Talk on Corners

Talk on Corners
Studio album by The Corrs
Released 20 October 1997 (Ireland)
16 April 1998 (US)
Recorded July 1996 - May 1997
Genre Celtic, folk rock, alternative rock, celtic fusion[1]
Length 56:58 (1997 release)
60:55 (1998 re-release)
Label 143 Records/Lava/Atlantic Records
Producer Glen Ballard, Jim Corr, David Foster, John Hughes, Oliver Leiber, Rick Nowels, Peter Rafelson, Billy Steinberg, Randy Wine
The Corrs chronology

The Corrs Live
(1997)
Talk on Corners
(1997)
The Corrs Unplugged
(1999)
Singles from Talk on Corners
  1. "Only When I Sleep"
    Released: October 1997
  2. "I Never Loved You Anyway"
    Released: December 1997
  3. "What Can I Do"
    Released: February 1998
  4. "Dreams"
    Released: May 1998
  5. "What Can I Do (Tin Tin Out Remix)"
    Released: August 1998
  6. "So Young"
    Released: November 1998
  7. "Runaway (Tin Tin Out Remix)"
    Released: 1999
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
The Daily Vault C- [3]

Talk on Corners is the second album by Irish band The Corrs, released on 20 October 1997 in Ireland and 16 April 1998 in the United States. The name of the album is derived from a line from the album's song "Queen of Hollywood".

"And her friends they talk on corners, they could never comprehend"

After its release, songs from this album were to dominate their live set for a long time to come and through the biggest growth period of the band's career. During this album's long reign, they worked solidly with very little time off and gained a lot of exposure with TV appearances and tours. Their next studio album took nearly 3 years to materialise. In between was a live 'unplugged' album which introduced only a handful of new songs. Hence their continuing reliance on existing material, some of which became subject to rearranging or remixing along the way.

Talk on Corners was The Corrs' breakthrough album in the UK, but not initially. The first 3 single releases from the album ("Only When I Sleep", "I Never Loved You Anyway" and "What Can I Do") all failed to reach the top 40. Meanwhile they had contributed to the album Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with their version of the song "Dreams". They had incorporated the song into their live set and eventually decided to release it as a single. Its release followed a live concert at the Albert Hall on 17 March 1998 (St Patrick's Day), televised by the BBC, coupled with a day-long TV special devoted to The Corrs on VH-1 as a preamble to the event. In concert, they were joined by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood (who was also producer of the Legacy album) on 3 songs, including "Dreams". The event did much to raise the band's profile. The single 'Dreams' was released a few weeks later and the Talk on Corners album was reissued with the track 'Dreams' added. A remixed version of the single became their first UK top 10 hit, partly helped by BBC Radio One's decision to include a Corrs single on their playlist for the first time (they had previously regarded them as a folk band).

The album took off and more hit singles followed. The next was a new version of their previous single "What Can I Do", remixed by Tin Tin Out and radically transformed by the addition of a prominent guitar riff running through the whole of each verse. This gave them their next top 10 hit. In November, they put out a further remixed track from the album as another single - "So Young" - which also made the top 10. A 'Special Edition' version of the album was released, with a modified running order and featuring these remixes. The album also included an additional track, a remix (courtesy of Tin Tin Out again) of "Runaway", a popular song from their first album, which was to become their next single and giving them a number 2 hit.

Talk on Corners became the UK's highest selling album of 1998 and the 9th best selling album of 1999.[4] With 2,947,666 copies sold as of 14 June 2009 in the United Kingdom alone, the album is the 19th best selling release of all time in that region.[5]

Background and composition

In January 1997 they moved to California to begin working on this album, largely under the supervision of David Foster. On the face of it, this was almost a repeat of what they had done 2 years earlier when they began recording their debut album Forgiven, Not Forgotten. However, this time they were under far more pressure to deliver. Andrea has described the making of this album as being 'a struggle'. In the video documentary "Home" manager John Hughes cited 'second album syndrome' as common source of pressure for all artists. Unlike their previous recording experience, the aim of which had been to capture the band's sound and vibe on record using already existing and established material, the new goal was to create and record new songs, as yet mostly unwritten, and to try to equal or surpass their earlier efforts.

Further demands came from the record company, who were concerned that none of the songs they were being presented with seemed like potential hit singles. They disliked the songs "What Can I Do" and "So Young", particularly the latter, and the band had to fight hard for their inclusion on the album. With hindsight, the company's attitude seems incongruous, as these two tracks eventually did very well as single releases, but they were recorded at a time when The Corrs' brand of pop music had not yet caught on with the public.

Various co-writers and additional producers were brought in to help improve the hit potential, e.g. Carole Bayer Sager, Glen Ballard, and Oliver Leiber. The use of different producers on different tracks introduced further difficulties. They found that this made it hard to achieve consistency throughout the whole album. In the end, however, the band were reasonably pleased with the finished product. However, the record company were rather less happy with it and wanted the band to continue recording more new tracks. When The Corrs refused, Atlantic threatened not to release the album at all and manager John Hughes was forced to make guarantees about future album sales in order to gain their cooperation.

Track listing

Original release in Ireland (October 1997)

  1. "Only When I Sleep" (The Corrs, Leiber, Peterson, Shanks) – 4:24
  2. "When He's Not Around" (The Corrs) – 4:25
  3. "What Can I Do?" (The Corrs) – 4:18
  4. "I Never Loved You Anyway" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:27
  5. "So Young" (The Corrs) – 3:53
  6. "Don't Say You Love Me" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:39
  7. "Love Gives Love Takes" (The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein, Leiber, Piersa, Wolff) – 3:42
  8. "Hopelessly Addicted" (The Corrs, Leiber) – 4:03
  9. "Paddy McCarthy" [instrumental] (The Corrs) – 4:58
  10. "Intimacy" (Geraldo, Nowels, Steinberg) – 3:57
  11. "Queen of Hollywood" (Ballard, The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein) – 5:02
  12. "No Good for Me" (The Corrs) – 4:00
  13. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:08

Re-release (16 April 1998)

  1. "Only When I Sleep" (The Corrs, Leiber, Peterson, Shanks) – 4:24
  2. "When He's Not Around" (The Corrs) – 4:25
  3. "Dreams" (Stevie Nicks) – 4:01
  4. "What Can I Do (To Make You Love Me?)" (The Corrs) – 4:18
  5. "I Never Loved You Anyway" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:26
  6. "So Young" (The Corrs) – 3:53
  7. "Don't Say You Love Me" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:39
  8. "Love Gives Love Takes" (The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein, Leiber, Piersa, Wolff) – 3:42
  9. "Hopelessly Addicted" (The Corrs, Leiber) – 4:03
  10. "Paddy McCarthy" [instrumental] (The Corrs) – 4:58
  11. "Intimacy" (Geraldo, Nowels, Steinberg) – 3:57
  12. "Queen of Hollywood" (Ballard, The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein) – 5:02
  13. "No Good for Me" (The Corrs) – 4:00
  14. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:08
    • Bonus tracks released in Japan only:
  15. "Remember" (The Corrs) – 4:04
  16. "What I Know" (Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett) – 3:49
  17. "Dreams" [Tee's Radio Mix] – 3:54

Talk on Corners: Special Edition

Released after the huge success of Talk on Corners in Europe and Australasia, this album was also one of The Corrs' attempts to break into the US charts. This revised album contained remixes of a few tracks including their first single "Runaway". Other songs featured included "Dreams", "What Can I Do" and "So Young".

The songs on this album were remixed by:

The song "I Never Loved You Anyway" was also remixed but the name of the remix was never mentioned (although it was believed to be Tin Tin Out).

Special Edition (Europe)

Special Edition (Europe)

  1. "What Can I Do?" (Tin Tin Out Remix) – 4:17
  2. "So Young" (K-Klass Remix) – 4:14
  3. "Only When I Sleep" – 4:23
  4. "When He's Not Around" – 4:25
  5. "Dreams" (Tee's Radio) – 3:54
  6. "I Never Loved You Anyway" (Uncredited remix) – 3:40
  7. "Don't Say You Love Me" – 4:39
  8. "Love Gives Love Takes" – 3:40
  9. "Runaway" (Tin Tin Out Remix) – 4:35
  10. "Hopelessly Addicted" – 4:02
  11. "Paddy McCarthy" (instrumental) – 5:00
  12. "Intimacy" – 3:59
  13. "Queen of Hollywood" – 5:02
  14. "No Good for Me" – 4:00
  15. "Little Wing" – 5:09

"Make You Mine" was supposed to replace "Intimacy" on this album but the idea was snubbed. It was later featured on The Best of The Corrs, released in 2001.

Special Edition (US)

Special Edition (USA)

  1. "What Can I Do?" (Tin Tin Out Remix)
  2. "Only When I Sleep"
  3. "So Young" (K-Klass Remix)
  4. "Dreams" (Tee's Radio Mix)
  5. "Runaway" (Tin Tin Out Remix)
  6. "I Never Loved You Anyway"
  7. "Paddy McCarthy" [Instrumental]
  8. "Queen of Hollywood"
  9. "Hopelessly Addicted"
  10. "When He's Not Around"
  11. "No Good for Me"
  12. "Little Wing"

Special Edition (Singapore)

  1. "Only When I Sleep" (The Corrs, Leiber, Peterson, Shanks) – 4:24
  2. "When He's Not Around" (The Corrs) – 4:25
  3. "Dreams" (Stevie Nicks) – 4:01
  4. "What Can I Do? (To Make You Love Me)" (The Corrs) – 4:18
  5. "I Never Loved You Anyway" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:26
  6. "So Young" (The Corrs) – 3:53
  7. "Don't Say You Love Me" (The Corrs, Sager) – 4:39
  8. "Love Gives Love Takes" (The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein, Leiber, Piersa, Wolff) – 3:42
  9. "Hopelessly Addicted" (The Corrs, Leiber) – 4:03
  10. "Paddy McCarthy" [instrumental] (The Corrs) – 4:58
  11. "Intimacy" (Geraldo, Nowels, Steinberg) – 3:57
  12. "Queen of Hollywood" (Ballard, The Corrs, Deviller, Hosein) – 5:02
  13. "No Good for Me" (The Corrs) – 4:00
  14. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:08
  15. "Runaway" – 4:27
  16. "Forgiven Not Forgotten" – 4:18

Musicians

The Corrs

Featuring

Other musicians featured

Production

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[6] 3
Austrian Albums Chart[7] 9
Belgium Flemish Albums Chart[8] 5
Belgium Wallonie Albums Chart[8] 12
French Albums Chart[9] 5
Finnish Albums Chart[10] 2
German Albums Chart[11] 9
Irish Albums Chart[12] 1
Italy Albums Chart[13] 19
Japan Albums Chart[14] 28
Malaysian Album Chart[15] 6
Netherlands Albums Chart[16] 13
New Zealand Albums Chart[17] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[18] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 3
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 15
UK Albums Chart[21] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[22] 72
U.S. Heatseekers[22] 13

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[23] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[25] Gold 26,356[25]
France (SNEP)[26] 2× Platinum 600,000*
Germany (BVMI)[27] Gold 250,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[28] 20× Platinum 300,000[29]
Italy (FIMI)[30] Platinum 100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[31] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[32] 6× Platinum 90,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[33] Gold 25,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[34] 6× Platinum 600,000^
Sweden (GLF)[35] 2× Platinum 160,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[36] Gold 25,000[37]
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] 9× Platinum 2,947,666[5]
United States (RIAA)[39] Gold 500,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[40] 6× Platinum 6,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release details

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Talk on Corners at AllMusic
  2. Rolling Stone review
  3. "Yearly Best Sellers - Albums" (PDF). BPI.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  4. 5.0 5.1 "Top 40 Best Selling Albums 28 July 1956 – 14 June 2009" (PDF). BPI.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  5. Australian Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  6. Austrian Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  7. 8.0 8.1 Belgium Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  8. French Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  9. Finnish Charts
  10. German Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  11. Tripod
  12. [http://www.fimi.it>]
  13. "ザ・コアーズのCDアルバムランキング、ザ・コアーズのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  14. "Hits of the World". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc) 110 (13): 39. 1998-03-28. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  15. Netherlands Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  16. New Zealand Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  17. Norwegian Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  18. Swedish Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  19. Swiss Charts - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  20. Every Hit - The Corrs - Talk On Corners
  21. 22.0 22.1 All Music
  22. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  23. "Canadian album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners". Music Canada.
  24. 25.0 25.1 The first web page presents the sales figures, the second presents the certification limits:
  25. "French album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  26. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Corrs; 'Talk on Corners')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  27. "Irish album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  28. "Corrs, tops in eight countries". Independent Newspaper. 4 August 2000. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  29. "Italian album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter The Corrs in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  30. "Dutch album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
  31. "New Zealand album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
  32. "Norwegian album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  33. "Spanish album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners" (PDF) (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Select the "Chart", enter 1999 in the field "Year". Select '' in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts"
  34. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1999" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  35. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (The Corrs; 'Talk on Corners')". Hung Medien.
  36. Steffen Hung. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  37. "British album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Talk on Corners in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  38. "American album certifications – The Corrs – Talk on Corners". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  39. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2001". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Preceded by
The Good Will Out by Embrace
5ive by Five
Jane McDonald by Jane McDonald
Where We Belong by Boyzone

I've Been Expecting You by Robbie Williams
UK number one album
27 June 1998 – 3 July 1998
11 July 1998 – 17 July 1998
27 June 1998 – 3 July 1998
19 September 1998 – 25 September 1998

27 February 1999 – 19 March 1999
Succeeded by
5ive by Five
Hello Nasty by Beastie Boys
Where We Belong by Boyzone
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
by Manic Street Preachers
Performance and Cocktails by Stereophonics