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The Cranberries includes: Dolores O'Riordan (vocals).Recorded live at The Astoria II Theater, London, England in February, 1994.THE CRANBERRIES LIVE was recorded on the band's succesful 1993 tour, and contains seven tracks due for release on their upcoming album.On Friday, January 14, 1994, the Cranberries' single "Linger" was bulleted at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, on its way to a peak at number eight, and the band had just concluded a successful tour of the U.S. that would help break it in other territories. So, it was no surprise that Dolores O'Riordan turned up on-stage at London's Astoria 2 club that night draped in an American flag. Nor was it surprising that the group was being trailed by a camera crew that caught the sound and feel of an act just at the point of breaking through. Their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, released ten months earlier, had peaked at number 64 in the British charts and "Linger," their only charting single so far, had spent just one week at number 74 the previous February. All that was about to change, however (the album would soar to number one, and reissued singles "Linger" and "Dreams" would reach the Top 30), and that was in the air as the band took the stage. Every song from the album -- "Pretty," "Linger," "How," "Not Sorry," "Waltzing Back," "Dreams," and "Still Can't..." -- was greeted with raucous applause. But the Cranberries were on a slightly different wavelength from that of their audience. Having played these songs for a couple of years, they seemed far more interested in new material, and they introduced a batch of it -- "Dreaming My Dreams," "Ridiculous Thoughts," "Daffodils Lament," "Everything I Said," "Zombie," and "Empty." All of these would turn up on their second album, No Need to Argue, nine months hence, but buyers of this video got a five-month advance glimpse. (Also included in the set were "Liar," a previously issued B-side, and "So Cold in Ireland," a B-side to be.) The focus, as usual, was on O'Riordan, appearing in a sleeveless black lace dress and a red knit cap over her short hair, heavily accessorized with multiple silver bracelets on her left arm, multiple silver necklaces, and a right ear containing six studs and three earrings that made the side of her head look like a pincushion. O'Riordan's bandmates stayed out of the spotlight and often looked bored, but her intensity made up for that. She herself might have been bored with the old songs, but she fed off the audience when performing them, and her enthusiasm for the new songs drew her listeners' interest. The result was a mesmerizing show by a young band that was crossing over the line to stardom. [The DVD reissue includes a 5.1 mix.] ~ William Ruhlmann