The Cranberries MTV Unplugged
- Alternative |
- Live |
- Rock
Release Date: November 7, 2025
Label: Island
The Cranberries’ MTV Unplugged finally sees an official release, a haunting 1995 acoustic set that captures Dolores O’Riordan and the band at their most vulnerable and timeless.
Thirty years after the Cranberries took the stage at Brooklyn Academy of Music for their MTV Unplugged performance, the full set is finally being released for the first time. Recorded on Valentine’s Day 1995 and broadcast that April, the nine-song acoustic session captures the band at the height of their powers, intimate, raw, and unguarded, just months after No Need To Argue turned them into international stars.
Remastered by longtime collaborator Stephen Street, this long-awaited release arrives alongside the 30th anniversary celebration of No Need To Argue. It offers fans a rare chance to hear the Limerick quartet strip their biggest songs down to their essence. The late Dolores O’Riordan’s voice sounds both fierce and fragile, gliding over reimagined versions of “Ode To My Family,” “Linger,” and a haunting “Zombie” that trades its electric snarl for quiet intensity. Lesser-heard gems like “Yesterday’s Gone” and “I’m Still Remembering” make the set feel even more personal.
Listening now, MTV Unplugged is a reminder of what made the Cranberries so special, the unmistakable purity of O’Riordan’s delivery, the melodic strength of their songwriting, and the emotional weight that always sat just beneath the surface. Her presence throughout the performance is magnetic, a poignant reminder of a voice and spirit lost too soon. It’s a document of a band fully in tune with itself, recorded in a moment that still resonates three decades later.