REVIEW: The Cranberries, Bury the Hatchet (Island)
- Jon Steltenpohl
For Cranberries fans, Bury the Hatchet has been worth the wait. O'Riordan and crew are back, and the only changes are those small, incremental improvements that result in an instantly familiar album that will completely satisfy the faithful. You'll get the trademark soulful Delores O'Riordan backed appropriately by either scathing guitar or ethereal atmosphere. O'Riordan can either deliver a breathless lullaby or howlingly mad banshee, and the band keeps up with every step.
There is not tendency by the band to add in the proverbial kitchen sink, yet the arrangements are neither lacking nor sparse. It's just that they fit the songs perfectly. It's a remarkable show of skill and restraint. In "Copycat", there's shimmering guitar bubbles that lash out, a driving acoustic guitar that keeps the beat, and blossoming cymbals. The guitar solo is a slight, Cure inspired line that keeps repeating over and over. It's a driving, pulsing song with O'Riordan's vocals supported at every twist and turn. A song later, on "What's on My Mind", features a simple formula -- take simple guitar, strings, and straightforward drums on a plain song with O'Riordan's expressive voice skirting around the edges.
The Cranberries do their thing so effortlessly on Bury the Hatchet that it is easy to forget the skill involved in making an album that is so instantaneously accessible. In one or two listens, you begin cherishing the melodies. You sing along as if the album has been a favorite for years, and you fail to see how you will ever get tired of it. Songs go by and transition from harsh to quiet and scathing to touching without a single pause or interruption. Bury the Hatchet is an album that you can listen to as an experience rather than a collection of singles.
In a way, The Cranberries have fulfilled the promises of another "O", the early Sinead O'Connor. On her debut, The Lion and The Cobra, O'Connor found a way to be both ruthless and tender, shy and sinister. But, after only one more album, O'Connor's life became a side show, and her music faded. The Cranberries have had some of the same distractions, but O'Riordan and company give the listener what they want... passion and conviction. Whether it's the personal lyrics of songs like "Promises" or "Animal Instinct" or the provocative lyrics of tracks like the anti-molestation tune "Fee Fi Fo", The Cranberries communicate to the listener directly and intensely. O'Riordan is still showing us her underbelly, and she's making us feel what she feels.
Her lyrics are consistently direct and rather simple. "Dying in the Sun" is a sad little song of frailty and regret that closes the album. O'Riordan's voice is layered in counterpoint harmonies with a simply piano background. Sing's O'Riordan "I wanted to be so perfect you see, I wanted to be so perfect." The pain and remorse in her voice is touching and tearful. By the fourth album, many bands give up on such honesty.
Without question, The Cranberries have proved themselves to be one of the best bands of the 90's. Bury the Hatchet simply is the final chapter in the first decade of The Cranberries. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who have fallen in love with The Cranberries, it is hard to find another band that has so steadfastly stuck to their own sound and produced consistently compelling albums. Bury the Hatchet is, thankfully, just what you'd expect from a band as good as The Cranberries.
