The MTV Unplugged Alabaster White LP first announced as a Complex Shop exclusive and available on complex.com appears to be not so exclusive after all!
It is now available for pre-order in a few more shops, like cede.ch in Switzerland, jukebox.ch still in Switzerland, wom.de in Germany, jpc.de still in Germany and there is a good chance that more shops will appear soon as well as more continents.
For now, a good news for European customers to avoid US custom taxes!
Conclusion, never pre-order too fast…
Available in a variety of formats, including a CD, a crystal-clear colored LP, a standard black LP, and an exclusive white LP with an alternate cover (only on Complex Shop and not yet available at this very moment). Edit: now available on complex.com
To be honest, these recordings are some of the worst sound qualities ever but at least they exist. The 1994 show even includes “Disappointment” rarely recorded in concert!
A new audio bootleg surfaced on YouTube exactly 30 years after the concert. Recorded by Shayne Stacy on DAT at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA, USA, on 31 August 1995.
We are back from Electric Picnic, where we went with Cranberries Mexico, and here is our review!
Following the festival’s announcement on 20 August 2025, we felt it was important to attend Electric Picnic for what was to be a unique performance of the Hogan brothers with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra & a mysterious special guest, especially as Noel hinted in an interview earlier this week that this would be a one-off event with no plan to go back on the road. Such an appearance could therefore well never happen again!
The Hogans had been invited to perform The Cranberries’ repertoire accompanied by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. As Noel explained to the audience when stepping on stage, they had chosen Dermot Kennedy on vocals since neither of them are singers themselves, “Mike and I cannot sing so we asked a friend of ours to join us”. It turned out to be a smart move in our opinion as a female singer might have been perceived as bad taste, a misguided attempt to replace Dolores. Kennedy, on the other hand, is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed voices, blending folk and hip-hop with over a million followers and no need to borrow the spotlight. In fact, we could see on site that many of the younger festival-goers had gathered in front of the main stage more for Dermot than for The Cranberries’ catalogue!
It’s worth remembering that Electric Picnic, very much like Glastonbury in the UK, is Ireland’s largest festival (80,000 people a day!) and sells out within hours before a single act is announced. The audience the band was thus expected to sing to is predominantly Irish, coming each year for the Electric Picnic experience regardless of the line-up. In this context, the choice of Dermot Kennedy seems to us to make perfect sense, even though we weren’t there to judge Dermot’s voice against Dolores’ – it’s fair to note that his wide vocal range allowed him to handle the songs with competence.
On a day alternating between heavy clouds, wind gusts, showers, and rare clearings, we were lucky that the rain stopped just as the Hogans and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra took the stage. After a short introduction from Noel — amusingly, his very first time speaking into the mic “just going to be talking so… this is my first time” — and a warm welcome from the crowd, the show began, surprisingly, with “This Is The Day”… a lovely surprise for us as we were expecting to hear only the most popular hits the Irish audience is familiar with.
This Is The Day
From the very first notes, emotions ran high: the beauty of the orchestral arrangements, the joy of seeing the brothers smiling again after those years of grief (Mike’s emotions perhaps more discreet, but let’s keep in mind it must have been pretty intense and emotional for them too), the sense of closure of being able to enjoy these songs one last time, and of course the constant thought of Dolores.
Noel gave a second speech before “Free To Decide” unfortunately, his mic cut out front-of-house, so it’s impossible to know what he said. Perhaps he introduced the musicians on drums and second guitar (we only caught their first names – Phil and Ben ?), or did he say a word about Dolores, we’ll never know…
After all, this wasn’t so much a tribute to Dolores concert, but as Dermot himself explained later in the set, more of Ireland’s homage to a musical legacy that has shaped Irish citizens lives and history, “to be up here singing songs that are such an important part of Irish music history means an awful lot to me so I’m very very grateful to be here doing this” and that’s exactly how we perceived it too. That’s how special it felt out there, the atmosphere at Stradbally Hall was profoundly reverent, almost contemplative, as if the huge audience — weary after two days of festival and braving the rain — understood the significance of showing up, despite the fact that most Irish people really know only a handful of Cranberries songs to be honest: “Zombie” (immortalized at rugby matches since Dolores’s passing), “Dreams” (adopted by Limerick’s hurling team since 2018), “Linger” and “When You’re Gone”.
So of course, when “Linger” began, Noel invited the crowd to sing along with Dermot, and they all joined in singing along in unison, goosebumps all around. The fact the concert turned into a collective ritual made the trip worthwhile. It was clear this was always going to be a giant singalong rather than a test of the guest vocalist’s prowess — hence perhaps why Dermot’s name had only been revealed a few hours before the show, since this wasn’t what mattered most.
Linger (incomplete)
The emotion was obviously palpable on “When You’re Gone”…
When You’re Gone
Then Noel asked his fellow musicians to speed things up, “a bit… like… a lot…” (lol!) after realizing the set was running late. Here we found Noel Hogan in a role reminiscent of a conductor, much like during the “Something Else” tour in 2017, where the string section relied on him to launch songs and keep track of things.
“Salvation” brought a last chance to jump around to a classic from “To The Faithful Departed”
Another emotional highlight was “Ode To My Family” and just like on the other tracks, Dermot wisely stepped back here, avoiding any attempt to imitate Dolores’ “tu tu lu tu” or her signature live yodels. He left those either to the orchestra or to the crowd, which made the performance feel less painful and all the more genuine. The same happened with “Just My Imagination” where we were spared the elongated “not my, not my, not my…” — again, a choice we appreciated.
On “Ridiculous Thoughts” the strings took over the vocal intro once sung by Dolores, and more recently handled by backing singer Johanna Cranitch.
Ridiculous Thoughts (incomplete)
As the set neared its end, gorgeous orchestral arrangements of “Promises” gave way, to our delight, to “Dreams”, a stunning instrumental medley that took us completely by surprise. And finally, as Noel announced, “This is gonna be our last song, I bet you know what this is gonna be” the band launched into “Zombie”. Once again on these two tracks, the audience carried the song with full voice, turning those into a hymn of collective release.
Dreams
You may spot Dermot Kennedy and Mike taking their in-ear monitors off on our “Dreams” video to listen to the crowd.
For us, it was a beautiful farewell. We left with hearts full — touched, grateful, and somewhat relieved to have been able to say goodbye to The Cranberries’ live legacy in such a poignant and meaningful way. What made it even more special was the humility of the performers, the Hogans, the RTÉ Orchestra, Dermot Kennedy — all stepping back somehow leaving space for a collective embrace of the music itself. Let’s here use the occasion to remind the haters that most of these songs were co-written by the man on stage, Noel Hogan, whose legitimacy to perform them could never be in doubt.
Thank you, Noel & Mike, and congratulations to the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Dermot Kennedy for delivering this truly epic moment of Irish collective communion — one that we will remember with both smiles and tears <3
Dermot Kennedy is the special guest playing at Electric Picnic today with the Hogan bros and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. This was just announced on the festival official accounts like Facebook etc…
Except the facts that according to the title of the article it must be Mike in tuxedo on the piano, and that we barely hear Noel’s guitar… it’s a nice 47-sec video recorded yesterday at Electric Picnic press day!
Today was the Electric Picnic press day on festival site in Stradbally in Ireland, and media were treated to a piano performance by Niall Kinsella in full tuxedo. On the Croí stage he performed hits including Hozier’s rendition of “Take Me To Church” and an acoustic version of “Zombie” joined by Noel Hogan.
Afterwards Noel and Niall spoke to the press seated on stage, see photo below! The interview is for now available on irishmirror.ie (go to the second half of the page), more media might appear in the coming hours…
Bootleg vinyls seem to be trendy again these last months… at least when it’s about The Cranberries. A new one just surfaced a few days ago and is titled “May The Saints & Angels Watch Over You”
A little more interesting than what’s been released lately, this one was recorded in Madrid in April 1999. Back cover says soundboard recording, and you probably all know the show was broadcast on Spanish TV, so no doubt the audio is coming from this source… pirates are lazy people!
As always with bootlegs, there is no store listing and you have to search record shops, eBay, or other websites and apps. Photos below from Vinted!
Fergal interviewed a few days ago on a morning TV show called “Today” which airs on Channel 9 in Australia.
For now you can watch only a cropped version made for the show’s Facebook & Instagram pages. The widescreen video was only shown on TV, hopefully soon someone will share it somewhere someday…
Thanks to Jason for the info and link!
UPDATE – 18 AUGUST (11:15 PM)
That was fast!
Widescreen format now shared on YouTube.
Special thanks to Jason once again!
Yesterday, and more than a month and a half after the release of the 3LP edition, all the other “No Need To Argue (30th Anniversary)” editions were physically released. For die-hard collectors, there are European and US pressings for each format (2LP, 1LP, 2CD, 1CD) and even a Japanese 2CD edition (SHMCD).
All the tracks except the MTV Unplugged ones are also available on all streaming platforms. Once again, the MTV Unplugged is a 3LP Edition exclusive.
Producer Stephen Street posted a very important tweet regarding the remastered album; so this is not just another reissue again and again:
Order your NNTA30 copy(ies) on the official links here.
And new, new merch is also available on the official shop here (more items than previously announced about 2 months ago).
These past weeks and to celebrate the anniversary, The Cranberries shared quite a few unseen footages from the archives. And now for release day, even 2 more rarities:
First, the “Ode To My Family (Iain Cook Remix)” official music video published in 4K on YouTube, crafted from never-before seen footage from the 1994 original shoot.
Secondly and still on YouTube, 55 seconds of never-before seen music video cuts of “Ridiculous Thoughts”
Launch of Seamus Flynn’s new book “Limerick Athenaeum · If Walls Could Talk” next 18 August from 2pm to 4pm at People’s Museum in Limerick.
Special guest Noel Hogan will be launching the book dedicated to the Athenaeum theatre as The Cranberries played there quite a few times in the early years of the band.
The doors of what was known in its last incarnation as the Theatre Royal have been closed since 1997 and Seamus Flynn was the former owner of the venue in its late years.
All proceeds go to Historic Houses of Ireland and Limerick Civic Trust.
More details on heritageweek.ie
Iain Cook’s remix of “Ode To My Family” drops next Friday. To celebrate, The Cranberries shared on Instagram yesterday 20 seconds of unseen footage from the music video shoot.
Still celebrating NNTA 30th Anniversary, another 45 seconds of unseen footage were shared yesterday on The Cranberries Instagram. As The Cranberries wrote, “A new perspective on a familiar intro”
A new bootleg LP named “Irish Dreams” was recently released. Nothing really new musically talking, see back cover photo below for tracklisting, and in the same style as the last 2 bootlegs released on vinyl a couple of years ago and without any interest (Live At The Alabamahalle, Radio Sessions 1992-1994).
Available on a few record shops, eBay, etc… it’s bootleg, there’s no store listing!
“Zombie” (piano cover) from the “Wednesday” Netflix series (Season 2, Episode 4) is now available on YouTube and most of streaming platforms since yesterday.
Still celebrating NNTA 30th Anniversary, The Cranberries shared on Instagram yesterday, 24 seconds of unseen footage from the “Zombie” music video shoot. Awesome to discover years after more details of cult moments… like never-before seen close-ups of Dolores’ golden head piece.
Noel and Mike Hogan are reuniting for the first time since Dolores O’Riordan’s death to perform some of The Cranberries most popular songs at the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland this month (29, 30 and 31). They will be joined by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and a special mystery guest.
July 24, 2025 | Comments Off on Unseen angles from the “Ode To My Family” video shoot | by Axl | The Cranberries
Still celebrating NNTA 30th Anniversary, and just like “Zombie” a couple of days ago, The Cranberries shared on Instagram 1 minute of unseen footage from the “Ode To My Family” music video shoot. Another great rarity!
Still celebrating NNTA 30th Anniversary, The Cranberries shared on Instagram about 1 minute of unseen footage from the “Zombie” music video shoot. Great rarity!
The Instagram video was also shared on Facebook as a poor clone simply passing the Instagram link which seems to be their new way of posting stuff now… and it’s becoming a total shame! No more real posts on their website for so long, and soon no more real posts on their socials… just a quick made Instagram Stories à la TikTok and that’s it. For Fuck’s Sake!!!
More details published by Universal Music Japan here regarding the SHM-2CD to be released on 15 August 2025 that you can pre-order here (as already mentioned in a previous news).
EDIT:Tower Records also delivers worldwide.
Don’t pay attention to the cover as it is probably a mistake, and there likely to be an OBI as well. So the picture on UMJ is probably just for illustration purposes and should not reflect the real product.
The NNTA 30th Anniversary celebrations continue with “Zombie (Iain Cook Remix)” out today, both audio & video. The music video crafted from original film scans and never-before seen footage from the 1994 shoot premiered on YouTube just a couple of hours ago!
June 26, 2025 | Comments Off on The Berries Of Cran and their new zzzingle | by Axl | The Cranberries
The Cranberries published on YouTube a couple of days ago and on Instagram and TikTok today, a 30sec video from 1994 recording promo liners for “Zombie”
Big news today, the wait is over!
The Cranberries have announced on their website and socials the 30th anniversary of the album “No Need To Argue” …out of the blue and something like 8 months late, but hey come on, this is our Crans, we know ’em, 8 months late is not too bad!
To celebrate, an expanded 3LP edition will be released on 27 June, next week, via Island/UMe. Watch the unboxing on YouTube. Already available for pre-order, the edition includes:
Freshly remastered audio by original producer Stephen Street
2 new remixes by CHVRCHES’ Iain Cook
Never-released live recordings from Woodstock ’94
Unearthed “Zombie” demo
The complete MTV Unplugged performance
Additionally a 2 LP Deluxe Edition, 2 CD Deluxe Edition, Single CD, Single LP and Digital Deluxe will be released on 15 August 2025 and available for pre-order on 27 June.
The Cranberries shared on their Instagram Story only (meaning available for 24 hours) a photo of the contract(edit: a dispatch note, sorry for the mistake) when “Alf Garnett Suite” was hired for a week in July 1995.
If you have no idea what “Alf Garnett Suite” is/means, it is in fact the official name of the sofa appearing on a few photo sessions with the band. The couch is mainly known on the album covers of EEIDI and NNTA… but not exclusively. It was hired quite a few times for The Cranberries (at least 3 or 4 times) and was also used by the band Supergrass in their video for “Alright” as well as a metal band who decided to burn it in a music video. Fuckers! So unfortunately this piece of The Cranberries History no longer exists… TRAGIC!!
Possibly appearing for the first time on the British television sitcom “Till Death Us Do Part” aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975 where Alfred Edward Garnett is the main character (now you know where the name comes from), maybe this sofa and armchairs suite was not unique and a few copies made in the good old days could still exist and be around somewhere; wouldn’t it be nice! (as another famous band said)
