Best Of

With their success in Europe and points east assured but the hoped-for breakthrough to major league status in the US eluding them, the immediate future direction of The Corrs is up-for-grabs. That the next record may see a significant shift in approach is an open secret, which makes it as good a time as any for the Dundalk siblings to bring out a compilation.

And what a fine collection it is too. All the hits and more are here, with a pair of previously unreleased tracks, including the current single, ‘Would You Be Happier’ and a trio of live cuts culled from their hugely successful Unplugged album.

Despite the fact that it eschews a chronological running order, it’s not difficult to trace the group’s progress from the wide-eyed innocence of ‘Runaway’ and ‘Forgiven Not Forgotten’ to the sophistication of later hits like ‘Give Me A Reason’ and ‘Breathless’.

Their most successful album to date remains Talk On Corners which produced a slew of hits including, ‘I Never Loved You Anyway’, ‘What Can I Do’, ‘So Young’ and ‘Only When I Sleep’ all of which are included.

The strength of that record as a pop phenomenon notwithstanding, the earlier material, especially, ‘Runaway’ arguably their finest moment, shines through with a freshness and vitality here, suggesting that The Corrs are at their best when they are at their least self-conscious.

The band’s choice of covers has always been curious and several of them are present and correct here, including REM’s sultry ballad, ‘Everybody Hurts’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’, which was the catalyst for their international lift-off. The omission of Jimmy MacCarthy’s ‘No Frontiers’ a long-time live favourite is baffling but otherwise it’s a well-chosen collection that reflects the band’s strength very effectively. The only instrumental included is ‘Lough Erin Shore’, from the Unplugged album.

Taken as a whole Best Of is an impressive body of work in anyone’s book. It’s difficult to imagine The Corrs surpassing what they have achieved here.

But then, who knows? They’ve been underestimated before.