Mike turns fifty one, fifty one, fifty one… today-ay-ay-ay!
Happy birthday to our favorite bass player.

Photo: Andy Earl, 1994, Mike was twenty one, twenty one, twenty one…

A rare interview with Dolores on the radio show “The Morning X” on 9 August 1999 was rebroadcast on the radio recently (22 March) during the “Best of The Morning X” and shared on YouTube by Cumulus Podcasts, the official account of one of the largest podcast networks in America. The podcast is also available directly on the official website 99xatl.com (look for March 22 – 18:09).

Description on YouTube mentions, “an interview and performance…” but only the interview (18min long) has resurfaced for now. Let’s hope for the performance to be rebroadcast as well!

An upgrade of the bootleg video recorded on 14 August 1996 in Moline, IL, USA was shared on YouTube yesterday by user George’s Video Library. There is no mention of the video grade anywhere but it looks like a low generation copy…  or even the master tape directly (?)
Definitely a major upgrade for many of us!

“Zombie” crowned by the Radio Nova (Irish radio) listeners today… maybe the recent “Six Nations” title won by the national rugby team and the fact that the song has become their unofficial anthem helped a little!

Read the article on nova.ie

Ireland have been crowned “Six Nations” champions for the 2nd year in a row yesterday… and on home soil… and once again the crowd sang “Zombie” after the final whistle.

Watch below a short video of that moment published by Guinness Men’s Six Nations on their socials.

…and today The Cranberries have posted a message on their socials (Facebook, TwitterX, Instagram) to congratulate the team and wish everyone a Happy St Patrick’s Day.

The “East Limerick Gaels Award” honors those who have given lifelong, voluntary and dedicated service to the Limerick GAA over the years. The event was held at the Millennium Centre in Caherconlish (near Limerick) possibly yesterday(?)

There was a special recognition award for the late Dolores O’Riordan for The Cranberries song “Dreams” which has become synonymous with the Limerick Hurlers’ success in recent years and Dolores’ brother Joseph was there to accept the award; see image below… too bad we can’t read the plaque!

More details and photos on limerickleader.ie

Fergal turns 53… Happy Birthday!

Photo: Mike Hashimoto

Special thanks to John Massaro for sharing on YouTube this quite rare interview with Dolores and Fergal published in May 2000 on the Irish interactive magazine on CD-ROM “Enter”

The full magazine (4 pages) is available here.

“Dreams” is once again part of a movie soundtrack… and counting!
“Madame Web” starring Dakota Johnson is an American superhero film just released this week in theaters/cinemas worldwide and based on Marvel Comics. The Cranberries song is only playing over the end credits!

Special thanks to Cranberries MEXICO for the video shared on their Instagram Stories today. (Watch it fast before it’s gone!)

To be released on 20 April 2024 for Record Store Day.
More info on recordstoreday.com

Tracklist
SIDE A:
1. Animal Instinct
2. Loud And Clear
3. Promises
4. You And Me
SIDE B:
5. Just My Imagination
6. Shattered
7. Desperate Andy
8. Saving Grace
9. Copycat
SIDE C:
10. What’s On My Mind
11. Delilah
12. Fee Fi Fo
13. Dying In The Sun
14. Sorry Son (Bonus Studio Track)
SIDE D:
15. Baby Blues (Bonus Studio Track)
16. The Sweetest Thing (Bonus Studio Track)
17. Woman Without Pride (Bonus Studio Track)
18. Such A Shame (Bonus Studio Track)
19. Paparazzi On Mopeds (Bonus Studio Track)

Notice on the image above the classic artwork for the first time on vinyl, since the original release from 1999 as well as the reissue by plain recordings in late 2015 were slightly different.

15% off storewide, excluding media.
Shop on thecranberries.shopnylonmerch.com

For the occasion, a brand new TTFD T-Shirt has appeared, and some were removed.

Have a look at the photos on timesunion.com (only one about The Crans!)

On this poignant day, The Cranberries have published a message on their socials (Facebook, Instagram, TwitterX).

Read the article on faroutmagazine.co.uk

Seriously, who’s that girl? Not Madonna… and not Dolores for sure!
Below the cover of a new book/biography written in French, printed by Amazon (France) and released last month. Price: 11 euro. And yes the book really is about The Cranberries. Well…

CW is trying to let fans know everything about The Cranberries… everything… and this book is no exception so we had to mention it. We also never give our opinion as much as possible but this is a bit too much here and to make it simple: DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!

This book, belonging to the “Culture Rock” series on Amazon France, is very possibly another AI shit, both the only one (fake?) photo and the whole text… even if we can’t confirm it. No author credited anywhere which is some kind of proof. Probably AI generated in 30 seconds just to make easy money like they did with many other artists for that series before. SHAME!

Another great share on dimeadozen.org to start the new year in a perfect way. Please note that you have to be a member of the site to view the page and download. A completely uncirculated performance from The Cranberries recorded at The Grand in New York City on 20 July 1993 in support of their debut album in the US.

That early years show was audio-recorded from the audience and shared for the first time ever just a couple of days ago… more than 3 decades after!

Special thanks to mjk5510 & Two Of Us for this gem.

The first images of the EEIDI Gold LP released in the US early December. Images from different sources, special thanks to them!

The online videogame “Fortnite” by Epic Games has a brand new game mode or place (or island in fact, that’s how the different locations/games seem to be named in the game) featuring The Cranberries. Sorry, we are not experts in that game at all, let’s hope we don’t say too much bullshit 🙂

That new island, just released a couple of days ago, is named “Fortnite Festival” and entering it is like playing games such as “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band” where you have to play the notes appearing on the screen. Well… pressing the correct buttons in fact, nothing really close to real instruments… everyone knows that right?!

There are different layouts for the different instruments, alongside several difficulty settings, giving lots of replayability, etc…

“Fortnite Festival” has 30+ licensed songs and includes “Zombie” by The Cranberries

The base game “Fortnite” and the brand new one “Fortnite Festival” are available free on different platforms (MacOS, Windows, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, iPadOS) and include in-app/in-game purchases.

Better than words, just have a look at this YouTube video, “Zombie” starts at 4:55:33

Tracklist:
Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Bell Biv Devoe by Poison
Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
Brace for Chaos by Epic Games
Buddy Holly by Weezer
Butter Barn Moedown by Epic Games
Cake by the Ocean by DNCE
Counting Stars by One Republic
Cradles by Sub Urban
Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
Emo Girl by Machine Gun Kelly
Gangnam Style by PSY
Go With the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age
Highway Tune by Greta Van Fleet
I by Kendrick Lamar
Mr. Brightside by The Killers
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy
Nine Inch Nails by The Hand That Feeds
Nothing’s Alright by Witch Gang
Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
Run It by Epic Games
Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
Switch Up by Epic Games
Take Me Higher by Epic Games
Take My Breath by The Weeknd
The Hills by The Weeknd
The Search by NF
The White Stripes by Seven Nation Army
Thunder by Imagine Dragons
Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo
Zombie by The Cranberries

Read the article on limerickpost.ie
Also available in print on the 2 December 2023 issue.

Six new items celebrating the 25th anniversary of “To The Faithful Departed” have appeared on the official merch of The Cranberries this morning while the band launched the Black Friday offer – though this offer does not apply on the new merch.

– The Cranberries Faithful Departed Ladies Black T-Shirt
– The Cranberries Faithful Departed Black T-Shirt
– The Cranberries Faithful Departed Photo Purple T-Shirt
– The Cranberries Faithful Departed Photo Gold T-Shirt
– The Cranberries Faithful Departed Black Zip Hoodie
– The Cranberries Salvation Black T-Shirt

Two new Zombie shirts were added as well!

– The Cranberries Zombie Cross Black T-Shirt
– The Cranberries Zombie Lyrics Black T-Shirt

Read the article and watch the RTÉ NEWS video on rte.ie

Spotted on thesoundofvinyl.us The Cranberries first album (25th Anniversary Edition) to be released on gold vinyl in early December 2023. The limited edition is already available to preorder in the US (ships December 1) and as always should be available in more shops (and countries?) soon…

After the Dark Green LP last month, is this the start of a new color series just like it was the case for NNTA released in 10 different colors month after month during a couple of years!

UPDATE – 4 NOVEMBER

The band just announced it on their socials (Facebook, Twitter X, Instagram) with video teaser and pre-order link on udiscovermusic.com

Andy Janes shared for Dolores’ birthday on the Facebook group “Dolores O’Riordan And The Cranberries Collection” the never before seen video of “Sunday” recorded live during an instore special acoustic performance on 16 July 1993 at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood.

Thank you so much Andy for witnessing and recording these extremely precious moments of the start of the fame for the band. PURE GEM!!!!!!!!!

Click the image below to play the video…

Note: Sorry for delay, we were waiting for Andy’s agreement to share it here on CW.

New audio interview with Fergal on “The Hustle” for the release of “To The Faithful Departed · 25th Anniversary Edition”

Listen/download on podbean.com

Read the article / interview with “Big Rugby Fan” Fergal on extra.ie

Finally the real images of the SHM-CD spotted last July… plus promo cover.

Source: ebay.com

Posted only on Twitter X regarding the world cup quarter finals Ireland vs New Zealand today.

“Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” limited green vinyl will be officially released tomorrow (edit: in most countries, and on Saturday for NAD in a few others) and the first image now surfaced the internet, thanks to user Record Corner UK on Instagram.

UPDATE

This green vinyl is part of the 25th Anniversary Edition:

“To The Faithful Departed” deluxe remaster editions will be officially released tomorrow and the first images of the 1LP and 2LP (black) have now surfaced the internet, and the other 2 editions (3CD and 2LP yellow) should appear very soon…

Original album remastered 1LP:

Expanded 2LP (black vinyl):

EDIT (16:50 UTC)

3CD Deluxe Edition (and LP):

Note: The 2LP black and 2LP yellow have the exact same sleeve (front & back) and same sticker on front, only a different barcode sticker was added (ending by 949 instead of 947) for the yellow version.

Read the article/interview with Dolores’ mother on limerickleader.ie

New audio interview with Fergal Lawler by Noel Fogelman on “Reliving My Youth Podcast” for the release of “To The Faithful Departed · 25th Anniversary Edition”

Listen/download on podbean.com

…and the band posted a message on their socials (Twitter X, Facebook, Instagram) to thank their fans.

Once again, the song “Dreams” appears in another trailer.
The movie “Dream Scenario” with Nicolas Cage will be in cinemas/theaters on 10 November 2023.

Thanks to Yagiz for the link!

Even if you are not really into sports, you probably know this is the Rugby World Cup these days. The event is happening in France in September and October and “Zombie” has clearly become the Irish rugby team unofficial celebratory anthem.

For sure the song is at least synonymous to Irish rugby this year in Ireland. After each victory, the Irish team is taking a lapse of honor and The Cranberries song is played on the PA systems in stadiums. No need to say the crowd is singing/belting out the lyrics loud.

First was “Dreams” with the Limerick Hurling team, now is “Zombie” with the Rugby national team!

As always, the choice of a song makes debat, and “Zombie” is no exception with a few critics emerging. Well… that’s part of the fame/success.

There are many articles about that in the Irish press (and even UK) since the beginning of the world cup, and even more since the victory over South Africa (the world champion team) last Saturday in Paris at Stade de France.

Read just a few articles online by clicking below (and a lot more available on Google search):

“Electric Blue (Early Mix)” and “Free To Decide (Paris Demo)” off the forthcoming TTFD Deluxe Remaster are available to listen on YouTube and streaming platforms.

The HD video for “Free To Decide” premieres today on The Cranberries official YouTube channel

“Salvation (Early Mix)” and “I Just Shot John Lennon (Paris Demo)” off the forthcoming TTFD Deluxe Remaster are available to listen on YouTube and streaming platforms now.

Unexpected! The Cranberries first album will be released on dark green vinyl on 13 October 2023. The limited edition is already available to preorder on the French website fnac.com as a Fnac Exclusive. No more information yet to know if this concerns France only or more countries…

UPDATE – 13 SEPTEMBER

The vinyl is now available to pre-order in UK as part of the National Album Day 2023 on hmv.com, thesoundofvinyl.com or roughtrade.com and in Germany on udiscover-music.de

Thanks to Dan, Kevin and Timmi for the links.

The Cranberries official website – cranberries.com – has a new look made for the TTFD 25th Anniversary Edition. The different sections haven’t changed though.