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Unplugged

The Corrs - Unplugged Audio CD

A fair review of the The Corrs "Unplugged" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Corrs reviews here, or go back to the The Corrs tabs.

Band: The Corrs
Title: Unplugged
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-11-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Only When I Sleep 2: What Can I Do 3: Radio 4: Toss The Feathers 5: Runaway 6: Forgiven Not Forgotten 7: At Your Side 8: Little Wing 9: No Frontiers 10: Queen Of Hollywood 11: Old Town 12: Lough Erin Shore 13: So Young 14: Everybody Hurts

The Corrs (Unplugged)
I have the CD now, and I plan on getting the DVD of the live performance soon. Another excellent live performance by The Corrs. They sound just as good live, and I think they are even better live than on their albums. And all their albums are really good. .

The Corrs Live is The Corrs Perfect.
They are undoubtedly one of the best international pop bands in music today, and this live unplugged concert truly showcases this claim to its fullest. Ah, The Corrs. This concert in particular should be in everyone's collection, because it is, in a word, perfect.
The group of Irish siblings known collectively as The Corrs is at their absolute best on this outing, collecting some of their greatest hits from early in their career, two new songs that would be released on their next studio album, and a few absolutely beautiful covers.
The sound is the key feature on this record. Some people call it production value, and that is certainly a huge part of it. However, a lot of it is just that they are that damn good. As vocalists and musicians, The Corrs are a studio-perfect, top-notch band no matter where or how they play (although you can see a brief moment of vulnerability on the DVD release). This venue, playing together with the Irish Film Orchestra, plays especially well to their talents.
The entire album is best listened to straight through in one sitting, but you will find yourself going back for specific songs. My particular favorites are "Old Town", with a dazzling cornet riff, and "No Frontiers", on which primary lead vocalist Andrea steps out and her two sisters sing a beautiful and contemplative duet. My absolute favorite is a cover - no, it's not REM's "Everybody Hurts", even though it is an excellent cut. It's a phenomenal acoustic arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing", with the part of Hendrix's eminent Stratocaster being played by an equally capable resonator in some highly skilled hands. As Andrea says, "This is one of our favorites," and it will definitely become one of yours, too.
Only one quarrel about this item that I can think of - their unplugged recording of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," which you can see on the DVD of this concert, is not on this record. Another thing you may notice from the DVD is that these songs were actually performed in a completely different order than on this disc, but the producers and arrangers put together a very cohesive album anyway.
I guess the final word on this album is that you absolutely must have it. If you have the chance to pick it up on DVD as well, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It is a powerful piece of musicianship, a cohesive feat of arrangement, a brilliant technical recording, and simply perfect all-around.

The Best Corrs Ever
Every tracks is 10, only "At Your Side" not that good. I Have listend to this album and other Corrs album, but this is the best they ever done! Most of this album is at top. But Almbum total is 10!
.

Smitten again after seven years
It was my absolute favourite then, I really loved it. I bought this album way back in 1999, when it first hit the stores. For almost six months, it was my most-often played CD.

A few years later I suddenly decided that enough was enough and tossed it into a bag of CDs I intended to sell off. Well, for some reason it was never sold (in hindsight, thank goodness!) and I came across it a couple of days ago.

I popped it into my relatively new separates hi-fi set (previously I was simply using an all-in-one micro. . . yes, a lot can change in seven years!) and gosh, I found myself falling in le-yi-er-yi-erve with the talented siblings all over again!

All but two songs are past hits, so let me get slightly technical. Playing the CD on a more serious audio setup made me realise how good the recording actually is. Despite being done live, any background noise has been eliminated.

The instruments sound wonderful (particularly Andrea's tin whistle, Sharon's violin, Caroline's drums and Jim's guitar, although the orchestra sounds great as well). Just give 'Little Wing' a listen. The bass guitar and tin whistle (left), Andrea's voice (centre) and guitar (right) blend in beautifully.

Of course one ultimately buys this album for the vocals and I have never heard the three sisters sound more natural. I suppose this has much to do with the whole concert being unplugged. Andrea's voice on 'Runaway' will make you melt. For a fine example of the near-perfect harmonisation we have come to expect from this group, play 'No Frontiers'.

Many live recordings sound a tad airy, but the stereo imaging on this one is superb. . . Wow, and it seems that I have already rambled on for seven paragraphs just like that. Yup, smitten by this CD all over again, I am.

Proof of Perfection
Others do it the old-fashioned way, writing their own material and playing their own instruments. Some bands work studio magic to bring their songs to life. These Irish rockers are of the latter category, and they prove it on this brilliant recording of their MTV "Unplugged" session.

The album opens with an almost haunting acoustic rendition of their "Talk On Corners" hit 'Only When I Sleep'. Backed by a Dublin orchestra and Andrea Corr's powerful vocals, the band shatters all rumors that they are nothing but mere studio magic.

Performing live, especially with an orchestra, means that some songs will have to be re-worked -- and they are, but not necessarily for the worse. In the tounge-in-cheek ballad 'What Can I Do', they manage to combine both versions - the original and Tin Tin Out Remix - to create a beautiful sound backed by gentle orchestral strings. 'Forgiven Not Forgotten' sounds even more mystical in its acoustic state, and the jig 'Toss the Feathers' sounds more Irish than ever with Caroline Corr's rhythmic bodhran driving it forward.

The album is full of great material, including previously unrecorded songs that the group has been performing live for years, including a gently touching cover of REM's 'Everybody Hurts' and an amazing duet between sisters Sharon and Caroline to Jimmy McCarthy's 'No Frontiers'. Not many bands can place such delicate ballads in the hands, or, rather, voices, of their backup singers, but the sisters do the song justice with some of the most beautiful harmonies I've ever heard.

Also featured on this record are two new hits - the jovial 'At Your Side' and the melancholy yet enticing acoustical 'Radio'. While the former is a testament to loyalty, the latter is both dark and uplifting at the same time.

What makes "Unplugged" different from other Corrs' albums? For starters, it has a distinctively Irish feel to it. Without a lot of percussion, Caroline's bodhran, Andrea's tin whistle, and Sharon's violin effortlessly shine through, creating a bit of a rough edge to such brilliant tracks as 'Little Wing' and 'Runaway'. The acoustic-ness of it is immediately appealing, giving it a relaxed, mellow effect. And, best of all, it was recorded live -- without overlapping tracks and re-takes, proving once and for all that the Corrs are just as amazing outside the studio as they are inside of it.

You can see a complete list of all The Corrs discography, or go back to the The Corrs tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.