A few weeks ago I was driving around with my girlfriend, flipping through the radio stations, looking for something, anything that didn't bug the ever living hell out of me. I came across a breezy pop song that sounded like a mix of the now defunct Boston band Belly and The Spice Girls with better lyrics, music, and harmonies. Intrigued, I left it on. When I found out it was called Breathless by the Irish pop rock band The Corrs, I immediately decided it was time to pick up their newest release.

I've heard an awful lot about the Corrs over the past 18 months or so. Here in Boston, Irish musicians who have any kind of success will get a writeup in the papers, because, *surprise*, there's a large Irish Boston community. What first struck me when I heard Breathless was the fact that there was very little (if any) Irish instrumentation at all. From what I had read, this was a band that melded rock and pop with traditional Irish instruments (not unlike how the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly have done the same with punk), and a band that had fantastic success doing it. So I was kind of taken aback with surprise at the lack of Irish instrumentation.

And that's the deal with this whole record really. The few pre In Blue songs I've now heard are much more heavily influenced by the Irish factor, while the songs on In Blue don't have much of one. Sure, the instruments are there, but it's almost as if the band is trying to prove to long time loyalists that they haven't sold out. Coincidence that this band breaks through in the US, after breaking through everywhere else, after putting the Irish factor into the background? I think not.

In Blue is a decent enough album, that's for sure. However, it's hard to tell exactly what sets it apart from many other pop rock bands out there today. While surely not apathetic or bland like say, Matchbox 20, this album just isn't very original. What's even odder is the fact that I can't take this CD out of my player despite the fact I know it's not exactly the most original stuff.

The band's formula seems easy enough. Add one three part harmony, a slow building verse, a catchy as can be chorus, and some ringing guitars and simple drum fills. Honestly, I think just about every song on the record follows this formula with the exception of two songs. Breathless is pretty much upbeat the whole way through, as is No More Cry, my pick for the best song on the record.

Producer Mutt Lange has sanitized the band's sound, creating the same kind of effect that he had on his wife, Shania Twain. While working with Lange has paid off with the band's first real taste of success Stateside, I can only wonder whether they'll ever return to their much more interesting sound of the early material. Sure, I like In Blue enough to be hooked. But as I familiarize myself with the older material, I wonder how good I'll think it is then.


Recommended: Yes