Talk on Corners

Talk on Corners is the second studio album by Irish family pop rock band the Corrs. It was released on 17 October 1997 by 143, Lava and Atlantic Records. Preceded by lead single "Only When I Sleep", which became a top ten hit internationally, the album was an immediate commercial success in several territories, including Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Its commercial performance elsewhere was initially modest, however.

The Corrs' entire concert from the Royal Albert Hall was broadcast live the following year on BBC One on Saint Patrick's Day, where they were joined during their performance of "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood. This event did much to raise the band's international profile. A remixed version of "Dreams" went on to become their first top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. The record was reissued the following month to include the song as a bonus track. This would be the first of several different editions of Talk on Corners to be released over the album's two-year-long promotional cycle.

Over this period, the band released a string of increasingly successful hit singles, culminating with a Tin Tin Out remix of "Runaway" peaking at number two in the UK. The Corrs also toured extensively to promote the record: the Talk on Corners World Tour saw them perform almost 160 concerts across twelve separate legs. The album spent ten weeks at number one in the UK. It ended its run as the highest-selling album of the year, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time there, as well as the highest-selling album ever by an Irish act.

The Corrs began work on new material in California in July 1996, initially under the supervision of producer David Foster. Lead vocalist Andrea Corr has described the making of Talk on Corners as being "a struggle", with the band put under pressure by Atlantic Records to deliver a successful follow-up to their 1995 debut album Forgiven, Not Forgotten. Their manager John Hughes cited second album syndrome as a common source of pressure for all recording artists, but said further demands came from the label, who were concerned that none of the songs they were being presented with seemed like potential hit singles. The label disliked "What Can I Do" and "So Young", particularly the latter, and the band had to fight hard for their inclusion on the album.

Additional co-writers and producers were brought in to help improve the album's hit potential, including Carole Bayer Sager, Glen Ballard, Oliver Leiber, Rick Nowels and Billy Steinberg. The use of different producers on different tracks introduced further difficulties: the band found it hard to achieve consistency throughout the entire album, although this would be remedied by the Corrs using over forty hours of studio time to record overdubs. In May 1997, the finalised album was delivered to Atlantic, who were unimpressed by the material and ordered the band to continue recording new tracks. When they refused, the label threatened to sue the band for breach of contract. This dispute was only resolved when John Hughes signed a contract guaranteeing future album sales, with the manager being held personally liable if Talk on Corners failed to yield a profit for Atlantic.

Talk on Corners is predominantly a pop rock album, although it also incorporates elements of Celtic and traditional Irish music. Andrea Corr was the album's primary lyricist, co-writing numerous songs with established composers and producers: she co-wrote "Queen of Hollywood" with Glen Ballard, best known for co-writing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" (1987) as well as for co-writing and producing the Alanis Morissette album Jagged Little Pill (1995). "Intimacy" was co-written by Pat Benatar guitarist Neil Giraldo, and Billy Steinberg—the writer of hit singles including Madonna's "Like a Virgin" (1984) and "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles (1989). Several songs on the record were co-written and produced by Oliver Leiber, the son of composer Jerry Leiber, who, alongside Mike Stoller, co-wrote some of the biggest hits of the '50s and '60s, including Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" (1953) and "Jailhouse Rock" (1957) as well as Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" (1961). Their cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Little Wing" features Irish folk collective the Chieftains. The album's title is derived from a lyric in the song "Queen of Hollywood".

The record received generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic writer Becky Byrkit rated it four stars out of five and praised the band for their vocal harmonies, as well as the album's consistency, writing that "each and every cut sounds wired for radio play". She highlighted their cover of "Little Wing" as being the album's "best and most spirited Celtic cut". Stephen Segerman of South African music magazine Rock rated the album eight out of ten, and complimented it for incorporating a "fuller and rockier atmosphere [than Forgiven, Not Forgotten]". He also praised the record for containing "generous sprinklings of traditional Irish sounds and touches", which he said helped enhance the material.

The special edition of the album received mixed reviews from the American music press. James Hunter of Rolling Stone criticised Ballard's production on "Queen of Hollywood" for "forcing an Alanis-like edge where it's unneeded", and called the David Foster-produced tracks "goofy", but said that, "otherwise, this is a high-flying reintroduction to some blue chip popsters." A writer for People was critical of the re-release, as well as the remixed tracks, calling it "A collection of pretty, pop-lite tunes that could use more Celtic flavoring and less studio gloss, the album is best when harking back to the sounds of the Old Sod: reeling fiddles, soaring harmonies and the haunting tin whistle played by sister Andrea. Her lead vocals are as pretty to listen to as she and her sisters are to look at, but the string-sweetened arrangements are as bland and flat as a Dublin car park."