”, as previously reported.

The track made its debut at #9 on MTV’s Dance Floor Chart in the UK for the week of January 12th. The track has since been slowly climbing the charts, with the video being played in the top 8 on MTV UK.

The international release date for the single is currently set at February 26th, 2001 (this probably does not cover the US). The album, “In Full Colour” will follow shortly.

Sources: MTV UK, Dario G Official Website

Weeks after the American release, Europe has finally received the PAL format DVD of “Beneath the Skin”. The European release is virtually identical to the American release, with the exception of regional coding. No new artwork or any extra goodies.

Source: Thanks to Jesus Castillo

The official site has updated with the following bit of news about the redesign of the official website:

UPDATE ON “NEW-LOOK WEBSITE”
News just in from Storm Thorgerson, (who is redesigning the website) is that it should be up and running by the 18th of February (barring any major disasters). By the way, we are not allowed to call him “legendary” anymore, he would rather be known as “dark, mysterious, handsome and sexy”.
Keep coming back to the latest news for more updates….

Source: Official International Cranberries Homepage

As if “Beneath the Skin” wasn’t enough, a second DVD release will hit the United States within a month. Save up your money for “From a Whisper to a Scream: The Living History of Irish Rock”, due in February.

Surprisingly, after doing a little research, there is no lack of information on the anthology. “From A Whisper to a Scream” is the brainchild of director David Heffernan, and compiles the most comprehensive look at the Irish music scene available, from the early 1900’s to today. The six-part series originally aired last year on the Irish television station RTÉ. The documentary lasts for well over 2 1/2 hours.

And, of course, if it didn’t include the Cranberries, you wouldn’t be reading it here. The documentary is chock full of exclusive interviews, as well as narratives from the artists themselves. Dolores O’Riordan is one of the featured voice-overs. Accoring to Tower Records’ description, the piece also contains “special archival footage, extensive reviews and specially staged performances” from various artists.

“It was relatively easy to get people,” Heffernan told Ireland.com. “There were not as many obstacles as you might imagine, because they had a sense this was a story worth telling. They were very giving of their time. When you start out to make these projects, you really don’t know whether you’ll get the sort of artists you’ll need. For other projects I’ve worked on in the past, negotiations to get artists to agree to commit take a lot of time. For this, people saw what we were trying to do and felt a sense of confidence in what was actually a compelling story.”

Interestingly, the project began as a book and 2 CD set. However, due to lack of funding, Heffernan was not able to fully realize his dream of a full- scale documentary. However, after extensive fund-raising, he was able to gather the over £1 million it took to materialize his ambition (that’s about $1.48 million+ for us Yanks). No doubt this is a large-scale project.

Both the VHS and DVD will release in the US on February 13th. The DVD will carry an MSRP of $29.99 while the VHS 3-video set will retail for $39.95. You can pre-order the DVD at Tower Records here for $25.99 or the VHS here for $35.99.

For lots more information, check out the links below. Major thanks to Pedro for the news tip.

Sources: Ireland.com, RTÉ.com, and Tower Records

ShowBiz Ireland, a premier entertainment source around Ireland, recently had an exclusive interview with Dolores shortly after the band’s gig at Vicar Street for the MTV Awards party.

Shortly before the show, Dolores, six months pregnant, said that she was looking forward to it. “It’s something I always wanted to do. I felt it would be an experience to play a concert while I was pregnant…. I’m really looking forward to playing at Vicar St. It’s a real treat, it’ll be a little different for a couple of reasons not only because I’m pregnant and I won’t be able to perform my usual stage gymnastics – it’ll be a completely different stage show but also it’ll be the Cranberries first really intimate gig since the early nineties when we played much smaller venues.”

When asked why they were going to play at the small Vicar Street gig and not at the awards themselves, the band responded, “We were not asked to play at the awards. We have in the past but as well as this it may be a bit too much to travel to Sweden and play a big gig with Dolores as pregnant as she is.”

Interestingly, ShowBiz talked long enough with Dolores to squeeze some social commentary out of her. “The state of our planet is something I’m getting concerned about. There will always be political problems; it’s our human nature. When I was younger I didn’t give a toss about the planet. I was a teenager and I was too busy partying. But the older I get the more I’m concerned about the planet, [even] more so again since I became a parent.”

Hmmm… perhaps we have some thematic structure for Album #5? We’ll have to wait and see.

Source: ShowBiz Ireland

Previously, it was reported by the Cranberries Tape Trader that “Beneath the Skin” would see release in Canada on January 3rd. Apparently, that date was not correct, as many reported. Now, the same site has reported that the new release date for Canada is February 1st. This date applies to both the VHS and DVD releases. Is this date trustworthy? Lets hope so.

Source: Cranberries Tape Trader

It’s the news I never wanted to hear, but somehow knew it would come.
Billboard.com has posted the track listing for the “Sweet November” Soundtrack minus the Cranberries. “Analyze”, a new song was announced by the band as being considered for the soundtrack.
The track listing is:

1. Enya, “Only Time”
2. BT, “Shame”
3. Stevie Nicks, “Touched By An Angel”
4. Paula Cole, “Heart Door”
5. k.d. lang, “The Consequences Of Falling” (previously unreleased Lenny B remix)
6. Tegan & Sara, “My Number”
7. Robbie Williams, “Rock DJ”
8. Barenaked Ladies, “Off The Hook”
9. Jackie Wilson, “Baby Work It Out”
10. Tracy Dawn, “You Deserve To Be Loved”
11. Amanda Ghost, “Cellophane”
12. Celeste Prince, “Wherever You Are”
13. Bobby Darin, “The Other Half Of Me”

I suppose that there is still a chance of the track list changing or of “Analyze” being used in the actual movie. But I think at this point that the chance of either may be slim.

This is all too cold a reminder of 1998’s “X-Files” soundtrack. “What’s On My Mind”, a new song, was announced to be included on the soundtrack. Later, it was absent from the track listing. Sources cited that the Cranberries weren’t exactly the band the music producers had in mind, so the track was therefore omitted. “What’s On My Mind” was later released on 1999’s “Bury the Hatchet”, and possibly the best track on the album in my opinion.

Source: Billboard.com

“Beneath the Skin” has finally been released in America, approximately 1 year and 7 months after the last release in the US, “Bury the Hatchet”. And oh boy, is it nice.

Distribution at the moment is a bit sparse. Some stores simply are not carrying it, whereas many have only either the VHS or DVD and not both. Nevertheless, after a good searching, one should find a copy with some luck.

We’ve all see the cover and back many times, so here are some exclusive scans of what we haven’t seen from the DVD: the chapter index, the disc, and the jumbo sticker on the outside of the plastic.

Full “Beneath the Skin” Review Here (Link no longer available)

Source: Exclusive

Australia now has a date for the new VHS/DVD “Beneath the Skin”, which gets released in the US tomorrow and Canada on Wednesday. Aussies can get their money ready for February 5, 2001. The concert will carry a price tag of $39.95 AUD (approx. $22.30 US), which is slightly lower than the US price of $24.95.

Source: Johannes Schmidt

The date for the “Sweet November” soundtrack is now official. The December 2000 issue of ICE Magazine reports that the CD will hit retail shelves on February 6, 2001 (in the US). Meanwhile, the movie itself will relese in theaters on February 16, ten days later. Hopefully “Analyze” will still make it to the soundtrack and the band won’t be rejected a la “X-Files”. Apparently though, the film makers are looking for new material for the soundtrack insteat of old recycled stuff. New songs “Only Time” by Enya and “Touched by an Angel” by Stevie Nicks will also be highlights of the disc.

Source: ICE Magazine, December 2000 Issue