Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

The Cranberries

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1993)
• Original Release Date: April 20, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001DXL
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,020 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #13 in

  Music > World Music > Celtic > Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Their first full-length shows a band fully formed, with faint debts to the Sundays and the Smiths, but turning out more-than-tuneful pop behind the gorgeous lilt of Dolores O'Riordan. "Dreams" and "Linger" both seem to weave magic spells that remain even after the tracks pass, and there is a glorious freshness to the performances that's impossible to resist. It remains their most satisfying outing. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quintessential debut of the 1990's, April 14, 2000

By	Erix (L.I.C., NY USA) - See all my reviews

In the early 90's, "alternative" was all the rage wasn't it? And in that pile of debuts, only three stand out for me. Let's see... It was 1993. There was Radiohead. There was The Smashing Pumpkins. And there was a little band from Ireland called The Cranberries. They just came out of nowhere and took the world by storm. But, brilliant as those other bands may be (and Radiohead's excellence didn't really show until their second album, by the way), The Cranberries had one up on them with their debut Cd: "Everybody Else Is Doing it, So Why Can't We?" Because they weren't trying to innovate. Theirs was a message of simplicity, and they hammered it home in such dreamy and elyptical fashion, that you could not get that incrdible voice or those haunting melodies out of your head. With their more pretentious contemporaries trying to give new spins to 60's psychodelia, The Cranberries had a down-to-earth pop sensibility that made them irresistible. A timelessness. Consider that "Linger" is such a perfect love song, that it can exist at any point in time and fit right in. As lead singer Dolores O'Riordan once said: "Patsy Cline could have sang it." And she's right. If one could travel back in time to the late 50s or 60's with this recording, and pump it through someone's turntable, it wouldn't seem out of place. And yet, it doesn't seem dated. Most of the other songs on this wonderful 41 minute recording (even the length and structure of the album itself is old-fasioned) have that same quality to them. Even "Dreams", that unforgettable pop song that echoes in our minds to this very day. You could see that they were influenced by the British indie scene of the 1980's (particularly The Smiths); all the more evident when you consider that Smiths and Morrissey producer, Stephen Street, handled this recording as well. But they gave all that a freshness and a unique quality that made their music seem totally original. After this, The Cranberries moved on and produced more quality work. Their follow-up, "No Need To Argue" (released the following year), showed a rare maturity that most bands don't accomplish in a decade, let alone a year. Their varied range is just another of this often underappreciated band's attributes. Later on, they went from experimental ("To The Faithful Departed"- 1996) to whimsical (last year's "Bury the Hatchet.") But with this first release they truly marked a moment in time. "Linger" is to the 90's what "Every Breath You Take" was to the 80's. This kind of watershed is not a common occurance, and so The Cranberries remain one of this generation's most important bands. Their debut, in a sense, is the quintessential 90's debut because it proved without a doubt that there really was new music worth listening to out there... Too bad this is no longer true.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An achingly beautiful, simply amazing debut album, March 29, 2003

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This remarkable CD is, in my opinion, the most remarkable debut album I have ever heard. I fell in love with the song Linger as soon as I heard it, so I naturally went right out and bought the album. I was impressed then and I'm still impressed. This music is so distinctive and achingly beautiful that it remains as fresh and enjoyable now, all these years later, as it did then. It is ironic that an album with such a long name features songs with short titles, but the overall disc really takes precedence over the individual songs. I actually have trouble remembering the title for each song, but this is primarily because this album is almost organic in its completeness, simply teeming with life and substance. I just don't put this CD in the drive and listen to a song here or there; I have to experience the whole thing every time I play it. I'm not sure how this distinctive type of music should be classified; I don't know if its primary influence is Welsh or Celtic or something else. All I know is that Dolores O'Riordan has the most distinctive voice I have ever heard, and her vocals make each song hauntingly beautiful and absolutely amazing. This album creates a surreal atmosphere inside your mind and really and truly hypnotizes you with its power. I love every single song on here; Linger is of course my favorite, while I Still Do and Dreams stand out slightly from the crowd, but the quality of this music is spread lavishly from start to finish. This is as polished and unbelievably complete an album as a group or artist can hope to deliver. Even the Cranberries, as much as I love their music, have never quite been able to recapture the magic of this first album.

I will end my lavish praise of this CD by pointing out the great utility of its music. This album is perfect for just about any occasion or any mood. If you are feeling good, this music reinforces and increases your happiness; if you are feeling sad and lonely, it touches your heart and helps you indulge your blue mood in a way that refreshes you; if you are angry, it calms you down with its hypnotizing calmness. Many are the nights I have played this album to help me calm down and go to sleep. Few albums can boast this sort of utility; this is music that fits every mood and never fails to move me in some way. If I live to be 100, I will still be turning the old hearing aid up and listening to this album on a regular basis.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb debut ! One awesome song after another!, July 6, 2000

By	Shelley Shay (Denton, TX **(God Bless the USA!!)**) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It's a rare treat to find a CD (a debut album, no less!) thatis nothing but awesome songs, one after the other... no weird, bizarreor annoying tracks that need to be skipped... just incredible Dolores O'Riordan's haunting vocals through-out... thoughtful lyrics and a great sounding band. The Cranberries don't have lyrics that repeat a million times in each song, so you don't always realize the name of a track when you hear it on the radio... but believe me, you've heard at least one of their songs. If you've ever seen the promotional vacation commercial for travel to Ireland, you've heard "Dreams" sung in the background. Definitely a pick-me-up, but not a jazzy dance song... easy to listen to at work or as background music to housework or a country drive... one excellent melody after another! I have a library of over 600 CDs, but I only take about 20 with me when I go on a road trip... just the few I can listen to over and over again w/o skipping tracks... this is one of those CDs. Sometimes you buy a CD because you hear one song on the radio that you like... then you listen to the whole thing a few times and if the band is really good, the music can grow on you to the point you actually like/tolerate all the songs... but in the case of this initial offering by the Cranberries, all tracks were great listening on the first go-round.