Vusofa
Oct 07, 2025 | 03:21:25 AM

I created this artwork to use for my review of The Cranberries: No Need to Argue (30th Anniversary).

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Not a popular opinion, but No Need to Argue is not my favorite The Cranberries album. I prefer the later records, particularly the Bury the Hatchet-era, when I felt the band was in top-form and understood how to write blockbuster songs.

Still, No Need to Argue is an important Cranberries album, because this is the band’s breakout record. Yes, I know their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? was a commercial success (I bought that album twice!), but No Need to Argue gave them international success – thanks to their hit “Zombie” song. This is the group’s beer song. It’s so good, the way it slowly draws you in. Then the repetitive “in your head, in your head – zombie, zombie, zombie!” When you look closer, the song is about the IRA bombings, pretty heavy stuff for a stadium rock song.

Anyway, the album got a 25th Anniversary Edition treatment in 2020, which some fans were saying it felt like the record label was taking advantage of Dolores O’Riordan’s tragic accidental death in January 2018. A little time has passed and now the album got a proper reissue as a 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition in August 2025.

What set this release apart from the 25th Anniversary? First of all, the entire album got a brand-new stereo mix by the original album producer, Stephen Street. I own the original 1994 CD and can tell you that the vocals and audio notes are much clearer on the 2025 edition. The other new two remixes by Scottish producer and CHVRCHES band member Iain Cook.

As for the other new tracks, they’re live recordings and are packaged in various formats. For example, my two-disc CD does not have the MTV Unplugged from 1995 (that might be exclusive to the deluxe vinyl) or Royal Court Theatre and various demos found on the Digital Deluxe Edition. I understand this is a limitation of the physical format, but I wonder how much more expensive it would be to include those tracks on a 3rd disc? It’s just a way to get additional money from true diehard fans, who must have it all… they’ll be forced to buy all three formats.

I was pretty happy to hear those Woodstock live tracks. I never saw the Cranberries live (they got so big so fast), but I felt the live tracks really captures the band’s energy. They sounded really tight on “Ridiculous Thoughts”, even though at the time of that recording, it was a new song.

A little trivia about No Need to Argue’s cover artwork. If you have their debut album, you may notice that the band is sitting on the same sofa. The idea was that the band would use that same sofa, at various locations throughout Dublin. They might have given up on the idea by the time the third album came around, because transporting that stupid sofa to London or wherever the band was recording, was probably a real pain.

However, that’s not the end of the sofa, it later resurfaced on Supergrass’ “Alright” video. Man, that sofa gets around.

Enjoy this vuart.