When the Corrs were recently in Times Square filming a video for "Irresistible," the locals were wondering just who was at the heart of all that high-tech action. But a throng of European and Asian tourists stopped in their tracks, pointing and nudging their way toward the cameras. The Irish foursome may be relatively unrecognizable in the U.S., but they are enormously popular overseas: Their latest album, In Blue, sold in excess of 2 million copies within 14 days of its European release. For the Corrs, the precarious pedestrian island they were commandeering in the middle of zooming Times Square traffic was a beachhead in their renewed quest to conquer America.

Now if you happened to be walking through the Crossroads of the World on one of those blustery days, you too may have felt compelled to join the gawking tourists, because the Corrs sisters - Andrea, Caroline, and Sharon - are ridiculously attractive. In fact, the cover photo for In Blue, which has the vibe of a fashion shoot, might be a bit misleading. Unlike your average airbrushed pop stars, the Corrs don't really need a stylist to enhance their natural beauty. And you could say the same for their music. On In Blue, they've availed themselves of some hit-making help from Shania Twain's producer and husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and they sent their previous studio album, Talk on Corners, to a team of trendy remixers to make it dancefloor compatible. But if you really want to appreciate the Corrs, all you have to do is listen to them harmonize live, accompanied by their bandleading brother Jim. You can't manufacture that sort of sound.

Click here to meet the Corrs.

The Corrs remain a breed apart from most present-day pop concoctions. They write their own material, co-produce their records, and play their own instruments. Andrea, who in a minute or two of screen time as Juan Peron's mistress in Evita, made an indelible impression as a vocalist, sings lead; Caroline plays drums; Sharon plays violin; Jim, who initially brought the group together, plays guitar. As a group, they've made guest appearances as singers and instrumentalists on albums by Rod Stewart and the Chieftains.

Click here to learn how Andrea feels about the Corrs' instrumental skills compared to today's chart-makers.

If their work favors a broad international audience in any way, it's in the range of elements they draw from: pop, rock, country, traditional Irish melodies, and the electronic beats of modern dance music. A ballad like "One Night" is a simple, string-filled track anchored by programmed beats. "Give Me a Reason," produced by the Corrs alone, has the sort of bubbling techno textures that wouldn't be out of place on Madonna's Ray of Light, some guitar power chords that Bryan Adams might find mighty appealing, and an Irish fiddle break somewhere in the middle. The unpredictability of it all is part of the charm.

The Corrs recently paid a visit to VH1.com to perform an unplugged set on VH1 atWork. Those Times Square tourists would have been amazed to see this stadium-size group playing to a small but rapt audience in our studio, getting as up close and personal as the Corrs could short of inviting us all back to their house. Well, Andrea sort did invite us back to Ireland - but more on that later.

In Blue marks the 10th anniversary of the Corrs as a group. They were raised in the small town of Dundalk, Ireland, by parents who harbored their own musical ambitions - and found time, in between working and raising a family, to play in a pop covers band on the weekends. Their mother, who was devoted to her children's career, died within the last year, and the new record is dedicated to her.

Click here to learn more from Andrea on how the Corrs helped fulfill their parents' own musical dreams.

It was brother Jim who cajoled his younger sisters, two of whom were still attending school, to form a group so they could attend open auditions for Alan Parker's The Commitments, the musical comedy film that would display to the world the depth of young Irish musical and acting talent. All four of them landed roles in the picture, with Andrea featured as the younger sister of the lead character, hapless band manager Jimmy Rabbitte. (That's how Andrea landed her tiny but telling part in Parker's subsequent Evita.)

Trying out for The Commitments was a mission of self-discovery, too: they realized their collective potential as a group. So did Commitments music supervisor John Hughes, himself a musician, who immediately recognized the family's gifts and offered to manage them. He didn't exactly have any managing experience, but he was smitten. It's not hard to see why now, but it wasn't such an easy call at the start of the '90s. A homespun Irish family combo didn't jive with the emerging world of grunge and alt-rock in the States or the burgeoning international rave scene - nor did they resemble either the Celtic mysticism of Enya and her family group, Clannad, or the straightforward trad sound of the Chieftains.

Click here to learn from Sharon how these siblings have managed to get along, personally and professionally, for 10 years.

Hughes finally found them a deal in the U.S. with Lava, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, and made their first recordings in L.A. That was a roundabout way to get noticed in their homeland. They released their debut, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, in 1995 and it became the biggest-selling debut by a native group in Ireland - and it sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. Though they've always had respectable sales in the U.S., they got their biggest boost here last year from Talk on Corners: Special Edition, a disc comprising remixes of tracks from their second album, Talk on Corners. Last year they also released Unplugged for their overseas audience, an album produced with the group and Mitchell Froom, best known for his work with Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Crowded House, and Suzanne Vega. (That acoustic session included covers of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" and Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing.")

Froom returned for some of the sessions for In Blue, the first Corrs studio album to be recorded in Dublin. Click here to learn why Andrea enjoyed working within walking distance of home. And the Corrs managed to persuade the hard-working Lange to co-write and produce three of their new tracks, including the two singles "Breathless" and "Irresistible." Along with an Irish production team that goes by the collective name of DFHM, with the "H" being John Hughes, the Corrs produced much of the record themselves. It's a fascinating blend of approaches, from the arty eclecticism of Froom to the pure pop mastery of Lange, and that gives In Blue an unclassifiable edge.

Click here to learn from Sharon how the Corrs put the In Blue sessions together.

It helps that Andrea has a yearning in her voice that can cut through even the slickest of settings, especially on more bittersweet songs such as "Somebody for Someone." That was one of the tunes the Corrs chose for their VH1 atWork appearance, and it proved to be a brilliant vocal showcase not only for the charismatic Andrea but also for her siblings' background harmonies.

For their first video for In Blue, the Corrs went to California's Death Valley, where they barely made it through the brutal heat to make a Mad Max-style desert clip in which everyone looks grungy except for the three sisters. (Somehow they kept up a cool appearance, despite the conditions; in Ireland, remember, it's all about the rain.) Click here for Jim's description of that experience. And they decided to tackle the even more Mad Max-like conditions of midtown Manhattan for "Irresistible." Click here for Andrea's lowdown on that video. No one could ever accuse the Corrs of taking the easy way around the U.S.A.

The Corrs want to win over America with In Blue, but you'll have to catch them while you can because the rest of the world is waiting. And if you want to visit their country, Jim has a few suggestions for you. We also asked his sisters what they would offer VH1.com's users in the way of Irish travel tips - and it seems Andrea misunderstood the question. She wondered if we were looking to crash at her place. That tongue-in-cheek offer would be, as the Corrs might say, irresistible, but we'll settle for some time with In Blue.

- Michael Hill