Review originally published in The Rocket, Seattle, December 1994 and posted on my old blog, Skratchdisc, on 3/31//2010 – now posted here for your edification, entertainment and/or annoyance.
Yes, that’s right. There’s no need to argue: THE CRANBERRIES are as bad as their name. For one thing, lead singer Dolores O’Riordan goes out of her way to sing every song as if she’s yearning for something. Can someone yearn that much? And for what? Her caterwauling envelops the entire album, making the whole thing rather difficult to hear. It makes me want to pee. I mean, she spends so much time trying to uniquely sing every syllable, she’s barely singing anything understandable at all. If you want to hear lyrics rendered as gibberish, you might as well go put on Cocteau Twins! At least they’re good, and their lyrics aren’t supposed to mean anything!
But, let’s assume you can get past her voice (i.e., you like it). Musically, No Need to Argue is an amalgam of alternative rock styles (including nifty grunge-style guitar on “Zombie”) that we’ve all heard at least one too many times. Now, I know that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad album (hell, I liked Urge Overkill’s Saturation). But it’s basically the same album as their debut from last year, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? Maybe they’re answering the question of their first album’s title with No Need to Argue. But, as your mother probably told you any number of times, just because everybody’s jumping off a cliff doesn’t mean you have to, too. – Marsh Gooch
[no stars given in original review] (Island 314-524 050-2, 1994)
NuDisc 