In 1973, Dolores O’Riordan was only two years old. Who’d have thought then that she’d someday write what would become nominated as one of the best songs of her first thirty years?

French music channel M6 is selecting the best singles of the past thirty years and The Cranberries’ “Zombie” is in the running in the top 60 nominees. From punk rock of the early nineteen eighties to grunge rock in the nineties, even the pop rock of today, M6 is tracking down the best of the best from the last three decades of music. And in all of its political-angst glory, “Zombie” may be included in M6’s final pick. There’s a huge varitey of other songs chosen, such as the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe,” Tom Jones’s “Sex Bomb,” Michael Jackson’s “Thiller,” and a long list of French artists.

French fans can guess what song was picked as of the past 30 years via their mobile phone by dialing 08 92 683 583 or by SMS service by dialing 61888 (fees may apply). A vacation is awarded to the winner. “Zombie” is ID #060 on the list. Check out the magazine scan below for more details.

The list that makes the final cut will air on M6 this Saturday, September 6th at 20h50 local time. If you have access to the French channel, tune in to view the final results. If not, check back here at zombieguide.com to find out how “Zombie” fares in the end.

(IMAGES NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Source: Lescranberries.fr.fm

Even more signs are now pointing to the possibility of Dolores O’Riordan taking up a full acting part in AC/DC’s Brian Johnson’s “Helen of Troy.” An article published yesterday in the UK’s “The Sunday Times” had this to say:

Helen of Troy is tipped to make its UK debut in November and Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer with Irish group the Cranberries, may play Helen, who is kidnapped on her wedding night by Paris, with the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Although this still isn’t a confirmation, it does appear to be fresh information. The rest of the article carries new quotes from Johnson and others involved with the play, which suggests that the information above may have been given by someone working first-hand on the project.

Click here to read the full article. (LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Source: News.com.au

The Cranberries Official Site has been updated today for the first time in nearly a month with news of several new Cranberries projects in tow.

The most surprising of which is that Dolores has contributed vocals to an upcoming album by German electronic/dance duo Jam & Spoon. The official site notes that Jam & Spoon’s new album could be out within a month, but after a bit of researching, Zombieguide could find no definite release date other than “autumn/winter 2003,” and very little detail beyond that. It’s our guess that you won’t be seeing it quite so soon as September.

Dolores contines to record at Metalworks in Toronto (where much of “Bury the Hatchet” was conceived), presumably with Matthew Vaughan in her company. She has just completed a “new recording” (no specification if that is a song or more than a song) for “for a possible soundtrack, which is scheduled to be released around the Spring of 2004,” the site reads. “Once we have confirmed details, we will give another update.”

Meanwhile, the rest of The Cranberries — Noel, Fergal, and Mike — remain at home in Limerick, also working on new material. Noel has also enlisted the help of Nishat Khan, a sitar player, “for a new composition Noel has just written for an undefined outside project.”

The official site promises to have “more news soon” and so do we.

Source: The Cranberries Official Site

The Cranberries have been nominated for a ‘Las Lunas del Auditorio’ 2003 award, a special program recognizing the finest artists who have played at Mexico’s prestigious Auditorio Nacional within the past year. The Cranberries are nominated in the “Rock in a Foreign Language” category and are facing some tough competition with 12 other big names up for the same award, including Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Cypress Hill, Garbage, INXS, Lenny Kravitz, Papa Roach, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rod Stewart, and The Strokes, just to name a few.

The awards cover the best entertainment that Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional has had to offer in the past year, including all genres of music, dance, and theater. A panel of 324 arts experts from around the country selected the final nominees from all of the performances between March 2002 and April 2003. The Cranberries played the Auditorio Nacional on June 25th and 26th of last year.

Public online voting for the awards ended on August 8th. The winners will be announced in an awards ceremony on September 10th, to be broadcasted on television by Televisa, TV Azteca and Canal 22. Luis de Llano, vice- president of programming for Televisa, said that, “It is always a challenge to unite efforts with other companies, especially now that the music industry is undergoing a crisis. We do this so that Mexico continues to be a launch pad for speading music at the international level.”

For much more on Las Lunas del Auditorio Awards or to check out the other nominees, you can check out the program’s official website.

Source: Las Lunas del Auditorio Awards

Zombieguide reported weeks ago that RTE TV presenter Alan Swan has been finishing up his first book entitled “From the Cradle to the Stage: A Complete History of Irish Music,” the proceeds of which will be given to Irish charity Fighting Blindness. Zombieguide got the chance to talk a little bit today with Mr. Swan about the progress of his upcoming book and some changes that have occurred with its content.

“Just one or two things you should know about; It will be Fergal that is featured in the book and not Dolores. Also there was a mistake in the press release and Larry Mullen Jnr won’t be featured,” Swan told Zombieguide earlier today. Although the news might disappoint U2 fans, no “Complete History of Irish Music” would be complete without extensive mention of the band, and the book is certain to include them, even without Mullen’s direct involvement.

Of course the book is much more than just U2 and Cranberries; he noted that the “other acts that will be featured include Ash, Devlins, The Corrs, Samantha Mumba, Christy Moore, Chieftains and many more — 70 acts in all.”

Aside from the book, which he considers a side project, Swan is currently busy with his day job at Ireland’s largest media network. “I am currently a TV presenter for RTE but have worked in commerical radio outside of RTE for a number of years,” he says.

Swan told us that “From the Cradle to the Stage: A Complete History of Irish Music” is currently on tap for a November release with an anticipated price of €19.99. Copies will be available for purchase from Fighting Blindnessupon release, and no doubt retailers as well.

“You certainly have your finger on the pulse,” he tells us. “It’s great to know that Cranberries fans will be able to pick up and copy and that they know about it… It would, I’m sure, help raise much needed funds for the charity.”

Zombieguide will have more on “From the Cradle to the Stage” as its November publication date nears. Keep it here for the latest!

Source: Exclusive

The website for the US magazine “Mix”, which focuses on the technical side of studio recording, reports that Olympic Studios have just finished buiding two brand new studios, a programming room and a small studio. The first to use the new facilities are none other than Cranberries producer Stephen Street and engineer Cenzo Townshend. From the Mix website:

Olympic Studios Adds Two New Rooms
London’s Olympic Studios has continued its expansion plans at the Barnes facility by adding one new programming/pre-production room and a small studio, increasing the total number of client suites to six.

Top record producers Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths/Morrisey, The Cranberries) and Cenzo Townshend (Skin, Lightning Seeds and U2) have moved into the larger suite, which boasts an adjacent overdub booth for vocals or guitars. Working on an Audient desk and recording to RADAR and Pro Tools|HD, they have also incorporated a host of vintage outboard equipment.

The second suite, dubbed “The Green Room,” is available for lease and is currently housing a few short-term projects.

Siobhan Paine, Olympic Studio’s manager, said, “We are thrilled that Stephen and Cenzo are joining us here, and with the multitude of studios and mix rooms available at Olympic, the two new rooms add an extra dimension to the services we offer. Projects can make an easy transition from programming to production all under one roof.”

For more, visit www.olympicstudios.co.uk.

Last month, Dolores told Hot Press that she and the band were indeed making use of the more high-tech programming technology, which the band has shyed away from in the past. “I’ve come up with these piano-driven songs that I’m recording using Pro-Tools and all that other computer-y stuff,” she said.

With both Stephen and Cenzo in the same room, there’s no question of who’s performing there with them…

Source: Mix Online

Think female vocalists are pretty powerful? Well not even their commanding voices can compete with the strong opinions of fans from around the world. Poll after poll has challenged music listeners to cast their votes on favorite female artists; and now Brazilian music channel Universo Do Rock is asking for your vote in a poll that asks you to choose your favorite female-lead band. The Cranberries are in the running, positioned in the company of Hole, The Gathering, Kittie, Evanescence, and Nightwish. To help The Cranberries come out on top and prove their fan base in and around Brazil, cast your vote online at Universo Do Rock.

Thanks to: Daniel Chirzostomo for the information

In the mood for a good “coming of age” flick saturated with mid-1990’s flavor? 1994’s “Radio Inside,” newly released on DVD, may not have won any Oscar nominations or make for a prized piece in your DVD collection, but it does have one thing going for it: a soundtrack featuring music by The Cranberries that garnered attention from movie-goers and film critics alike. Even the cover of the new DVD boasts “music by The Cranberries and REM”. The soundtrack includes “Dreams,” among other songs.

The film is now on DVD courtesy of the Australian studio Capitol Films. Although the DVD is region-free, it is likely in PAL video format only, not North American NTSC.

Reciting the story of two brothers in love with the same woman, “Radio Inside” stars Williams McNamara, Elisabeth Shue, and Dylan Walsh. The film marks the directorial debut of Jeffery Bell, who is best known for his behind- the-scenes work on various pop culture television favorites of the 1990’s, like the “X-Files”.

Though the film fared with only mediocre reviews and lackluster attendance at the box office, critics rave about the movie’s soundtrack, with the inclusion of The Cranberries’ music commonly noted as poignant and relevant to the film’s dramatic, romantic tone.

“Radio Inside” on DVD is available for purchase online, priced at about $20 at shops like totaldvd.com and widely available on VHS for as little as $1. So if you’re a completist or just curious, “Radio Inside” may be worth a look.

The Cranberries may not be “analysing,” but their accountants certainly are. Recent audits of the band’s finances, managed by their self-owned company Curtain Call Ltd., seemed to show that The Cranberries were shorted royalties of over $2.6 million by former record company Universal Music. Curtain Call responded by quietly filing suit against UMG Recordings in the New York Southern District Federal Court on March 27th, 2003. On July 30th, 2003, the case was withdrawn by the plaintiff as quietly as it was initiated.

Curtain Call Limited was founded by Dolores O’Riordan, Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, and Fergal Lawler in the mid-90’s to manage the band’s day-to-day business, touring, and merchandising affairs. The company is located in the city of Shannon, County Clare, Ireland and enjoys exemption from a large number of taxes due to its affiliation with the music industry.

The Cranberries abruptly terminated their contract with Universal Music in January of this year, citing poor promotion and support for the band’s last two releases, “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” and “Stars: The Best of…” Despite the fact that the band still owed Universal one album from their 1991 contract with Island Records, the so-called “monolith” has remained mysteriously quiet. We’d bet the farm that the two actions are related.

Zombieguide first heard whispers about a court case in June of this year, when the paid online service Entertainment Law Digest posted the following one-sentence summary:

“Curtain Call Limited v. UMG, Inc.; Island Def Jam Music Group; and Island Def Jam Records, Inc. The recording company for the musical group The Cranberries claims subsidiaries of UMG Recordings, Inc. breached agreements by failing to pay over $2.6 million in royalties. New Filing SD New York.”

Intrigued by this statement, Zombieguide contacted a representative for the band’s management who told us that this was “a reference to an older issue.” This diffused our interest (temporarily), and we moved on. A month passes.

You see, this isn’t the first time that The Cranberries have filed a lawsuit against Universal for royalties. In 2000, Norwegian newspaper VG reported that the band was suing Universal for about £2 million (approx. $3.1 million) for royalties outside the UK for the period of 1992-1997. We assumed by the statement above that this was the “older issue” in question. The ruling from the 2000 case is still unknown to The Cranberries’ fanbase. But judging soley from the current ongoing case, it might suggest that the band was previously successful, and is attempting to do so again.

Now we go to August 2003. Our curiosity coming back around, we decided to check around further — only to find yet more listings of the case “03CV- 2158 Curtain Call Limited v. UMG Recordings, Inc.; Island Def Jam Music Group; and Island Def Jam Records, Inc.” In fact, one legal database even showed that on July 30, 2003, the appointed judge in the case, the Honorable Judge George B. Daniels signed a document describing certain stipulations of the case.

We knew that something was going on in New York. Once again, Zombieguide contacted the band’s management. This time, we got a response.

Lewis Kovac, The Cranberries’ London-based manager told Zombieguide, “The Cranberries back catalogue is controlled by Universal Music Group through its affiliates, Island Def Jam and MCA Records. At this time, there is a claim for the years 1997-2000 which has been presented to the record company and the court of jurisdiction, the Southern District of New York.”

In his statement, Kovac told us that the civil case was more routine than extraordinary. “Audits of royalties are routine and thus claims are filed with the appropriate court once a determination is made. All labels have many claims ongoing with the major royalty earners on their books.” Another employee of Timless Music, Ltd., the band’s self-owned promotional company, said that the ongoing procedure was “no biggie.”

Zombieguide also contacted the Universal Music Group (because we’re fair guys like that), but UMG declined comment.

Under the Federal Freedom of Information Act, any U.S. citizen is entitled to any non-classified governmental information, including that of lawsuits, arrests, etc. As an American citizen, I excersized that right and obtained a sole court document, dated July 30th, 2003, from the United States NY Southern District Federal Court.

With said document in hand, we found that the July 30th stipulation was more exactly a “Stipulation of Discontinuance Without Prejudice.” The case had been closed by Curtain Call “without costs to any party against the other.”

Exactly why The Cranberries’ lawyers decided to withdraw the lawsuit is still uncertain, and is likely to remain uncertain. The last clause of the short statment, stating that the suit was discontinuned “without costs to any party” may suggest that there was no out-of-court settlement, though even that is unknown at this time.

If we get further details, you can be sure to find them right here. In the meantime, check out our exclusively obtained court document regarding the lawsuit’s discontinuance, below. Stick here with Zombieguide for more upcoming won’t-find-it-anywhere-else Cranberries news.

Source: Exclusive!
Partial Sources: Entertainment Law Digest, Clare Champion

The Cranberries Official Site conservatively states that Dolores O’Riordan is waiting to hear more from AC/DC’s Brian Johnson regarding is comedy-in- the-making, “Helen of Troy.” Since then, unofficial sources have hinted that Dolores is more than simply waiting — that she is indeed going to have a very active role in the play. Pun intended.

Here’s the breakdown of the latest on “Helen of Troy,” conveniently separated into what, as best as we can confirm, is fact and rumor.

The Rumor:
A reputable poster by the name of Goulash has posted an update on “Helen of Troy” on the alt.rock-n-roll.acdc newsgroup. He writes that a rehearsal of the play was put on in London (to where the show is being moved) last month for potential sponsors. As we wrote in an earlier story, “Helen of Troy” has already been postponed several times due to lack of sponsorship. He writes:

“The lowdown is that a rehearsal was held at the Prince Edward Theatre in London (England, not Ontario) on 3rd July. Malcolm MacDowell is still in the role of Zeus and the singer from The Cranberries has been roped in. The production isn’t gonna be one of those ballet or rock opera affairs, it’s a comedy and Brian has written 21 songs for it while the script has been penned by those geniuses who wrote Auf Wiedersehen Pet (Dick Clemens and Ian La Frenais). Looks like it could be hitting the stage in London at the end of this year / beginning of next.”

As you are likely already aware, Dolores has made several statements over the past year hinting at her desire to land an acting role. Has she found the role she’s been looking for?

The Fact:
In a column posted this week on Southwest Florida’s Herald Tribune website, the editor recounts a very recent happenstance conversation with Brian Johnson. Johnson confirmed that he had just returned from London rehearsals for the comedy. Johnson told the newspaper that there are indeed some unspecified changes going on with the script. “The show isn’t quite there yet — we need to tinker with the second act,” Johnson said. “But people were excited.” One such potential backer in the audience was Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of “Les Miserables,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Miss Saigon.”

Zombieguide will stay on top of the latest “Helen of Troy” news… keep it here!

Special thanks to Glenn of the AC/DC website Crabsody in Blue for his help on this story.

Sources: alt.rock-n-roll.acdc, Herald Tribune

In a newsletter sent out by German site Dolores-tv.de, the site’s webmaster claims that Dolores is considering participating in a televised auction to sell some of her personal affects for charity. This will be a continuation of the promised charity auctions of Dolores’s clothes, which began earlier this year, with one pair of shoes raising €2,775 for the Chernobyl Children’s Fund and Amnesty International. However, this time the rumored upcoming set of auctions will benefit the families of victims of the September 11th terrorism attacks.

Zombieguide will let you know if anything comes out of this rumor report!

Source: Dolores-tv.de Newsletter

This Sunday, Turkish radio station Radyo Eksen will be broadcasting The Cranberries’ Istanbul concert from the “Stars” tour (November 5, 2002). The station also has an online stream available, which means that anybody in the world will be able to tune into the broadcast.

The concert airs Sunday, August 10th at 15:00 (3:00 PM) local time, or 8:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (click here to find the time in your area). The main online stream is located here (an alternate is here). (LINKS NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Thanks to Haluk for the heads-up.

Source: Daffodil Lament

The Cranberries have recently held pre-production sessions at Britain’s Gemini Studios — that is according to a listing of recent clients on the studio’s webpage. During that time, the band has evidently been working with engineer Cenzo Townshend on new material. Cranberries fans will remember that Townshend engineered their last studio album, “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.” It was revealed only little over a week ago that Townshend and The Cranberries were working together again. There’s no word on exactly how recent the band’s session was.

The Suffolk, UK, based studio boasts itself as “one of the most comprehensively equipped recording studios in Europe,” providing a large range of both vintage and modern recording equipment. The studio specializes in microphones and outboards. Other pre-production clients include Skin (presumably of Skunk Anansie) and the Groove Doctors.

Zombieguide contacted Gemini Studios for further information, but received no reply as of posting time.

Source: Gemini Studios

Will The Cranberries ever top “Zombie”? In terms of its inclusion in video countdown programs from music channels broadcasting from all over the world, the “Zombie” phenomena just never seems to fizzle. In fact, if you were to count all of the times “Zombie” has been included in a video countdown program, it’d be a program within itself. And MTV Latin America’s upcoming Top 20 Countdown is looking as if it will be no exception.

On August 9th, MTVLA is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a Top 20 “Best Live Videos” countdown program with 153 video nominations that include none other than The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” live from the MTV Europe Music Awards 1995. There’s no limit on how often music fans can vote. Just visit MTVLA’s web site with information on the upcoming special to cast your vote. Then, if you’re fortunate enough to have access to the channel, tune in to MTVLA on August 9th to see if “Zombie” makes it to the countdown.

Thanks to cranberrygirl for the tip.

Source: MTVLA

Yesterday, Hot Press posted a clairification of their recent interview with Dolores, once again reiterating that The Cranberries are by no means in danger of splitting up. The article seems to be in direct response to a falsified news story printed by Irish tabloid “The Star”, which distorted Dolores’s current solo tracks into a story about the band breaking up.

Hot Press quotes an official representative as saying, “The situation is exactly as you reported… The rumours of a band crisis are simply untrue.” The rest of the article quotes liberally from the most recent update on the Official Page.

The entire scenario seems eerily reminiscent of this past December, when wild rumors started by a Hot Press story of a possible solo side project got out of hand. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes had to deny such rumors in a written statement on Hot Press’s website.

Surprisingly, since Hot Press’s last story, the news of a possible Dolores and Brian Johnson of AC/DC collaboration has gone global. The news has been relayed all the way to major news outlets such as MTV.com, Undercover News, and today, Billboard. Although the major news outlets seem to have the story pretty well investigated, as with all news, some outlets choose to exaggerate it, including this ridiculously unfounded piece which claims that Dolores is to star in “Helen of Troy.”

On a side note, today’s Billboard article relays that the Nielson Soundscan ratings report “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” sales of 162,000 copies to date in the United States. That number makes up approximately one-tenth of the total worldwide sales of the album, which stands at approximately 1.5 million.

Thanks again to Jessica van Kessel for her help in this story.

Source: Hot Press

When in doubt, just make something up! That’s apparently the general rule of thumb used by journalists time and time again when it comes to The Cranberries. Fortunately, we have the Official Site to continuously and diligently keep the record straight. With an official update yesterday, The Cranberries laid to rest a plethora of rumors that have suggested so much as a band “crisis”: everything from Dolores ditching The Cranberries for a “solo” career (this one’s gotten really old) to the notion that Dolores is co-writing Brain Johnson’s (AC/DC) on-stage musical rendition of “Helen of Troy”. So, to clear the air and state the facts, here are the meat and potatoes of what The Cranberries want fans to know, according to yesterday’s official update:

Everyone’s all smiles! Right now, The Cranberries are on vacation. The band and their families are spending time now in Canada, Ireland, Spain, and Italy. Everyone in the band remains optimistic; and the opportunities are pouring in. For one thing, alternative rock’s Moby has supplied The Cranberries with several songs to use at their discretion. For now, however, The Cranberries have decided that Moby’s material isn’t right for the band; but Dolores is keeping the door open to the idea, and hopes to be able to use the material in some form or another sometime in the future. And in addition to attention from the likes of Moby, members of The Cranberries have had lots of invitations to take part in films, television, soundtracks, collaborations with other artists, and more.

Though most of these projects haven’t been confirmed as of yet, it has been confirmed that Dolores has completed her recording of “Puro Amore” with Italy’s Zucchero. Contrary to assumptions from a recent LA7 interview with Dolores, the Official Site notes that Dolores did not record the song entirely in the Italian language. Instead, she worked alongside another lyricist to adapt portions of the song for English translation, although she does indeed sing some parts in Italian.

Speaking of false suggestions, the granddaddy of all rumors has surfaced once again. After Hot Press published snippets of Dolores’s interview with Hot Press staff writer Stuart Clarke for an upcoming Ritz Magazine Yesterday (Irish newspaper) article, “The Star” distorted the facts of the interview to suggest, yet again, that Dolores is striking out on her own to form an exclusive solo career. But The Cranberries Official Site seeks to clear out that tired notion once again to reveal that Dolores is indeed always interested in individual projects while simultaneously working alongside Noel and other members of The Cranberries to create Cranberries-related material. Over the coming years, Dolores and other members of the band will be involved with side projects such as their opportunities noted in the arenas of film, television, soundtracks, etc. The Cranberries reaffirm, however, that these side projects are not intended to abolish The Cranberries’ union. They’re merely future opportunities, with no known time frame of completion.

As to Dolores’s proposed solo work with Brian Johnson (AC/DC vocalist) on his play “Helen of Troy”, the Official Site states that Dolores is not co-writing any of the material. She is simply listening to Brian’s work, and being considered, as are other artists, for inclusion in the project. As Zombieguidereported earlier, “Helen of Troy” has been Brian Johnson’s project for a number of years. After his meeting with Dolores during The Cranberries tour with The Rolling Stones, he and Dolores spoke about a future collaboration. Naturally, Johnson brought up his pet project, “Helen of Troy”. Dolores’s final involvement in the play remains yet to be determined.

And finally, there’s Dolores’s autobiography. The Official Site reports that author and record producer Paul Russell, has already completed eight chapters, and the finalized project is expected to be released some time in 2004.

So, when they’re not busy dispelling rumors, it looks like The Cranberries are continuing to work in the same fashion that’s brought them to 2003: writing, recording, touring, vacationing, and keeping their options open for new projects that come their way. Doesn’t sound too complicated to understand… yet as long as there are tabloids, there’ll be rumors. Here at Zombieguide, we’ll keep you up to date. For now, you can check out the unabridged facts straight from the source at Cranberries.ie

Source: The Cranberries Official Web Site

The Australian Cancer Council has designated August 22nd as the national Daffodil Day for 2003. The council, who run national public service announcements throughout the year, are dedicated to rasing funds and awareness to the various types of cancer that afflict Australians.

This year, the council has chosen two Cranberries songs to accompany the national TV announcements. The titles chosen are “Dreaming My Dreams,” and, of course, “Daffodil Lament.” Both songs run for approximately 15 seconds each in the background of the current 30 second TV spots. Another TV announcement features the song “Ode to My Family.” The campaign encourages Australians to purchase a paper daffodil for $5.00 AU, which will be used to fund research. The TV spots will run for approximately one month. Last year, the Council used Coldplay’s sublime “Yellow” as the background music.

One such “Daffodil Day” TV public announcement
For more on the Cancer Council Australia, go here, or click here for the Official Australian Daffodil Day website. (LINKS NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

In 2001, The Cranberries lent their support to the Irish Daffodil Day bydonating an autographed lithograph for auction. However, that auction was organized by The Irish Cancer Society, not The Cancer Council Australia.

Thanks to Bruce Miller for the news.

Partial Source: Cancer Council Australia

Massive Spanish radio network Los 40 Principales has constructed a poll of the Top 40 Sexiest Arists of all time — and Dolores O’Riordan is currently at a staggering position of #2. Dolores is among a huge variety of female singers ranging from the trashy chic of Courtney Love to the vintage appeal of Donna Summer.

However, only a handfull of votes have been accumulated at the moment, so that position is likely to change. Voting can only be done by Spanish residents via cellphone. Visit Dolores O’Riordan’s page here and check out the current poll results by clicking “Encuesta” under “13.” (Note that the singers here are listed by their first names alphabetically, not by rank.)

Currently leading the pack at #1 is Cher. Apparently Sonny Bono has access to the internet and a Spanish cellphone in heaven.

Sources: Los 40

Yesterday, Zombieguide relayed that Hot Press has reported on a confirmedDolores and Brian Johnson collaboration and also renewed its claim of a forthcoming Dolores O’Riordan solo album.

Dolores’s quotes in the article certainly seem to justify that claim — the lads “are cool with it” — despite previous denials from the Official Site that any solo projects were in the works.

“I’ve started working with this English programmer called Matt Vaughan,” she tells Hot Press. “When I joined the Cranberries I used to write everything on piano – I didn’t play guitar properly at all. So, 14 years on, I’ve come up with these piano-driven songs that I’m recording using Pro-Tools and all that other computer-y stuff.

“It’s completely different to the Cranberries – very experimental and out there. A couple of tracks have a David Lynch movie soundtrack feel, but they’re fully developed songs. I’m going to Toronto for an extended holiday, so Matt’s going to fly out for a week and do some mixes with me in the Metalworks studio.”

Dolores reveals that she’s recorded several rough versions at home in her own kitchen, and that some will consist of more than just piano and vocals. “I’m going to put real guitar on some of them, and redo the vocals which at the moment are rough ones that I did in the kitchen in my little gate lodge. The staff in the farm here thought I was bonkers roaring away on my own!”

Unfortunately, Hot Press doesn’t give any real specifics about her collaboration with Brian Johnson on “Helen of Troy.” Dolores does comment that she’s taken a liking to him — “It’s always fun working with other artists, especially when they’re operating in a totally different area to you. He’s such a darling, not in the least bit arrogant or full of himself. I ran into him last month when we were both supporting the Rolling Stones. Don (Burton, Dolores’s husband) had to tell me who he was ‘cause I didn’t recognize him!” Don beware!

After all this, we shouldn’t forget a certain little something that is still a big part of Dolores’s life — The Cranberries. She hasn’t forgotten either, as she relates to Hot Press once again, they’re still the biggest part of her musical career. “Very much so,” she resumes. “They’ve heard a couple of the piano songs I’m doing and are cool with it. Everybody needs a bit of space because we’re at that different place in life. We’re not a bunch of kids just starting.”

Additionally, she reveals that the band has finished a four-track demo of new songs for their next release. Earlier, the Official Site noted that this demo would be used to secure a new distribution contract for their next album. “As well as opening for the Stones and playing Killarney last week with Counting Crows, we’ve recorded four demo songs for the next Cranberries album. We’ve got another three really beautiful ones in the pipeline, so it’s shaping up well.”

Things are shaping up well, indeed. Hot Press states that the Dolores O’Riordan solo album is due to be released sometime in 2004.

Thanks again to Jessica van Kessel for fetching us the info! Zombieguide will have more developments as they happen!

Sources: Hot Press

Dolores O’Riordan’s biographer Paul Russell reported weeks ago that he had spotted “Dolores singing a song from a musical with Brian Johnson of AC/DC” in a restaurant. Foreshadowing comes from the strangest places.

Although a less ambiguous instance was when Fergal Lawler noted last month that Dolores and Brian were considering the idea of working together.

Irish magazine Hot Press reported Thursday that Dolores is collaborating with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson on a project related to “Helen of Troy,” a musical that Johnson has been working on for nearly seven years.

“Helen of Troy” is a humorous “‘Les Miserables’-style musical with rousing anthems, tender ballads and minimal dialogue.” The project has been Johnson’s dream for several years, finally deciding to put the songs together with British composer Brian Healy. Johnson was inspired to create the musical after seeing “Cats” several years ago. “I couldn’t wait to leave,” he said. “It was puerile drivel. That’s when I started thinking I may as well try to write a show. Then I went to see ‘Grease’ in New York, and it was friggin’ drivel, too. That spurred me on more.”

The $1.2 million dollar production was originally to debut in March 2003 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida. However, the show has been pushed back to a November 2003 debut. If all goes well, the musical may tour nationally. For much more on “Helen of Troy,” check out the page dedicated to it at the excellent AC/DC fansite Crabsody in Blue.

But the headline to Hot Press’s news story is this: “Dolores Readies Solo Album.” All we can say is, let’s hope they’re right this time: Hot Press stirred up some nasty rumors late last year when Dolores expressed that she wasconsidering doing a side project apart from the band. We now know that she recorded several songs this past spring by herself. Additonally, Matthew Vaugahn’s section of The Smoothside Organization’s website refers to Dolores as a “solo artiste.” All of this would certainly support Hot Press’s headline.

We should know exactly what is up with the purported “solo album” and the nature of Dolores’s Brian Johnson collaboration as soon as we can get our hands on the full Hot Press article — which will be very soon. Keep it tuned here!

Sources: Hot Press, Crabsody in Blue

British punk outfit “Dogshit Sandwich” (delightful name..) have just put out a 4-track EP entitled “Royal Sponger.” The 7″ vinyl includes three original songs by the band and one cover, which happens to be of The Cranberries’ “Zombie.” All four songs were newly-recorded for the EP. The tracklist is as follows:

1. Royal Sponger
2. Fuck the Law
3. R Ya Makin’ the Tea
4. Zombie

The vinyl EP can be ordered from indie label Weird Records.

The rather vile cover art, which inbues the not-so-subtle political criticism of Queen Elizabeth gone topless, can be seen here, if you are so brave to click. You’ve been warned.

Sources: Nihilism on the Prowl, Weird Records

Cranberries World has posted a full transcript of this past Tuesday’s interview of Dolores O’Riordan, broadcasted on “Access All Areas” on Italian channel LA7. Cranberries World has also made more video captures (seen below), plus an animated gif from the interview (here). Very interestingly, she reveals that the band is being very selective about what songs will go onto their next album. As an example, she suggests that more than half of the songs they are currently putting together may not end up on the final disc. Here’s a translation of Dolores’s (separate) monologue sequences from the show:

“We were on tour for more than a year [when] we all have small children, and at this moment of our lives we prefer to take it slowly — we don’t want to lose our children’s best years of childhood. When they start to turn about ten, you can start to go on tour longer because it becomes easier, but for this year we have 7 support slots for the Rolling Stones and 3 alone.

“I didn’t grow up with the Rolling Stones, because I’m only 31, but I think that it’s an experience that we can learn a lot from. It’s a source of inspiration see them still going on. It’s been very nice, the Stones came into our dressing rooms to greet us at the first gig, and it was almost surreal to meet them in person, because we’ve gotten used to seeing them on TV, so much so that you almost don’t believe it. It was great!

“We’re concentrating on writing right now, taking our time to do a really beautiful album. Even if we write 4 songs, we’ll throw 3 of them away and we’ll choose 1 (to keep). We’ve got to be very selective to be sure that the next album is really good, because it doesn’t make sense to make an album otherwise, so we prefer to take our time, to enjoy the period of writing, and time spent at home. Then we can go out with a really great disc and a good tour.

“Looking back at myself, I think that success isn’t the thing that matters most in life. It matters more instead to have friends and to enjoy every small thing because you will never be able to come back to that precise moment.

“I think that people are too stressed and are too worried about tomorrow. Women are very engrossed in their careers and are afraid to start a family, but perhaps thinking only about your career is not enough — for me it’s a matter of knowing how to balance things. I’m 31 and I think I’m in the best period of my life. It’s my favorite time in my life. I’m living better now than when I was 20.

“Artists are always forced, particularly from the media, to analyze everything they do, but if you start to analyse everything, you get mental block, like when you’re too deep in studying — (you’re) singing and have a problem with a single word, and if you repeat it continuously, surely you’ll continue to screw it up, because you’re thinking too much. It’s the same thing with music, writing, life — it’s better not to plan anything, just enjoy what you’re making without thinking too much. Thinking too much is bad, really!

“I sang a song for the new Zucchero album. I memorized the verse in Italian, but he didn’t want me to sing in your language cause we, English-speakers, when we sing in Italian we sound so foolish. It’s also true that Italians sound foolish when they sing in English.”

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Source: Cranberries World

An update to the “shopping” section of the Official Storm Thorgerson Website makes a new item available for purchase: A set of 16 Thorgerson art postcards, two of which were designed for the covers of Cranberries releases. The two Cranberries-related pieces in the set are the covers to the “You and Me” single (2000) and the “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” international album cover (2001). The cards come housed in a custom hardback case. If you’re interested, the set will set you back £10.00, or about $16 US, not including shipping.

Set of 16 Thorgerson postcards
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If postcards that you’ll likely never actually use don’t suit your fancy, there are other previously-available Cranberries-related items in the shop. One item is a 2002 silkscreen reprint of the “Bury the Hatchet” cover art, part of “The Bodies Series.” (The BTH artwork had also been issued as a lithograph in 1999, limited to 800 copies.) According to the site:

(IMAGE NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Set of six fine art limited edition silkscreen (serigraph) prints. Printed on 410gsm Somerset Tub Sized paper. Print size 33″ x 25.5″, image size approximately 19″ x 19″. Edition of 125 only. Printed by Brad Faine at Coriander from original artwork. Signed, titled and numbered by Storm Thorgerson.

The BTH print will set you back a measly £300.00, or about $490 US, not including shipping of course.

Lastly is Thorgerson’s 1999 book entited “The Eye of the Storm.” The book includes four pages dedicated to The Cranberries, and luckily enough, the sample picture shows the double-page spread for “Bury the Hatchet.” The books are autographed and are priced at £20.00, or $33 US each.

“The Eye of the Storm” book, featuring 4 pages on The Crans
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The Official Storm Thorgerson Website itself has lots of interesting production notes on his work with The Cranberries, which alone makes the site worth a visit. Just choose “Sort by Artist” and then scroll to “T” for “The Cranberries.” (A librarian would have a fit for indexing by a demonstrative article, but hey, this is art, its supposed to break the rules.)

Happy artful shopping!

Source: Official Storm Thorgerson Website

Yesterday we told you that Italian television station LA7 had aired a brandnew interview with Dolores O’Riordan, recorded after last month’s Milan gig with The Rolling Stones. She told the station that, for the first time in her career, she will be singing in Italian with Zucchero on the upcoming “Duets” CD.

Lorenzo has captured some screenshots from the interview and sent them to us, below. Thanks Lorenzo!

(IMAGES NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Source: Exclusive!

RTE Radio Presenter Alan Swan is putting the last touches on his first book,“From the Cradle to the Stage: A Complete History of Irish Music,” a chronicle that promises to cover every genre of Irish music. Several artists are directly contributing to the book, of which proceeds go to charity, including The Dubliners’ Ronnie Drew, U2’s Larry Mullen, Christy Moore, and The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan. The book is due to be published by Christmas 2003. (Editor’s note 8/29/03: Author Alan Swan tells us that it will be Fergal, not Dolores, who appears in the book.)

The book is being comissioned by Fighting Blindness, the only Irish charity dedicated to finding cures for blindness by funding Irish-based research. The organization is receiving all proceeds from the book.

A press release for the upcoming book states, “This chronicle allows Irish artists, from every genre, to share memories of what helped to shape their success. Alan Swan and all the musicians who have co-operated in the production of this volume did so in a way that will be of extraordinary help to the only Irish charity committed for finding cures for blindness, through Irish research.” The release also states that the musicians involved have been “generously giving their time to help Fighting Blindness.”

Author Alan Swan, 24 years old, is clearly “moving up” quickly. He was formerly presenter and producer for the regional station CKR FM’s Breakfast Show, but has recently been hired by Ireland’s national RTE Radio. “From the Cradle to the Stage” will be his first book, but according to Radiowaves.fm, he has several others “in the pipeline.”

Source: Fighting Blindness, Radiowaves

Fans can usually expect to pay a minimum of $15-$20 for a factory-pressed live CD, but for a very limited time, you can pick one up for less than $7 each.

Asian-based importer SOLcd is currently offering two different versions of two different bootlegs (4 total) for the ridiculously low price of $6.99 US each. It appears SOLcd is clearing the titles out of their catalog, so once they’re sold at this price, they’re gone.

The two offered titles are “Live in Concert” (MTV Unplugged 1995) and“One’s Better Self” (Hamburg, Germany, 1999). There are two variations of each, however, the tracklisting is the same on each variation — the only difference is the art. Having owned both of these titles for awhile, I can tell you that they are of excellent quality, both in sound and artwork.

At this price, they’re a complete steal, and won’t last long, so snatch them up quickly if you’re interested.

Source: SOLcd

The classic Cranberries track “Dreams,” a soundtrack favorite, is being used yet again in the movie trailer for the upcoming film “Mona Lisa Smile.” The movie stars Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles, among others, a lineup that alone is sure to make the movie a major hit with the female demographic.

The trailer and a plot synopsis can be viewed at the Coming Soon Film Database in Windows Media, Quicktime, and Real Player flavors.

The film hits theaters on December 19th, 2003. No word yet on whether “Dreams” will be used in the actual movie or on the soundtrack, but Zombieguide will stay on this story until we find out.

Thanks to Uriel for the tip!

Source: Exclusive

Weeks ago, The Cranberries Official Website relayed that Dolores has been collaborating with RTE producer Paul Russell on an upcoming autobiography. Due to some ambiguous wording, we weren’t sure what to make of it, but we now know definitively: Paul Russell is writing Dolores O’Riordan’s official biography.

Russell has been travelling with The Cranberries throughout their summer tour and took some time to check in with Irish music mag, Hot Press. In an article published two weeks ago, he describes how touring mates The Rolling Stones and AC/DC have been getting along with The Cranberries — with some humorous anecdotes.

The Rolling Stones stopped into The Cranberries’ dressing room on opening night, June 4th, and Russell was lucky enough to witness the exchange.

“Mick [Jagger], needless to say, made an immediate beeline for Dolores while the others talked to the lads,” Russell writes. “Charlie Watts was a bit quiet, but everybody else was in flying form. Needless to say, the Cranberries floated on stage to play their set which lasted 45 minutes and got a good percentage of the 17,000-crowd up on their feet.”

As well as the Crans hit it off with the Stones, it seems to be not nearly as well as they got along with AC/DC, as Fergal wrote days ago.

Russell reports, “I was in the Thai restaurant where Liam Gallagher had his teeth kicked in, and saw Dolores singing a song from a musical with Brian Johnson of AC/DC, who then told some of the rudest stories I’ve ever heard! They’re also on the bill for three of the Stones’ German shows, so it was a good getting-to-know-you session.”

Paul Russell and Dolores O’Riordan’s co-written autobiography is due to be published sometime next year. We can expect to hear more from Russell over the next few months.

Thanks to Jessica van Kessel for fetching us the info!

Source: Hot Press

Days ago, an article published by Unison.ie relayed that Dolores O’Riordan and husband Don Burton spent some time at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Dublin on May 31st. As it ends up, Dolores and hubby were among a long list of Irish entertainment personalities present, reports Eircom.

Says the article, “Then the classic ‘Thunder Road’ had the audience lost in the music and the man as the 53-year-old New Jersey icon had Dublin eating out of the palm of his hand. They even cheered his beautiful back up singer and wife Patti Scialsa. Equally beautiful on the night was Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries in a denim mini skirt alongside the stunning Morah Ryan, Marina Egan, Elizabeth Mangan and Rita Fox. Gerry Ryan wore a Hawaiian shirt. Harry Crosbie was all in black as was Lillie’s Bordello owner Dave Egan with his wife Mairead. The Irish football team were there with manager Brian Kerr. It was great to have the E Street Band back. The gang was all here.

“‘This was one of the greatest shows that we’ve ever put onin Ireland in over 40 years,’ said promoter Peter Aiken. Jumping up and down to Born to Run, beside him, Dolores O’Riordan and Marina Egan seemed to agree. “

Peter Aiken is president of Aiken Promotions, who promoted The Cranberries’ gig at Belfast’s Ulster Hall, only two days prior to the Springsteen concert.

Source: Eircom

An update on The Cranberries’ Official Site yesterday included a letter from Fergal, reflecting on the band’s tour with The Rolling Stones. With an entourage the size of a small town, The Rolling Stones’ backstage and production crew left Fergal feeling “awe inspired.”

“We have never been on a tour the size of the ‘Stones one and it was seriously exciting and at times, awe inspiring even! The stage and the behind-the-scenes production were an incredible sight to behold,'” Fergal stated.

And excited to mention his personal meeting with the ‘Stones and AC/DC, Fergal commented that despite his “star-struck” feeling in the presence of the legendary rockers, everyone treated The Cranberries “really well”. Fergal notes that Dolores and AC/DC singer, Brian Johnson, got along especially well… perhaps even well enough to work together in the future.

According to Fergal, The Cranberries are now preparing for their upcoming outdoor festival in Killarney that includes the Counting Crows. Fergal mentions high expectations for a laid-back experience, since the band has toured with Counting Crows in the past. With shows on their home-soil of Ireland, The Cranberries are preparing to perform among family and friends, and for the familial festivities sure to follow.

Though The Cranberries stint with The Rolling Stones has come to an end, Fergal reveals that excitement amongst the band is still raging on. Since the Killarney show will be the last live show of the year for The Cranberries, the band is eager to make the most of their time on stage.

Following the band’s holiday in July, Fergal’s letter states that The Cranberries will be returning to the studio to continue work on the sixth album for the remainder of 2003.

To read all about it, in Fergal’s own words, visit The Cranberries Official Web Site to check out yesterday’s update, including more fan reviews of the live European shows.

Source: Official Site

Most fans are content just to share a few minutes with their favorite artists — for a handshake, photo, autograph, or some combination of the three. But could you imagine spending 48 hours with Dolores and the rest of The Cranberries? That’s what one reporter for the Irish-based Unison news network did late last year in Milan (likely at the same time as the author of the lengthy Sunday Independent article). The author, who is not credited by name, has published a short article about the experience in conjunction with the ongoing Killarney Summerfest, where The Cranberries performed tonight.

The author writes, “Dolores’s vehement denunciations of the world in press interviews circa 1996 that revealed a core of self-loathing have long gone. I hung out with her and Don and the rest of the Cranberries for 48 hours in Milan six months ago and we had an absolute six-bottles-of-red-wine howl. But more important than the vino, the Cranberries on stage earlier that night were mesmeric.”

And as if the two-day-long hang-out session weren’t enough to make you fume with jealousy, the reporter bumped into Dolores again only a little over a week ago at a Bruce Springsteen concert. The writer recounts, “Dolores has no self-censorship and will tell you the first thing that comes into her mind. This is very endearing: most superstars talk in soundbites without saying very much. Once you get Dolores going, she can’t be shut up. I met her at the Bruce Springsteen concert the other week and she talked all the way through the Boss’s three-hour set on everything from supporting the Rolling Stones to Limerick, from her daughter to God, and back again. It was a memorable experience. (And Bruce wasn’t bad either – from the bits I heard.)”

Although the article only contains one short interview bit, there are lots of interesting details to be read — including some more bits about the soldier- kissing that inspired “Linger.” For those without access to Unison.ie, the full article is below:

Cranberries take the rough rock ‘n’ roll with the smooth pop

Sunday June 22nd 2003

POP is about an ephemeral impulse – usually teenage longing. The songs are conceived to be quickly consumed, not analysed like a philosophical tract by Socrates or Goethe.

Occasionally, however, a truly perfect pop song emerges that transcends time and place and imprints itself indelibly on our consciousness. Though hardly representative of the band’s music at all, Linger by the Cranberries is one such song for me. Written by Dolores O’Riordan and Mike Hogan, it is one of the greatest – and most melancholic – Irish pop songs ever set to vinyl.

From the Limerick group’s debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? in 1993, Linger features floating strings over a gorgeous orchestration married to Dolores’s funeral-soul dynamics:

“If you, if you could return,” sings Dolores, “don’t let it burn, don’t let it fade. I’m sure I’m not being rude, but’s just your attitude. It’s tearing me apart – it’s ruining everything.” The song was allegedly inspired by Dolores’s first boyfriend, a 17-year-old Irish soldier who wrote her tender love letters from Lebanon after they broke up.

Sadly, there was a lot more pain involved when Dolores wrote Zombie, in response to the IRA bomb in Warrington. She can vividly remember seeing one of the devastated mothers of the boys who were killed on television.

Dolores felt sad for her that she’d carried him for nine months and then some “prick, some airhead who thought he was making a point, did that”. Like Sinead before her, you have to admire Dolores’s outspoken character.

Still, the Dolores I know is also a gentle, sweet, intuitive, neo-spiritual person with a sense of otherness about her (and a particularly filthy sense of humour).

In 2000, Dolores was walking through the trees near where she lives in Kilmallock, pushing her newborn daughter Molly in her pram. She can recall having an epiphany that literally rushed out of her. She felt like she was the one in the pram and her own mother was standing over her. She raced back to the house with the song that had just entered her head. Within an hour, she had created Perfect Day on the piano.

Dolores has no self-censorship and will tell you the first thing that comes into her mind. This is very endearing: most superstars talk in soundbites without saying very much. Once you get Dolores going, she can’t be shut up. I met her at the Bruce Springsteen concert the other week and she talked all the way through the Boss’s three-hour set on everything from supporting the Rolling Stones to Limerick, from her daughter to God, and back again. It was a memorable experience. (And Bruce wasn’t bad either – from the bits I heard.)

Dolores is a happy camper – the polar opposite of the outdated media image of her as Ms Sulky Knickers. Marriage (to Don Burton) and motherhood (Molly and Taylor) clearly suits her. The erstwhile Mouth of the Shannon is a changed woman now, embracing life and its infinite possibilities.

Dolores’s vehement denunciations of the world in press interviews circa 1996 that revealed a core of self-loathing have long gone. I hung out with her and Don and the rest of the Cranberries for 48 hours in Milan six months ago and we had an absolute six-bottles-of-red-wine howl. But more important than the vino, the Cranberries on stage earlier that night were mesmeric.

I had never seen them before live and I had my suspicions about their music. All of that fell away after about the second song in. Dolores has such power on stage. Her voice is a potent and evocative instrument: imagine a Caucasian Nina Simone on LSD. Add to this the fantastic musicianship of the rest of the band who played out of their skins for that night. Onstage in front of 20,000 screaming Italians, the Cranberries were truly an exercise in how to play almost Metallica-heavy rock one minute and the most tender pop the next.

The Cranberries play Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, Co Kerry on Friday 27 June as part of the Killarney Summer Fest 2003

Source: Unison.ie

You’ll recall that this past March, The Cranberries played at a secretunannounced concert for the launch of the Hot Press Yearbook, an industry- centric publication of who’s who in the Irish music biz.

The website for The Sugar Club, the intimate Dublin venue where the event took place has published two more photos of the band in addition to the one that was previously available from the band’s official site. Check them out below.

More news on Zombieguide soon.

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Source: The Sugar Club

Reviews of CDs or live gigs are common, online or in print. But last Thursday (June 12th), the Irish newspaper The Tuam Herald published a full review ofThe Cranberries Official Website, and since it’s something we rarely see reviewed, we’re bringing it to you.

One of the first things that the newspaper pointed out was that the variety of content which should please both the hardcore fan and the casual web surfer. The Tuam Herald compliments the weekly news updates, which are better-than-average for a large portion of bands’ official sites.

The “Back” button, a biology-textbook-like graphic of a cell, was one facet that annoyed the reviewer. “Maybe I’m just not reading the image right but the ‘back’ button resembles an overhead view of a hole on a golf course, which I’ve seen more times on TV coverage of the PGA tour than on a band’s site, somehow I’m sure that wasn’t the intention of its designer.”

The reviewer also confessed that he wasn’t overly fond of some official pages because they are set up with the primary intention of selling merchandise. Although The Cranberries’ site does indeed include an online store, the reviewer praised the fact that it is not the site’s main focus.

Other positively-rated aspects included the complete lyrics section, varying layout designs from section to section, and the photogallery. Negative drawbacks were the lack of a completely updated biography (the current one ends at 2001) and the reviewer’s inability to load the plug-in required for the online game.

In summary, the reviewer noted, “The official website is definitely one of their (The Cranberries’) better productions and seems to give and offer something to the real hard-line fan and those who like the music but are really only passing through on the web.” The site was given a final score of 8 out of 10, not bad indeed!

Source: The Tuam Herald

Zombieguide reported a month ago that British Music Programmer Matthew Vaughan has been programming new material for The Cranberries since the beginning of the year.

Now another update on the website for the Smoothside Organisation shows that not only has Vaughan been working on the band’s new songs, but on Dolores O’Riordan’s solo songs as well.

Dolores recorded the songs in London in April. According to drummer Fergal Lawler, “She feels [the songs] would be more suited to using as movie soundtrack material rather than Cranberries material. She said it’s very moody / atmospheric stuff with mostly piano and vocal so I’m looking forward to hearing it. It’s healthy to do things like that outside of the band as it eliminates the feeling of being ‘trapped.'” The Cranberries Official Website has been careful to explicitly state that Dolores is not recording a solo album.

Will Vaughan’s programming involvement relate to that “moody atmospheric” vibe that Fergal was referring to? Looks like we’ll have to wait to find out.

Source: Smoothside Organisation

Because not all of us will have the chance to catch one of The Cranberries’ coveted live shows this summer, the site Pretty Eyes has posted full-length .mp3s of the new songs, “Astral Projection” and “In It Together”, performed live at The Cranberries show in Bolzano, Italy on June 8th. Though the files are quite large, and the audio quality is less than perfect, these full-length .mp3s are definitely worth your time.

The Pretty Eyes web site is published in French; however locating the links to the files is easy for viewers of any language. Just look for “Astral Projection” and “In It Together” on the site’s main page. Each file is about 3 megabytes, so the download time for those with a dial-up internet connection may keep you waiting. Nevertheless, for fans who haven’t been able to snag tickets to one of The Cranberries’ European shows, these downloads are precious commodities indeed.

Source: Pretty Eyes

A new DVD released for the Brazilian market includes a live performance of “Ode to My Family,” taken from a European Cranberries performance from 1996.

Entitled “Rock Revolution”, the disc promises “the best contemporary rock ‘n’ roll concerts.” A large variety of “rock” acts are featured, everything from Ozzy Osbourne to Shania Twain, and everything in the middle. The disc is encoded in Region 0 NTSC format, making it playable on most DVD systems that support the NTSC format. The DVD is a total of 82 minutes long, with both Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 sound available. English lyric subtitles are also encoded on the disc.

Exactly which performance (date and venue) of “Ode to My Family” is on the disc is unknown. Also unknown is if the DVD is actually fully licensed. The lack of a major company logo on the DVD might arouse bootleg suspicions, but even if so, the inclusion of Dolby Digital and subtitles suggest this is more than just a homemade release.

Tracklisting is:

01. QUEEN – Radio ga ga (2002 – BBC)
02. QUEEN – We will rock you (2002 – BBC)
03. QUEEN – We are the champions (2002 – BBC)
04. QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody (2002 – BBC)
05. OZZY OSBOURNE – Paranoid (1986 – Princes Trust Event)
06. ROD STEWART – Handbags and gladrags (2002 – BBC)
07. URIAH HEEP – Medley: The Wizard / Paradise / Spell / Circle of Hands (1993)
08. JOE COCKER – You and I (1998)
09. CRANBERRIES – Ode to my family (1996)
10. SHANIA TWAIN – Man I feel like a woman (1998 – Princes Trust Event)
11. SAXON – Wheels of steel (1993)
12. TINA TURNER – Better be good to me (1993 – BBC)
13. TINA TURNER & ERIC CLAPTON – Tearing us apart (1993)
14. VAN MORRISON – Orange field (1993 – BBC)
15. IAN GILLAN – Smoke on the water (1993)
16. BRYAN ADAMS – Hearts on fire (1998 – BBC)

No word yet on any release outside of Brazil, if any.

PPCW.net, a website that covers wireless mobile devices (particularly cell phone hybrids) has put the Microsoft Smartphone’s camera functions to the test. Microsoft’s Smartphone is one of several new cell phone hybrid devices which will allow you to take pictures or even record audio and video clips and send them to friends via MMS or e-mail.

So where did they take it? The Rolling Stones’ second concert in Munich, Germany on June 6th. Luckily for us, PPCW captured some footage of The Cranberries performing, and even more luckily for us, the footage quality is rather impressive — for a phone, at least. In addition to the video clips, it appears they also took a shot of The Cranberries’ performance with the still camera function.

The Cranberries, opening for the Stones on June 6th, taken with a Microsoft Smartphone

“This is the Day,” Live in Munich, 06/06/2003 AVI clip, 18 sec, 600 kb

“Zombie,” Live in Munich, 06/06/2003 AVI clip, 31 sec, 1.04 mb

Now we’re no experts on cell phones, but we just gotta say damn! To have such decent quality out of something so small (and whose primary function isn’t even recording these things), it’s rather impressive. Pretty soon, we’ll be recording whole bootlegs with a cell phone… RIAA beware!

Source: PPCW.net

Zombieguide has dug up some more details concerning how and why The Cranberries’ own Fergal Lawler decided to do some guest drumming for Limerick-based band Headgear back in April.

We reported that Fergal had done the gig as a the return of a favor, although for what, we did not know at the time. We now know that Darragh Dukes was once a member of the band known as They Do It with Mirrors — which should sound very familiar to the hardcore Cranberries fan. They Do It with Mirrors was one of the first bands that The Cranberry Saw Us opened for, and now Fergal has paid back the favor, some 12 years later.

According to Hot Press, most who attended the April 23rd gig at Dublin’s The Village didn’t even know The Cranberries’ drummer was present. Fergal walked onto the stage unannounced halfway through the concert, walking to the back of the stage and hiding behind a an oversized drum kit while playing the remainder of the set.

The gig was attended by several A&R scouts, including Warners, Polydor and Sony. Hope they weren’t scouting the drummer!

Thanks to Jessica van Kessel for getting the info for us!

Source: Hot Press

The Cranberries Summer Tour in support of The Rolling Stones is, thus far, going “fantastically”! That’s what the band is saying about the shows performed so far in Belfast, London and in Munich. In a big news update posted today on The Cranberries Official Site, the band reveals that “Astral Projection” and “In It Together”, the two new songs being performed at shows throughout this tour, was co-written by Dolores and Noel. In briefly noting these two new songs, the Official site provides a link for downloading a low quality, massive file size, fan-made video of “Astral Projection” from the French site Pretty Eyes.

And here’s a new name to note: Paul Russell. He’s a producer at RTE Radio in Dublin, Ireland. According to The Cranberries Official site, Dolores is collaborating with RTE producer Paul Russell to write her biography. The Official site does say that Russell is in the process of “rummaging through the Cranberries’ archives” to find information of interest to fans of The Cranberries.

Paul Russell’s autobiography is expected to be available some time in 2004. And as Zombieguide delves further into the life of Paul Russell and his Cranberries connection, we’ll bring you more details.

RTE Radio’s Paul Russell

Another project in which Dolores will be participating, is a studio collaboration with “Italian recording legend”, Zucchero. Word from the band’s Official site is that Dolores will be participating in a Zuccero “Duets” album, covering a song worthy of being known as a “rock classic”. Dolores will be among friends, as the project is also planning to include duets with Bono, Sting, Andrea Bocelli, and Pavarotti.

You can learn more about Zuccero’s blues-infused music by visiting his official web site at http://www.zucchero.it The site is available for viewing in both Italian and English languages.

In addition to the Official site’s ‘News’ update, the site has also posted new Fan Reviews of some of the shows performed this summer, while encouraging concert-goers to keep submitting input and opinions.

To read more, visit The Cranberries’ Official site.

Source: The Cranberries Official Web Site

All of us here at Zombieguide are blown away by the artwork of Maurizio Di Bona, “The Hand”. We’ve featured some of his incredible caricature representations of The Cranberries in Zombieguide’s Cran Fanatics section. But the big news is that we at Zombieguide aren’t the only ones impressed with The Hand. The Cranberries have received permission from Maurizio Di Bona to use his work for the design of several new promotional merchandise items. Soon, The Cranberries’ Official Site will make available, for purchase, a collection of new items featuring the work of The Hand. These items include two new posters, a five-postcard set, and a magnet. A new T-shirt, featuring The Hand’s cartoon likeness of Dolores, is already available on the site’s ‘Shopping’ section.

Source: The Cranberries Official Web Site

Olivia Shaff has sent in more photos taken from The Cranberries’ performance at London’s Astoria earlier this week. Check them out below. Thanks Olivia!

Zombieguide will have more news on The Crans’ 2003 summer Euro tour as it happens!

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We hope you’ve got plenty of bandwidth to spare — you’re about to be hit with two Zombieguide video exclusives!

The first is the very first clip online of the brand new song “In It Together”, filmed last night at the London . Granted, it’s nothing near studio quality — 14 seconds, mono sound, horrible bass. However, it’s just the first crumb of the sixth album, so we can expect plenty more to come! The clip was filmed and submitted by Mickael Leopold — THANKS Mickael!

Below is a photo that Mickael took at the show.
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“In It Together,” Live in London, 06/02/2003 14 sec, AVI clip, 3.9 mb
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Our second offering is the full extremely rare and elusive music video for”The Sun Does Rise”, Dolores O’Riordan’s 1994 duet with Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart. This, too, is the clip’s first time online and we’re proud to bring it to you. Many thanks to Norbert of Zombieguide Europe for encoding it for us. Don’t forget to visit the video section.

“The Sun Does Rise” music video MPEG, 30 mb
(VIDEO NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

More exclusive videos very soon!!

Source: Exclusive

Nigel and Pamela Bernstein have sent in their impressions of last Thursday’s Belfast concert. Here’s what they have to write:

“ANALYZE to start – good opener. The highlights for us were STARS (great chorus), PROMISES (played with real power – Mike’s bass seemed to go up a notch for PROMISES – really effective) and NEW NEW YORK (very emotional – great live song). Of the slower songs our favourites on the night were YOU AND ME and WHEN YOU’RE GONE.

“Dolores was on top form – full of energy – she really worked hard to connect with the audience – and the crowd responded really well – dancing and singing along. Her outfits were great – black pants with the flame pattern down the side – with a number of different tops – one had “ASTRAL PROJECTIONS” on it – another had “DOLORES O’RIORDAN” – for the encores, a floaty lined dress with colour co-ordinated Doc Martens. She threw her arm-band into the crowd and her towel. The whole band seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

“The two new songs sounded good. Dolores seemed to refer to a piece of paper with the words on for the second song – I think she said something about “only learning it today.” As far as I can remember, the new songs were typical Cranberries – melodic with strong choruses.

“From our seats on the left balcony we got a great view of Noel – he plays guitar in a really unique way – on Daffodil Lament we got a good view of him using the “Ebow” thing (or whatever it is called) to get that bowed guitar sound.

“We are looking forward to seeing the Cranberries in Milan for the Stones support gig next week – we have tickets for the inner enclosure – so we’ll be somewhere near the stage – should be a good night – 60,000 people I believe – will Dolores be doing a duet with Mick Jagger?

Did you get to attend the Belfast show, or will you be attending one of the ones coming up soon? We at Zombieguide want your concert photos and impressions — especially your impressions of the new songs — MP3’s, setlists, merchandise/memorabilia scans, and pretty much anything related to the upcoming set of gigs. Send in your submissions here!

Source: Exclusive

Although The Cranberries have spent the past few months writing and recording, it appears that not all of the the band members’ energies have been spent on The Cranberries. Fergal, at least, spent some time a month ago drumming for the Limerick-based band Headgear.

According to an article on Hot Press, Fergal played as special guest for Headgear’s April 23rd gig. Headgear currently consists of only one permanent member, singer, guitarist, and trumpeter extraoidinaire Daragh Dukes. Dukes currently collaborates with several other musicians for his live set, with people filling in parts for vocals, samples, clairinet and percussion. According to Hot Press, Dukes and Lawler are “old mates” and that Fergal did the gig as a favor to his old friend.

For more about Headgear or to listen to an MP3 sample of Dukes’s work, go here. (LINK NO LONGER AVAILABLE). We’ll have more details from Hot Press on the event as soon as we can get them (which may be a few weeks — if you are subscribed to Hot Press Online and can get the article for us, please let us know!!).

Source: Hot Press

The term “astral projection” (also known as an “out-of-body experience”) isn’t one that you typically hear every day. Astute Cranberries fans may know that it’s not the first time we’ve ever heard the term related to the band. Dolores talked about her own astral projections in Part 2 of the “The Band” interviews on the first release of the Beneath the Skin DVD. (Thanks to Insider27 for the tip!)

“There are certain times in the gig where I will just forget about what I’m doing and I forget that I’m the singer for a minute. It’s not really good because you’re like, ‘Oh God, what’s the lyrics?,’ you know? But sometimes I’ll just try an astral projection-type thing? [giggle] I’ll try to leave my body and try to look at it from the outside looking in, you know? And it’s pretty weird, sometimes it’s like, ‘Is this really happening?’ But then you flick back in — [mimicking ‘Linger’] ‘Do you have to…?’ Usually you’re singing and you’re playing, so you don’t really get too much time to take it in. But I guess that’s why it’s nice to make videos, because you get to look at it and say, ‘Wow! That was cool! Were we really there?'”

Will the new song have anything to do with this experience? Perhaps not, but it’s certainly good background information while we wait on more news coming out of the band’s current European tour. Stay tuned to Zombieguide for more…

Source: Exclusive

The Cranberries 2003 Tour with the Rolling Stones isn’t just a big deal; it’s big news. So through a press release issued yesterday from The Cranberries’ promoter, the band is getting the word out on their enthusiasm for the upcoming gigs.

Sounding a bit like a commercial message for the tour, Dolores commented: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to go the distance with Rock’s finest troubadours, as they take their record-breaking world tour across Europe this year.”

According to the press release, the performances that The Cranberries will share with The Rolling Stones will primarily be comprised of the band’s best-known material. So throughout Germany and Italy, The Cranberries will be performing their hits to audiences of over sixty thousand rock ‘n roll fans. The first show of The Cranberries 2003 Tour with The Rolling Stones happens June 4th in Munich, Germany.

In addition to The Cranberries appearances with The Rolling Stones, the band will also be making a few solo stops throughout Europe, and a special show in Killarney, Ireland with fellow 1990’s “alternative music” pioneers, Counting Crows.

Perhaps most newsworthy for Cranberries fans, was the press release’s mention of the band’s off-tour plans this summer. According to the press release, The Cranberries will spend the remainder of the summer recording and working on “various” projects for release in 2004. Perhaps the next year will hold even more new material than the anticipated sixth album, slated for release in early 2004.

To read The Cranberries press release in its entirety, visit The Cranberries Official Web Site

Source: The Cranberries Official Web Site

Earlier tonight, The Cranberries kicked off their nine-date 2003 European tour in Belfast, Ireland. Those lucky enough to attend got to hear the premiere of two brand-new Cranberries titles: “Astral Projection” and “In It Together.”

Patrick Hann tells us, “The concert started off on the Wake Up and Smell the Coffee intro, then the lost classic Analyse. The monster song Zombie was next which Dolores reminded us that it was about us and written for us. The usual classics followed including Linger, Salvation, Hollywood and Free to Decide. Every song on the Best Of album was performed including blow away performances of New New York and Stars. Promises literally blow me away being next to the speakers.”

After some recognizable opening tracks, The Cranberries broke into their newest material, “Two new songs were performed. The first was Astral Projection, a dreamy rock song which could be catchy. The other new song had only been finished today, it is called In It Together and is a very feel good song creating the same type of atmosphere as Stars — colourful. The show ended with a rocking performance of Dreams and Dolores saying she would see us next year (glad it won’t be another 7). Overall the band look really well, Dolores sporting the 1990s DM boots with the dress bringing back memories of the first album and the lads looking ready to seriously entertain this summer. I’m so glad they came and kicked off our summer with such a bang.”

Below are some photos that Patrick managed to snap during the concert.

Did you get to attend the Belfast show, or will you be attending one of the ones coming up soon? We at Zombieguide want your concert photos and impressions — especially your impressions of the new songs — MP3’s, setlists, merchandise/memorabilia scans, and pretty much anything related to the upcoming set of gigs. Send in your submissions here!

Huge thanks to Patrick Mann for the info and photos!
(PHOTOS NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Source: Exclusive

Despite the coincidence of having two Cranberries releases with the name “7 Years,” both going unreleased, our official source has confirmed to us that it is exactly that — a coincidence. Our source confirmed to us yesterday that the unreleased 1998 Japanese “greatest hits” compilation and the unreleased 2001 “Wake Up” B-side are not connected in any way, other than sharing the same title.

“7 Years” was the final incarnation chosen for a Japanese greatest hits compilation that some fans will probably know better by its tentative title, “Odd Bits and Hits: Best & Rare.” The collection, which was to feature both singles and rarities, was to be released on June 22, 1998, originally for Japan only. Our source told us, “The ‘Odd Bits’ compilation became ‘7 years’ which was supposed to be a Japan only compilation but was rejected because Polygram wanted it to be a worldwide release of Greatest Hits, so it was pulled. Neither was released yet both were announced locally.”

The Russian bootlegged “Odd Bits and Hits,” which had essentially nothing to do with the aborted Japanese release, other than a stolen title
(PHOTO NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

So neither “7 Years” nor “Odd Bits and Hits” made it to stores — but that still didn’t stop the underground music market from exploiting the titles. A Russian bootleg manufacturer put out a so-called “Odd Bits and Hits” not long after the cancellation of the Japanese release, no doubt hoping to score some name recognition from hardcore fans. The CD contains some easily- obtainable album tracks and B-sides, such as “So Cold in Ireland.” So beware — if you ever see a copy of “Odd Bits” for sale, this is most likely what you will be buying.

As for the song “7 Years,” it was an entirely new piece the band conceived while recording “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.” “‘Seven Years’ the song was a new composition written during the WUASTC sessions,” the band’s representative told us. (The Japanese compilation was not named after the song, as we had suspected.) Also, we’ve learned that the song was written by Dolores only, not by Dolores and Noel as we had previously reported.

Stay tuned to Zombieguide for more Cranberries news, as the 2003 European Tour kicks off today!

Source: Exclusive!

While doing our usual search for news, we at Zombieguide came across anarticle from 2001 at VH1 which read, “The Cranberries recorded 18 songs at Windmill Lane, 13 of which will end up on the record. The rest, including a cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘In the Ghetto,’ will be released as B-sides.” Doing some quick math, that leaves five songs as B-sides. But suddenly it struck us: only four have been released, namely “Capetown” (US version of “Wake Up”), Elvis’s “In the Ghetto” (International version of “Wake Up”), “Many Days” (Official page Internet download and Asian Tour Edition of “Wake Up”), and “Such a Waste” (“This is the Day” single).

Obviously, this leaves one song missing. So we decided to investigate, and lo and behold, we’ve discovered the answer.

“Yes, there is an unreleased track recorded for the ‘Wake Up and Smell the Coffee’ sessions. The track is called ‘7 Years’ and is written by Dolores,” a representative for The Cranberries told Zombieguide today. “It is a country- tinged song featuring a Pedal Steel guitar.”

The unfortunate news is that we will likely not be listening to “7 Years” anytime soon. As the rep told us, “At present, there are no plans to release the song which might be used in a ‘Complete Sessions’ for the album. The track is owned by MCA/Universal Music Group.” That final statement should be the most worrysome for fans — after the band’s January announcement that they have split from Universal, the chances of seeing future Cranberries releases from Universal have been severely dampered.

The Unreleased Japanese Singles Compilation “7 Years,” from 1998

The title immediately jerked our minds back to something that we had seen recently in the December Cranberries Special Edition of the Irish mag “Hot Press.” Mixed into a collage of band photos (page 70) is something peeping up from behind — a CD-case-proportioned card which reads “The Cranberries ~7 Years~” in a Calligraphy-style font indicative of “To the Faithful Departed.” The Japanese katakana text on the lower right simply reads, “Cranberries: Seven Years.”

The image above comes from the unreleased Japan-only singles compilation “Seven Years,” (probably the same release as the fabled unreleased “Odd Bits and Hits”). Is there a connection between the song and the unreleased 1998 compilation? Many artists name their greatest hits compilation after the title of a bonus track — after all, even “Stars: The Best of…” was named after its bonus track.

The song and compilation “7 Years” are not related, see our update here.

As surprising as a 5th unreleased B-side from “Wake Up” may be, it’s certainly nothing new from The Cranberries. Many times in the past, the band has recorded tracks in the studio which, for one reason or another, never end up released to the public. Dolores told MTV News in a 1996 interview that the band usually has a few tracks that they record but never release. For example, last year’s “To the Faithful Departed: The Complete Sessions” release shows a studio chart that clearly shows that there was at least an attempt to record the song “False” during the late 1995 session. “False” is one of the band’s oldest songs, dating back to at least 1992. Furthermore, Fergal Lawler revealed via the Official Page last year that the band had tried to record the “Wake Up” track “Dying Inside” both during the “Faithful” and “Hatchet” sessions, but abandoned both attempts.

The Complete Cranberries Song List will be updated soon with the new addition.

Source: Exclusive!

The Croatian soccer team Dinamo Zagreb is losing goalkeeper Tomislav Butina over some much-publicized brawls with coach Miroslav Blazevic last year, one of which erupted over a Cranberries concert. Butina was placed as one of 23 to be put on Croatia’s national team last year.

Conflicts between the player and coach first started last year when Butina spent too much time talking to reporters before training session, causing the entire team to start the session later than was planned. Worse yet, Butina skipped a game last October to show up at The Cranberries’ Halloween concert in Zagreb. The Croatia team lost the match 3-0, with Butina’s concert-caused absence “further infuriating his coach,” according to Planet Football.

Butina, who’s been on the Zagreb team for over 11 years, will be heading to the Belgian champions Club Brugge, who reportedly offered a much higher salary than their Croatian counterparts.

Source: Planet Football