The Cranberries: “Ode To My Family” (Island)

Once you get over the initial awkwardness of listening to a rock and roll singer thanking her father and mother for all they’ve given her, you begin to appreciate what a brave thing it is to write something which could easily be ridiculed as maudlin and self-pitying. That Dolores O’ Riordan does actually carry the song off as a convincing expression of gratitude, loss and regret is evidence of just how resolute The Cranberries are.