Irish are an emotional people. You know why if you know anything of the decades of political and religious strife in the land. This struggle for answers, to mend the lives & families ripped apart in the middle, has been put to sound & word by groups like U2, The Alarm, Sinead O'Connor and so on ... The emotion pours out like blood from this follow-up, even more than the debut. A major picture drawn is of the many children caught in the middle - torn, neglected & abused, left to feel lost empty & alone. Unless you have an appreciation for the Irish vocal style you may have to look beyond Dolores O'Riordan's quirkiness (though this is no task) to feel her passion. She may be the Stevie Nicks of the 90's. The band behind her doesn't stand out front by jamming bag pipe solos but rather seem a musical punctuation and extension of her voice, the messages & stories. One re-occurring theme is love left or lost as in the final & title here & most of the Everybody Else Is... album. No Need To Argue is probably so easily enjoyable because the Cranberries just know how to put our feelings to music.
