The Cranberries: The group that left a sour taste that I eventually enjoyed.

I remember the first time I heard The Cranberries. My aunt had a copy of the CD Everyone is Doing it, So Why Can't We? The first thing I said was, "What is the Hell is this?!" I didn't like it and i dismissed it. Little did I know this would be one of my favorite bands. So what made me change my mind?

This was a transitional time for me in my music appreciation. Prior to my musical awakening, I was listening primarily to rap. I remembered rap going in the direction of gangster rap and it really was not in my taste. I was losing connection to the music that i listened to but I held on only because it was all I knew. Then I found Nirvana (whoa, that sounds profound.) I wonder how many people say that it was Nirvana that changed everything for them, but they truly did for me. The noise, the angst, the hurt it all struck a chord with me. Music... chord... get it? :-p

I was completely embracing this new sound that we now know as grunge. I actively sought out anything grunge. I felt scared because it belonged to the family of rock and at that time when you think of rock you think of hair bands. I still shudder at them but I'm more open to the style now. There were guys who had long hair in grunge, - Kurt Cobain did, Chris Cornell did, but they were different. They were not pretty and the music wasn't either. I wouldn't say I left rap, but alternative/modern rock became my preference from then on.

I was still feeling my way through all this new music when I was exposed to the Cranberries. I think I was used to the harsher sounds that when I heard melody along with grit, I got weirded out. After a while, my music taste expanded. I found Live 105 which was the modern rock station in San Francisco Bay Area. They played everything I liked and exposed me to others. Resurrection Sunday became my link to what I missed - punk, new wave, goth, etc. I become open to newer music because of the exposure of older influences.

I found myself buying Everyone is doing it, So Why can't we? I don't know when , but it became one of the cds that i would pop in more frequently than the rest. I was able to listen to the entire CD without skipping tracks. When Cranberries came out with No Need to Argue, I pretty much got it the first chance I had. "Zombie" was the first single and I loved it instantly. I listened to the rest of the CD and found it being another I would listen to frequently.

Years later, my aunt heard me listening to the Cranberries and said, "Remember when you hated them?" I think my response was a "yeah..." with the inflection of distaste that she remembered my initial rejection and dejection for dismissing the band that has become my favorite.

I bought To the Faithfully Departed and Bury The Hatchet and there were good songs in each but they did not have the same feel as the first two albums did. When my CD collection was stolen, I bought the first two again but not these two. As of now the Cranberries are still in hiatus. I think I saw an article mentioning how they all have kids and they take precedence over the band. One of these days I hope to hear something new from them and if they tour I would be there.

The Cranberries - Promises