The Corrs - In Blue

Released: July 13, 2000

Purchased: Five or six years ago at Barnes & Noble. Saw it in the budget section and took it over to the listening station because I'd heard Sixpence None the Richer compared to them, and liked what I heard.

Playthrough:

Breathless - I think there's a good argument to be made that this was their artistic peak to date, though it's not my favorite on the album. It's really catchy, and one of their most exoteric moments, but still identifiably Corrs.

Give Me a Reason - This is so of its time, but I love it anyway. It's sort of generic, but a great generic song is still a great song. The Cutfather and Joe remix is a little better than the original mix.

Somebody for Someone - Unusually dark theme for a Corrs song, but it fits well in their aesthetic. It has a great melody, and I adore Sharon's "somebody's gotta make it right" BGVs. She really was criminally underused as a singer - she's by no means as skilled a vocalist as Andrea, but I love her tone.

Say - The first song on the album that doesn't totally do it for me. It's pleasant, but unremarkable. It sounds like a B-side, actually. It just doesn't fit in at this point on the album.

All the Love in the World - Wonderful production and performance that really enhance the melody. It's like The Corrs doing a Céline-type power ballad: Andrea's voice has its weaknesses, and it never quite explodes, but it has a big emotional punch. The only low point is the outro - the remix's outro is way better.

Radio - I know many fans prefer the original MTV Unplugged version, and though I really like that one (and the similar Live in Dublin version), I think I like this one more. It's got the angst of the original, but is a lot catchier - a proto-1989 tea.

Irresistible - I played this one to death and back when I got the album. It is such a summer anthem - breezy, fun, sweet. I'm still miffed it wasn't included on the Dreams comp.

One Night - I've only rarely made it all the way through this. I hesitate to call it noisy since it's so slow and soft, but I don't know what other word to use. It needs a much better melody - a rarity among Corrs songs. Well, at least it doesn't have Alejandro Sanz like the Spanish version (I can't stand his voice).

All in a Day - Pretty basic filler. Nothing wrong with it, but I never seek it out to listen to.

At Your Side - Another remake from the Unplugged session, but unlike Radio, it's very similar to the original, just a little more popped up. It's the most Talk on Corners song on the album, and it's kind of a nice link to their past at a time when they were overhauling their sound.

No More Cry - It's like a Katy Perry song: generic, basic, shoddy lyrics in spots, but effortlessly happy and so fun that it overcomes its flaws.

Rain - Another filler song. It really sounds like it was meant to be a B-side. I'd have liked for this and All in a Day to have been the Breathless B-sides in place of Head in the Air and Judy (neither of which needed to ever be released), with their places taken by the spectacular Make You Mine (instead of sentencing it to best-of album track) and Looking in the Eyes of Love from the bonus disc. That being said, it's perfectly fine. The syncopation in the chorus makes it stick in my head (kind of Amy Grant-like), though I don't remember the verses at all. But I don't understand why it's called Rain...

Give It All Up - The best Ace of Base imitation this side of Alejandro. The downside is that, unlike Alejandro, it hasn't really been integrated into the act's sound, so it sticks out on the album like Madonna on Instagram, and just comes off as an attempt to ape Ace of Base, with oddly processed vocals. Nonetheless: amazing.

Hurt Before - I took a long time to come around to this; it wasn't until the lyrics took on meaning for me that I started to really like it. It's nice, and Andrea's vocals are pretty good, but it does drag on a bit.

Rebel Heart - I spent some time as a narcissist... Ahem. This is an instrumental, and I'm not generally here for instrumentals, but it's really good for what it is.

Final verdict: Though it's certainly got its flaws, this is a really strong MOR-pop album, and a good example of how to change your sound and image fairly successfully. The songwriting isn't as strong as on their other albums, but the production is consistently great: they and Mutt Lange were a great match, though it's too bad there wasn't a David Foster song or two in there. With a little trimming and reworking (as described above), it's a really solid pop album, and it is a great introduction to the band. 7/10.

Highlight: I could easily go with Breathless, Irresistible, Give Me a Reason, or All in the Love in the World, but I'll toss the honor to my favorite album track.

The Corrs - Borrowed Heaven

Gave this a spin today after Time Enough for Tears was randomly stuck in my head:



Released: 2004

Purchase: Got the Australian version in 2009 or 2010 at a used music shop in Ann Arbor. It was $8 as I recall - not too cheap at the price, but since Miracle was otherwise only available by buying the entire Dreams album on iTunes, and I already had that on CD (and hadn't discovered illegal downloading yet), I went for it.

Playthrough:

Summer Sunshine... what can I even say about Summer Sunshine? Most pop acts can only dream of having a song as outstanding as Runaway or Breathless, so it's really impressive that they actually managed to top both of those. To me, this is unquestionably the best song of their entire career, and one of the best songs (if not the best song) of the 21st century. It still hits me as hard as the first time I heard it. That moment after the middle-8 where Sharon sings "the HEEEEAAAAATTTT" and then the guitars come crashing back in does things to me. (The Fernando Garibay mix is amazing as well, by the way.)

I always associate Angel with the time it came on in the grocery store, and you best believe I was shaking my ass up and down that first aid aisle at 11:30pm. The lyrics puzzled me for a long time, not helped by the video where they perform it at a wedding. I thought for a while that it was about a friend moving away, but now I think I've finally figured out that it's about their mother's death.

Hideaway is where the album starts to step away from the polished Europop of Talk on Corners and In Blue. It's much more American folk-rock, but it really works.

Long Night is even more countryish. Lyrically, it's basically a more downbeat Super Trouper, and it has Andrea's best vocals on the album. Absolutely absurd single choice, but a great album track.

Goodbye was vastly improved by its later remix for the Dreams compilation, but this version is good too. It's just a bit odd to have the hand-clappy campfire sound with the sad lyrics. Sharon's demo is the best version of all, though.

Time Enough for Tears is sort of boring after those five great tracks - the chorus is very nice, but I could not sing a note of the verses, despite the dozens of times I've played this album.

Humdrum, lyrically, sounds like the kind of thing Tracey Ullman would've sung, not very Corrs-like at all, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. And the lyrics are strangely relatable.

Even If is another countryish one - sounds very Faith Hill. It's still a big pop stormer, though. Would've been a very good single in the place of Long Night.

Borrowed Heaven has maybe my favorite lyrics of any Corrs song. "All beauty, all fade away... borrowed." It's really effective in context. Could've done with a real final chorus rather than the Ladysmith Black Mambazo bit, but it's still a favorite.

Confidence for Quiet just sounds like a lesser version of Even If, but Even If is good enough that that's okay.

Baby Be Brave is nice and catchy, but again, I barely remember those verses.

Silver Strand is an instrumental but nonetheless sticks with me, and is enjoyable enough for me to play all the way through. Can't say that about most instrumentals.

Miracle is as sappy as you'd expect it to be (it's about a new child) but nice nevertheless.

Verdict: I hesitate to say it's The Corrs' best album, because it really doesn't have a lot in common with In Blue, let alone Talk on Corners or Forgiven Not Forgotten, but honestly? It is. My complaints above are relatively small, and I'm only making them because they're noticeable up against songs as flawless (WE ***FLAWLESS) as Summer Sunshine, Angel, the title track, and Long Night. Even Time Enough for Tears, the only filler on the album, would be among the better songs on a good many other albums. Literally a 10/10 album.

Standout: WHAT DO YOU THINK