Music doesn’t have to be all blood, sweat and hits. Sometimes a band’s got to do what a band’s gotta do. So with purveyors of contemporary takes on ancient songs like Mary Black, Clannad and others comparatively inactive, along come The Corrs to resuscitate some standards you thought had been irreparably damaged by bawdy balladeers and drunken uncles at weddings.
‘Spancil Hill’, ‘Moorlough Shore’, driven by a rock-solid beat, and ‘Black Is The Colour’, the latter replete with backward tapes, have all been given a proper Corrs makeover, buffing them up to make them respectable enough to be allowed out again. The martial ‘My Lagan Love’ especially, with its sashaying mid-Eastern strings, has a panoramic sweep to it.
They also apply their magic to some contemporary covers as well, bringing a pensive feel to Richard Thompson’s ‘Dimming Of The Day’, and there’s a subtlety in their version of the McGarrigles’ ‘Heart Like A Wheel’ that Linda Ronstadt and others have failed to uncover. But while there’s a warmth about Phil Lynott’s ‘Old Town’, the new version fails to challenge the original. The ensemble playing at the end of ‘Spancil Hill’ plus two instrumentals, including a meaty ‘Haste To The Wedding’ and a really swinging ‘Old Hag’, are evidence of a band who could give some full-time tradsters a run for their money, especially with Caroline’s stirring drumming. You get two songs in Irish and the customary delicious vocal harmonies.
All four sound like people thoroughly enjoying themselves without the business pressures. But let’s hope they get back to making cool pop hits sometime soon.