AMG Review of Treasure Box: The Complete Sessions, 1991-1999

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Island Records has shown some confidence in the career of the Cranberries by assembling this collection, which compiles all of the band's studio recordings of the 1990s. Each of the four discs contains one of the Cranberries' albums from the decade, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, No Need to Argue, To the Faithful Departed, and Bury the Hatchet, followed by five or six bonus tracks that were released originally as single B-sides, remixes, or on various-artists albums. Taken together, the recordings trace the band's recording journey through the '90s, from its beginnings as a relatively melodic Celtic-tinged and romantically inclined outfit on its debut, to an increasingly hard rock posture and an overtly political lyrical concern on the second and third albums, and back to a lighter approach on the fourth album. The high points remain the hits: "Linger," "Dreams," "Zombie," "Ode to My Family," "I Can't Be With You," "Ridiculous Thoughts," "Salvation," "When You're Gone," "Free to Decide," "Promises," and "Animal Instincts." But there are songs among the bonus tracks that are more than just throwaways; "Liar," "I Don't Need," and "So Cold in Ireland," to name three, are good enough to have been included on the Cranberries' regular albums. The occasional covers of other artists' hits, the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way," are illuminating, though the band embarrasses itself performing Ave Maria with Pavarotti (a track that, despite the stated restriction to studio recordings, was recorded live). At this point, the Cranberries might be better served by a carefully selected hits collection than they are by these collected works. But their fans may welcome the chance to have all their '90s recordings in one place, as long as they don't mind buying the albums again.