Was BH too "sobering" for the public?

[DazedOblivion]

I absolutely love Borrowed Heaven, as do most Corrs fans. The commercial success of the album was mixed. I hear that it went platinum in Australia. But do you think that maybe the album was too serious, too sad, for the casual listener?

There is definitely a sense of great loss that pervades the album. Personally, I love how Andrea uses "Angel" and Sharon uses "Goodbye" as a catharsis, through songwriting, for the pain of losing their mother. I think that the break that the Corrs had from 2001-2004 allowed them, maybe really for the first time, to personally and privately cope with their grief. I think that the heavy touring and appearances scheduled during the In Blue period were undertaken with the sense that it was what their Mum would have wanted them to do. But then, at some point, it was time for them to take time off for their own sakes.

Listening to Borrowed Heaven was a good way for me to deal with the loss of a friend an co-worker who died of cancer this past December.

There are many beautiful but sad songs on the album, including "Long Night" and "Time Enough for Tears." "Even If" is arguably the only "happy song" on the album. Was the album just too sobering? Do you think that the record executives thought that the songs were too sad? What do you think?

[SingleTunePoet]

First of all I do believe that the Corrs do deserve the greatest respect for being that honest...it´s not easy to write your own deep feelings down and, through this, make them accessible to others (Since I´m a writer myself I know what I´m talking about here.).
To my mind this album is the best studio album so far ( Next to "FNF") most of all because it´s based on good and honest music, even more than the albums before. It doesn´t sound mainstream. And yes, maybe that is the fact why it has not been as successful as e.g. "In blue". So, yep, maybe you can say it is too "sobering" for the public.
But to MY MIND it´s an improvement.

[DazedOblivion]

SingleTunePoet said:

First of all I do believe that the Corrs do deserve the greatest respect for being that honest...it´s not easy to write your own deep feelings down and, through this, make them accessible to others (Since I´m a writer myself I know what I´m talking about here.).
To my mind this album is the best studio album so far ( Next to "FNF") most of all because it´s based on good and honest music, even more than the albums before. It doesn´t sound mainstream. And yes, maybe that is the fact why it has not been as successful as e.g. "In blue". So, yep, maybe you can say it is too "sobering" for the public.
But to MY MIND it´s an improvement.

Very well said, Swantje. I agree with you the honesty of the songs on the album. So many of the songs move me emotionally. I would say "Hurt Before" from IB was another good example of what you are talking about.

Plus... there are OTHER factors that have hurt Borrowed Heaven. I have NEVER heard one single song from BH played on the radio here in the U.S. , and the singles off the album are still available only as more expensive imports in the U.S. What is going on at Atlantic Records?? How can you call something a success or failure if it has never even been ATTEMPTED?

[cynthia]

Heya,

just wanted to say that BH is still one of my favorite cd's. And some of the songs still get airplay on SkyRadio here in the Netherlands (it is the radiostation that is always on in the store where I work...). But I just love the cd and I know some more ppl who really do not think it is depressing or all....

And I also think that it must be very frustrating to live in a country where the music you love is not released. I can relate to that with my love for Swedish music. But thanx to my creditcard and the internet, there is always a way to get the cd I want.....

Love,

~Cynni

[Andypandy]

Borrowed Heaven is my favorite Corrs album for so many reasons. The album to me is their masterpiece

[cynthia]

Yeah, you are right there Andypandy! It is a GREAT album!

[Andypandy]

Whats sad is that Summer sunshine got a 96 score among radio listeners saying it would be a top 10 hit but the radio stations didnt play it enough even though SS did hit #29 on the charts. The honesty of the album though is what makes it my fav Corrs album. The band have become great songwriters and Sharon is really coming into her own.I see a very bright future for the Corrs and even though they may never sell 10 million copies of a cd they will sell enough to allow them to not become sellouts. You have a great point Dazed but I'm thinking maybe this album was their catharsis album. maybe the next album will be brighter but i think the band with their maturity will become more like the Beatles did with Rubber Soul and Revolver and their albums may be even more intense and on a higher level. Either way I look forward to their future albums-The Right time is one of my fav songs-i hope they have a few more of those in store I think the album's lack of sales were because of the themes of the album(your right its too sobering for the mainstream public-its amazing the difference in sales between TOC & Inblue,BH-TOC had 4 top 10 hits while BH had none.

[DazedOblivion]

Excellent remarks, Scott! Thanks.

I believe that the Corrs are, as Swantje says, honest songwriters and that's what I like so much about them. I agree that Borrowed Heaven represents the Corrs taking their music to a new level of maturity. But it's still great, very playable music, and I think that the album should have been given (more) radio airplay in the U.S.

I don't believe that Borrowed Heaven was too "serious" of an album to be promoted, but I think some U.S. record execs did - to their shame.

No matter what happens on the charts, I will always look forward to a new Corrs CD!

[elisa]

This is one of my favorite Corr albums but unfortunately it just didn't get the attention and praise that it rightfully deserved.

With their so many fans, I think to some it was a disapointment and I don't understand why, it's a triumph like the rest of their albums are imho.

[cw]

One of their very best studio albums and indeed somewhat of a step from "In Blue". Maybe not in sync with the prevailing musical climate of the time, but then again they were never "the fashion".

With regards to promotion, Caro's situation definitely impacted on the touring situation. Re the relationship with Atlantic Records, the LWH DVD doco gives some hints. In the period since 'In Blue", there had been major upheaval at Atlantic and basically with whom the Corrs had realtionships (in both hierarchy, promotion & distribution) had been moved out.

[DazedOblivion]

Yeah, the Corrs have always followed their own tastes in music rather than followed the "prevailing musical climate" (for which I am very thankful! ). I've had some discussions about this, and a friend of mine has said that the Corrs would have been a monumentally successful band in the 1970's. In some ways they are a "throwback" to those times, but I like to think of it as the Corrs rebuilding upon - and infusing Irish traditional music into - a neglected foundation of "tuneful pop" inherited from the Beatles, the Eagles, ABBA, the Carpenters, etc., etc.

The Corrs have always paid a price for being hard to categorize. To make matters worse, the Corrs were fated to sign with Atlantic. The Lava Records branch of Atlantic seems to have been a very distinctive branch in an otherwise predominantly R&B label. It does seem that the shuffle that led to the departure of Jason Flom from Atlantic hasn't been a good development for the Corrs, since the label doesn't seem to give them much marketing support. To this day, I still have never heard one track from Borrowed Heaven on the radio here in the U.S. I thought that Borrowed Heaven would have done well in the "Adult Contemporary" market, but it wasn't given any chance at all here in the States.

The record industry is suffering from its inability to cope with the digital revolution (downloading and ripping), but I believe that they have also suffered from plain-and-simple bad choices - including an apparent abandonment of mainstream pop/rock and creating a "bi-polar" industry which, using "format radio", tore asunder the once-mighty fan base of pop/rock essentially into two general camps: urban (gangsta rap, hiphop, etc.) and country. The Country genre shifted away from it's traditional sound to become more mainstream pop, yet never fully embraced all the elements of the old pop music scene.

In America, the Corrs came on the scene at a time when it had no place to "fit" them. Fortunately, France and Spain seem to have taken the Corrs to heart.