For those of you that don't already own a copy of "Everybody Else is Doing it so Why Can't We?", buy this album. It's an excellent piece of music from one of the '90s top bands. For those that already own the original release, save your money. The disc was released in 1992, not on ..... old analog equipment, so you won't be able to tell a difference in the sound quality. The bonus tracks are nice, but not enough to make shelling out the extra money worth it. Hope this helps.

From start to finish, one of the most emotionally honest albums ever made, and one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time. It's 1993 and I'm 18 every time I listen to this CD. Love it.

I remember early 1994 when I first heard the song "Linger". I was impressed by the depth of feeling in a song from a very young (early 20's) Irish rock group. "Dreams" as the joyful song of the album, is their other greatest early song. The album comes across as typically Irish: melancholy and somber. I was impressed by the authentic and traditional Irish sound on the album. Lead singer Dolores O' Riordin has an exceptionally good singing voice. This re-release includes addition material that didn't make it onto the final cut of the album.

This CD was the Cranberries' first, and was refreshing even though they deviated little from middle of the road pop. Dolores O'Riordan's lovely Irish voice, delivered periodically in a grunge style, made this debut album fun to hear. In general the music here is safe, though the lyrics sometimes are not. The Cranberries have a history of choosing sometimes distressing topics for their music. It can sometimes be uncomfortable to confront their world, which seems to be tainted by despair and a variety of angst.

"I Still Do" is an angst-ridden track, heavy on mellow bass, about someone who is in love, and wants to break it off, even though that person is still in love. The reason for breaking it off is not clear, and it need not be. This song is the generic break up song when you have mixed feelings about the relationship but realize that it is in at least one person's best interests to end the relationship.

We go from the angst of a possibly impossible relationship to the dream relationship in "Dreams," which was featured in "You've Got Mail." A pretty, fast-paced, song, Dolores tells her significant other that she has given herself to him, and he now has her heart, so please don't hurt her. She also says that she is amazed by his mind and how caring and understanding he is. The ethereal music with a rock beat I personally find to be very satisfying.

We go back to angst again with "Sunday." This time the singer cares for or loves someone, but can't seem to make the connection. This situation has happened to me, and I'll bet it's happened to many of you. Dolores starts singing this one is a grunge style, slowly. Then the pace picks up and the song attains a solid pop beat. Seems like anything Dolores sings is pretty.

"Pretty" has throwaway lyrics to vaguely blues-sounding music with heavy bass. Dolores gets to trill her voice in that endearing way. My guess is that the intent of the lyrics is to be there for the sound more than for the meaning. It works!

"Waltzing Back" is an angry song. How did these people come back into your life? They are going to take you away from me. It's not fair. In the end, there's nothing she can do about it; it's your life. It doesn't mean she has to be happy about it.

I like the next song. The style of "Sorry" makes solid use of Dolores's ability to hit high notes. This song is combination anger and angst; she's upset and angry, but at the same time you sense that she wanted it to work out. She still misses him, but is still angry too. The rock beat in the background punctuates her anger with heavy bass and percussion, and a fast beat. There is a good contrast musically between her bluesy angst laments and her anger.

The Cranberries love angst about love. "Linger" tells how she saw her significant other with someone else, and communicates the hurt she feels. She wonders why he can't just go with her instead of letting her believe that they have any hope of a relationship. This song is all string laments; solid angst.

And the angst just keeps on rolling with "Wanted." A fast-paced song, here Dolores sings about the communication gap between two people, and their ability to understand each other's needs. Just what is it you want, what are you trying to say?

"Still Can't..." starts acoustically, and then takes off with bass and backing drums. Dolores' sultry voice expresses her anger that her significant other is telling lies about the situation between her and him. He won't apologize, he's laughing about the situation behind her back. I don't think I'd want to be the other person in this song.

"I Will Always" expresses the simple thought that she gives everything of herself to him. He needs to do whatever he will do, and she'll be there. The music here is slow and mellow, Dolores sings very slowly, mournfully. She still manages to hit the high notes with a grunge flavor, even though it's not really a grunge song. Grunge blues maybe.

I get the feeling that "How" is the Cranberries version of "You're so Vain," which was sung by Carly Simon. The words express how he is self-centered, and he left her alone, at least emotionally, if not physically. Dolores was looking for a closeness that he isn't providing. There is a heavy drum beat in this relatively fast-paced song.

"Put Me Down" again makes such wonderful use of Dolores's voice, sultry to start and then going for the high notes. The topic of the song is pretty much like the title says: she keeps getting put down; she keeps trying, but keeps getting treated like a second-class person; this was a lovely song to finish off the original CD.

There are several versions of this CD. This version has five tracks added to the original release. I am a little mixed on the value of these tracks. I like the Cranberries a lot, and so the bonus tracks are nice to have. However, are they worth the extra money this CD costs over the previous version? That depends on how much you like the Cranberries. If you are a huge fan, the extra tracks are nice to have. Otherwise, if you have the original version, this CD did not have any improvement over the previous version that I could tell.

This CD is full of heavily orchestrated music, very well played. Dolores has an incredible vocal range, and her Irish accent adds something to these songs. There are so many influences that it is hard to categorize the music. I call it lovely and mellow, and my favorite Cranberries CD. I give this CD five stars plus.

This is a really well done album, but it lacks variety between the songs. If you are not paying attention, you will not even notice when one song ends and the next one begins. That being said, the music itself is beautiful. I have a very hard time understanding the lyrics, between the singing style and the accent, so that makes it hard for me to connect emotionally to the songs.

J.Ja