For the first time ever, The Cranberries’ legendary 1995 MTV Unplugged performance will see release as a standalone album. The set arrives November 7, 2025, on vinyl, CD and digital via Island Records/UMe.
Recorded on Valentine’s Day in 1995 at the Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York, the acoustic performance aired two months later and became one of the most celebrated episodes in the series’ history. Until now, fans could only access it as part of the sold-out 30th anniversary edition of No Need To Argue.
Drummer Fergal Lawler remembers the experience vividly, “We’d seen R.E.M., Pearl Jam, The Cure and Nirvana do their Unpluggeds and were blown away to be following in their footsteps. It was a chilled, relaxed vibe with the audience sitting on the floor.”
The setlist pulled heavily from the band’s breakthrough second album No Need To Argue, with tracks including Dreaming My Dreams, Ode To My Family, Empty, Zombie and the title track. Their debut hit Linger also appeared, alongside two brand new songs at the time – Free To Decide and I’m Still Remembering – which would later surface on 1996’s To The Faithful Departed. Perhaps most intriguing is
Yesterday’s Gone, a song Dolores O’Riordan and guitarist Noel Hogan wrote just the day before the show.
The MTV Unplugged session remains the only time it was ever performed.
“Dolores and I literally wrote ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ the day before,” recalls Hogan. “It came together in a couple of hours and MTV was the only time we ever played it.”
The Cranberries formed in Limerick, Ireland in 1989, breaking through globally with their 1993 debut Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? and its enduring singles Linger and Dreams. Their follow-up, No Need To Argue (1994), was a worldwide smash, fuelled by the anti-war anthem Zombie and cementing their place in the alternative rock boom of the ’90s.
Central to their success was Dolores O’Riordan’s unmistakable voice, delicate one moment, piercing and powerful the next. Her emotive style defined the band’s sound, making songs like Ode To My Family and Ridiculous Thoughts resonate with listeners far beyond their Irish roots. O’Riordan continued to front the band until her untimely passing in 2018 at age 46, a loss that left a huge mark on fans and fellow musicians alike.
MTV Unplugged Tracklisting
Intro/Dreaming My Dreams
Ode To My Family
Linger
Free To Decide
I’m Still Remembering
Empty
Zombie
Yesterday’s Gone
The Cranberries’ MTV Unplugged will be released November 7, 2025, on vinyl, CD and digital formats. A limited-edition coloured vinyl version with alternate artwork will be available exclusively through COMPLEX.
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