1. Say Something Anyway
2. You Were Meant For Me
3. Spin The Wheel
4. What Hurts The Most
5. Nobody Loves Like Me Like You Do
6. Damn
7. Pieces Of You
8. Sold Out
9. Can't Cry Hard Enough
10. I Need To Be Next To You
11. Stay
12. I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me
13. Don't Know Why
14. Nothing At All
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Bellfire: a band comprised of three Irish girls, who play their own instruments and write bland folky pop - it's The Corrs without the testosterone right? Not quite. Although they do claim to be very good friends with The Corrs, just like everyone else in Dublin who has ever picked up a tin whistle.
Although unheard of to most, the trio have been around for a good four years, filling their time undertaking all sorts of duties that come hand in hand with being in an averagely talented pop band: slyly releasing chart middling singles, jiggling members, touring with Westlife. Now finally they have got around to releasing their first album, Spin The Wheel, named after the strongest single on the album which ironically enough, made a weak impression on the UK in October 2004.
But while this LP isn't as irritating as previous offerings from the similarly-motivated B*Witched or The Corrs, it's nothing to write home about. It's nothing really to write a review about either. In fact trying to eek out 450 words about this half hour of sentimental pap will probably take more effort than actually recording it.
Hmm...have we mentioned they know the Corrs?
The Shakira-esque drums at the beginning of opening track Say Something Anyway promises drama, if only of the embarrassing kind, but this completely vanishes by the time the wishy-washy chorus kicks in. And that's it - the pace is set for the rest of the album and 13 similar tracks of uninspiring guitar strumming, bored drum beats and obnoxiously trite lyrics follow. Or did we just have the CD player on repeat? Who can tell?
The girls sing about love, about falling in love, about falling out of love, about tripping over love, and about giving animals a little too much physical love...well they should do, because that would make at least one song interesting.
It's a disappointing offering from a band that could do so much better. When hearing of how they formed (they stalked into an audition to find a new ABBA-style band, instruments in hand, and played until executives abandoned their whole original idea and signed them instead) you can't but help believe there is a commitment and determination deep down. It's a feisty tale of an exciting beginning and what Bellefire really need to do before their second album is find those rockets and reinsert them into their arses.
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