Talk On Corners

Despite the Corrs' bona fide Irish-folk-family credentials (just like Clannad's), it wouldn't be unfair to call them the Carpenters with tin whistles. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but on this second album, the folk elements are generally welded to standard, often tedious pop-rock structures as a careless sort of afterthought. Andrea Corr has an instantly appealing voice, and when it and its accompanying homebred harmonies are applied to compelling material like "So Young," "Never Loved You Anyway" and two songs on which the folk-meets-pop blend actually works ("No Good for Me" and a mournful cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams"), everything clicks. But too often the group's Corr competencies are undermined by bland material, in spite of or (more likely) thanks to a mob of hired-gun producers and song doctors.



Ken Barnes