Thereafter, the band became an exemplar of how success and ego can ruin a perfectly good thing. Inspired by the bad example of their countrymen U2, the Cranberries -- especially songbird Dolores O'Riordan -- took to a bombast that works against their strengths and an attempt at social consciousness clearly out of their intellectual and artistic reach. It's not that their entire output after their debut has been awful, but they've earned the enmity of anyone with working ears just for "Zombie" and "Animal Instinct," both to be ranked among the most aggressively awful and grating singles of the past ten years. And we'll never be sure whether the world is a better place thanks to such deep thoughts as "Bosnia was so unkind."

So they released a record last year, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, that succeeds modestly inasmuch as it rehashes their quiet early days. It's tough to imagine the Cranberries resisting their shriller tendencies while playing to the not-so-cheap-seats at the Greek, so approach this gig with extreme caution, if at all.