Reviews (page 7 of 8)
I had really high hopes 30 seconds into this album. The instrumental intro on “stolen car” is super post grunge and has a really cool tone. Unfortunately everything is way downhill from there. From then on this album is just so boring. Beth Ortons vocalizations sound to me like she’d rather be anywhere else but a recording studio. Quite the bait and switch, I would say. Nothing really stands out on this album, it’s just aggressively the same the whole way through. Not for me. 2* but only because that initial intro is cool.
Way too slow. Not my jam really. And not a fan of acoustic guitar really.
Dull 90s folk-pop
Generally, just, not my thing. Good country or folk pop, I like some of the drums but I guess I have to be in a right mood to enjoy this kind of music, which I'm not in right now. I would appreciate it if it's a video soundtrack, other than that, emm well...not my thing really. Somewhere around 2.5, I guess.
not my vibe 2/5
Started off pretty good, then quickly became forgettable
Kind of like Natalie Merchant, but more boring. It would probably be easier to relate to if I was a woman. Favorite track: Feel to Believe
I wanted to like this album, but her voice, lyrics, and compositional sound choices didn't move me in the least. None of these songs stood out as something I felt like I needed to hear a second time. I found the album far too long for this genre. Tempos needed more variation to give the songs a little more independence from one another. I am beginning to realize that if an album turns up on here, and it has been either nominated for a Mercury Prize, or even it won the prize, there is a very good chance that I will not enjoy that album. Too often I have found those albums to be incredibly boring, pretentious chores. As boring as a Norah Jones record. I'll take my Suzanne Vega records and let myself out.
Not bad, nothing special. late 90s background music.
Woah, that opening track is crazy good. Not what I was expecting from this album and unfortunately the rest of the tracks don't really deliver anything else like that or as good as that. Stolen Car - 4 / 5
giti bim erste song cool. wie sie d silbe veherteihelt findi nöd so cool. bi mi etz au bi sweetest decline chli am langwiile. sehr adult contemporary. nöd min shit. couldnt cause me harm isch au hert nöd en schöne song? ischs en song? ui ich weiss nöd ob da guet chunt. pass in time isch chli besser als die letste zwei aber immerno snooozefest. kontrabass uf pass in time isch no schön aber de song nimmt mi etz nöd mit. de dude wo die zweit stimm singt passt mega nöd ine. love like laughter isch cuuuute. devil song aber nöd. nai. feel to believe wieder besser. cooli chords ich nimmsere jetz gad ab was sie singt. aber nai hey nai nöd so e guets album findi. es fühlt sich soo lang ah d songs sind lang sie hend kei hooks ich mag ihri stimm nöd meega. und etz de letst song wo en remix isch het sin charme aber jooo äh nai. weg es pasr coole teil keis 1 aber nai.
jöö sie isch ja huere cute ohh ich han gern wie sie singsangt I like it!! d strings findi chli cheesy aber isch ok ohhh aber s solo hani sehr gern, dezue s schlagzüg wo jz nöd spannend isch aber immer e pace druff het sweetest decline arschlangwilig riese liftmusig SIEBE MINUTE BRUDDDDDDER drey: "wie heisst sie?" - "beth orton" - "ich hass sie" reservation central isch na schön es isch halt iwie schad, d musig isch mrngisch voll schön und sie chan mega singe aber wenn halt eifach zu 90% ihschlafmusig ussechunnt passiert bi mier nöd vill WAS ISCH DAS PERKUSSION?????? WTF ok nochli country time blood red river findi seeehr schön ok d then again version vom lied isch na cool? aber then again (heh) halt doch auchli liftmusig??? I don't get it
Peruskauraa, ei jatkoon Berthiltä.
Don’t hate, but don’t really like that much either. It’s fine. Too average, though. 2/5
Central Reservation is the second studio album by Beth Orton, originally released in 1999. Never heard of this artist before. With artists such as Terry Callier and Ben Harper being involved, I was expecting this to be a lot better than it was. A lot of the songs sound the same overall. Like they follow the same format. It's a unique sound, don't get me wrong. The whole trip-hop/folk/electronic vibe works, but not when every song follows that script. I didn't really think much of the lyrical content either. It's a beautifully produced album in that it sounds great. It's just lacking a bit of substance for me.
🥱
It has no sharp edges and pushes no boundaries. Except fro stolen car and the outro it was pretty boring to me. Boring Lyrics and Delivery wise
Liking Stolen Car. Almost Sarah Harmer/McLachlan esque. Nice but again, don't really get why it's a "MUST LISTEN". Starting to get a little bored.
I’ll just start this out by being as honest as I can. I didn’t enjoy this very much. You could honestly stop reading there and I wouldn’t blame you. Truthfully I don’t have a lot to say. Usually what I’m going to write naturally comes to me as I’m listening to a record. But I don’t have much today. I’m going to try my best though. Folktronica, in practice, makes sense. Of course, why wouldn’t two of the most adaptable genres of all time come together at some point? Few spaces have more room for eclecticism than electronic and folk music. But it takes a certain person to really do it right. And I don’t think this album falls into that category. There isn’t a lot going on in each song. This might be more fitting for an afternoon where you just need something to wind down. I’m well aware I make this comparison far, far too often. But I can’t help myself. Beth sounds a lot like Joni Mitchell. When I say that, I mean it in a good way. Being compared to Joni as a female folk singer is like being compared to Bob Dylan as a male folk artist. Except Beth’s voice is not nearly as clean, and there are a couple areas where I felt she sounded off. These songs also drag a lot. I don’t think this really needs to be nearly an hour long. I actually enjoy the songs that focus more on the electronic half more than the folk ones. The tracks where it is mostly just Beth and an acoustic guitar are not all that interesting, especially considering their length. Sometimes there are days where I’m not really given much to work with. So again, I tried my best. One can only hope for a more thought-provoking record tomorrow. Rating: 4/10
This is alright. It’s nice. Kinda pretty sometimes. But nothing to write home about. It’d be better without the breathy singing gimmick. Mostly, the whole thing is just same-y and boring. Don’t hate, but don’t really like that much either. It’s fine. Too average for a list like this, though. 2/5
Music production reminds me a bit of Norah jones but less jazzy and more folky (and a little trip hoppy?). I don’t really like voices that go “alrii-HIGHT”.
This was described as folktronica...but it was just guitars. So...folk? I imagine she would have appeared at Lilith Fair.
Ok. Not very memorable.
Very 90s sounding, I liked the odd jazzy moments that would pop up but otherwise a bit bland.
Wasn't for me
Not for me.
Boring
Meh
2.1 listened 1x
This was definitely nothing like what I was listening to back in '99. There didn't really seem to be anything offensive or attractive about this album and it just kind of ended up as folksy background music
Not a huge fan.
Someone listened to Jagged Little Pill and The Lion and the Cobra and had ideas beyond their means
I'd never heard of Beth Orton before starting this project, but somehow (I can't remember when or how), I heard about this album, and based on what I heard, I got really excited to listen to it. I saw Beth's name come up again yesterday when I was reading about Lilith Fair lineups in the nineties (my album yesterday was Aimee Mann's Whatever), so it's wonderfully appropriate that this would come up today. Unfortunately, this album didn't live up to my high hopes for it. This album does have a couple of things working to its advantage: a unique sound that's well executed through beautiful melodies complimented by some great vocals. But like Aimee Mann yesterday, the sum of the parts just didn't result in anything of substance for me. While those melodies are nice, they don't really do anything over the course of the songs. I could be wrong about that, but to me, it sounded like the main melody of each song just repeated over the course of the song without changing at all. As good as the vocals were, they really didn't carry any emotion behind them. Each song just felt like Beth was saying a lot of words without really saying anything of substance; it felt like she took more and somehow turned it into less. It didn't help that this album was on the longer side, as were some of the songs. I applaud Beth Orton's ambition, and even though this album was pleasant to listen to, it just felt like a lot of fluff.
Noiosina :(
The soundtrack to the season finale of any mid-2000s sitcom without a laugh track that critics used 10¢ SAT words to describe, like “piquant,” “astute,” and “revelatory,” which producers took as a compliment and quoted in bumpers that aired in the commercial break between Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, but which magazine editors meant as a slight. Immaculate production with a 1001 overdubs doesn’t turn sparkling water into wine. Which sucks, because I like all these genres. I like trip-hop, I like ‘90s electronica, I like sophisti-pop, I like singer songwriter Mini Van Mom™️ music. But this is a vanilla waft of emptiness, and its craftsmanship isn’t a replacement for substance. I can see where Orton comes close, like on a song like “Pass in Time.” The issue is that every time she has a cute little song on her hands, she either pollutes it with too many layers that add nothing and distract from the core song, or she draws it out to an exhausting 5 minutes that feels like 20. For most of Central Reservation, she’s doing both. Combined with the fact that her voice just isn’t for me, and that her electronic choices are so amateurish she should be embarrassed that she committed them to wax, I think I could make a legitimate case against this record if it weren't so well-produced. I'm definitely not going out of my way to listen to it, and I would tell a friend to turn it off, but it also wouldn't drive me crazy in the supermarket. But I’d prefer a Dido record before this. In normal people words, this bored me to fucking tears.
Pleasant enough but unremarkable and some of her vocal flourishes are annual.
don't know why, but I didn't like it...
2,5
Not bad. In some ways this reminds me of a Fiona Apple album. A bit long imo
Can’t muster much of an opinion on this one. Different time and place I guess.
Meh. 90s alt-girl pop.
This was pretty but it’s really not my thing
Chill, but a bit too chill. The tracks sounded very similar and just turned into background noise. Highlights: Stolen Car
Meh….
Sleepy.
OK
https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/twitter_0e20fd2793f617858ae580f542ceada4.jpeg?width=600
I felt like I was trapped in a starbucks.
It’s probably great if you like this kind of thing?
Album didn't hold my interest very long, good singing just a little boring
i’m just not a fan of ballads that sound the same 😔 but the style was good
This is boring
Sounds like a teen movie soundtrack in parts
Not bad - great voice and some good tunes sadly like a lot of this music at the time it was released - a bit pedestrian and middle of the road
Meh, wanna be cranberries? Not really my vibe
Dull, dull, dull.
Kind of boring until she starts taking about sex. Then it's still boring but my interest was peaked for a minute. This record is a bit of a Lilith Fair stereotype which isn't doing it any favors in the artistic integrity department.
Maybe I can't appreciate it but I did not find anything special about this album
I liked the music in the background, but I didn't love her singing voice. It's not bad, but it's just not something I would intentionally listen to again.
Achei completamente básico, sem nada que o destaque. Achei chato e não dei conta de ouvir inteiro.
Eh. It was fine.
Ну, меня наебали с фолктроникой. Очень жёстко наебали. По сути мы получили фолк с электронными барабанами, что еле-еле фолктроникой назовёшь. Причём предыдущий её альбом (Trailer Park) звучит повкуснее, как по мне.
fell asleep during this
Not really my kind of music
😴😴😴
Nice in a British way.
Where do I go where do I begin?
I- I -I hated this album, yeah-ehh-ehhh~ 👎🏽
Not bad, but a lot of filler you have to sit through to get to the good songs. I enjoyed a few songs, especially "Pass In Time" and the grunge/folk elements of the production. However, over an hour long album her voice can start to be hard to listen to at times.
Another day another bland album from this list
Yea....slow, boring and annoying. There won't be a 2nd listen. Immediately jumped to next album. Even more slow and boring. Time to move on to some Smoke and Roses. Ready for the damn weekend. 2
What's with all those Mercury prize "nominations"? They're never about "bad" albums, but a lot of them point to releases that quickly go past their peremption dates. You feel like this Mercury club is a sort of lobby of "critics" getting riled up for no good reason for whatever British fad garners praise on any given year. Case in point, this particular record. "Stolen Car" is a great opener for it, with tense and intricate arrangements. But starting with second cut "Sweetest Decline", you feel like Beth Orton is overplaying her hand as a vocalist--if you didn't feel it in that opener already. Besides, if the string section is rather impressive on that second track, the rest of the instrumentation is just bland, innocuous, or simply lacking in clear stakes or gripping harmonic progressions. The third track is even worse, and if the fourth is a little more subtle and moody, you still have Beth's voice going into meandering circles, just like in most of the songs before and after. It's as if she "forces" the inclusion of her stilted, unimaginative melodic lines into the uninteresting templates of those compositions--as if to infuse some life into them at the eleventh hour. Yet what comes out of this forceful inclusion is even more awkwardness. Whether folk or "folktronica", you have the same sort of painful self-conscious posturing in the vocal performance supposedly carrying those tunes. Such type of performance also kinda ruins the old folk shenanigans of a track such as "Pass In Time". Like a woman's version of Van Morrisson's *Astral Weeks*, actually underlining all the ways in which the supposed "soulful" improvisational intents of the original have been overrated for decades. The title-track surely has all the right atmospheric touches. But the one that follows (produced by Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt--a cheesy act for sure) has all the wrong ones. It's more awkward vocals over a backing track devoid of charm and personality--a soundtrack fitting to a Starbuck Coffee salon. I could go on like about all the other tracks, but honestly, why should I bother? You want transcendent performances by a stellar female vocalist who knows her way around a *good* folk-rock composition, and who can give them all the authentic feelings one is looking for in that sort of umbrella genre? Go and listen to Big Thief (or solo albums by her frontperson Adrienne Lenker). Here's the real, heartbreaking deal. Not this self-indulgent drivel. 2/5 for the purposes of this list. Which translates to a 7/10 grade (5+2) following more general purposes. This thing is competently written and recorded at least, even if the vocal performance and artistic intent are awkward. Now can we move on to real "essential" albums? Please? Number of albums left to review: 237 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 330 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 195 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 245 (including this one)
Meh. I think she's probably good at what she does, but I don't love what she does. Songs all sound quite similar. Don't love her singing style. I was ready for the album to be over before it actually was. 2.5
It was okay but I'll never revisit this album
Not my jam at all. Mostly slow and overlong, but she has a decent voice at points. Coffee house music, pretty meh. Fav tracks: Stolen Car, Central Reservation
I can think of quite a few other albums that should be on this list more than this one. It's not bad - she's clearly talented, and I liked the electronic bits of her songs. But I wanted her to commit to one or the other, since both made the album too forgettable to me.
This is like a mediocre Dolores O’Riordan solo album. There are a couple okay songs but most drag in too long and don’t go anywhere. I’d say just replace this with a Cranberries album and call it a day.
I would have rated this a 3, but the album is just so damn long for no reason. A lot of the songs in the middle just slush together. Beth Orton's voice is good though, it's just an overall boring album. Highlights: 1, 10, and 11.
whatever
Lacks the soulful beauty of folk and the spacey, atmospheric capabilities of electronica. In the end, it sounded more like a bland pop album than either folk or electronica.
Het eerste nummer klinkt wel interessant en maakt nieuwsgierig naar de rest. Maar het is me verder toch een saai geheel zeg. Ze kan zingen hoor en het zit goed in elkaar. Het zal de liefhebber vast raken. Maar zelf val ik hierbij in slaap. Een dutje is natuurlijk wel fijner dan Frans Bauer luisteren.
# 182 : MEH! Found myself nodding off during this, even had to skip some dull tracks. Nothing in here does it for me. Rather ordinary.
Stört nicht weiter …
I would be pretty impressed if my friend recorded this album in their home studio. What am I missing?
Quelques moments intéressants mais c'est majoritairement très beige et innofensif. Clairement un autre exemple de biais UK. 4/10
Probably good for what it is, just not my vibe.
Trying too hard to be second coming if J. Mitchell and Joan Baez
Interesting voice but all the songs merged together into one amorphous blob of boring.
Similar to my experience with a recent album we reviewed (Alannis Morrisette), I bought this when it was released and had an immediate negative reaction. I couldn't listen to it without getting uneasy — something about her vocal delivery was discomforting and I never played it again (despite Marianne being a fan of the album). I groaned when I saw this was included in the 1001 list, and had that same reaction when I saw it was served up today. I'll say, I didn't have an immediate recoil on this listen, I do like the grooves and some of the playing is really good, but by the time "Pass In Time" came on, I was finding her vocals difficult to endure. The harmony with whomever is singing on that made it worse, and I bailed. So, a 2-star might be harsh, but if I can't get past the halfway mark before seeking respite, what's a reviewer to do?
eh, it has some moments. Nothing really sticking to me Will I listen to again: 1%
Suzanne Vega meets Van Morrison und langweilen sich.
Schöne Stimme aber ich fand es sooo laaaangweilig.
Moaning, droning, coffee shop guitar noises. "Stolen Car" and "Stars All Seem to Weep" are the only standout moments.
Just ok.
meh
Kiltti Alanis Morrisette. Vähän liian kiltti - haluaisin hänen vaativan huomiotani. Musiikki vähäeleistä, oikeastaan mitäänsanomatonta, mutta laulu on oikein kivaa.
Sorry. But no. The vocal style is really annoying and distracting to me, maybe there is good songwriting but I can’t tel.
Soporífero
if you like lightheaded music with an interesting voice you may like it - not my music of choice
Okay
Again, bored. Maybe I need a break ahahahaha
Interesting mix of folk and electronica. Don't love either genre alone. Together they're not any better.
Ok album. Easy to listen to. Not highly motivated to hear it again.
Meh
I’ve always found the tendency to describe any sort of music that happens to feature acoustic instrumentation anywhere as ‘Folk’ pretty disingenuous, ignoring the substance of actual Folk music in favour of a substance level aesthetic description. The example set by this album is particularly egregious. It’s ‘folktronica’ which in this case seems to be typically late 90’s Pop with an occasional acoustic guitar and synthesised bouzouki. The worst tracks for it actually come towards the end, which mostly seem to be a simple guitar part backed by a classical string quartet. If anyone can explain to me what’s folky about a string quartet, I’d quite happily listen, but it seems to me so stereotypically Pop that I cannot understand how anyone could overlook it. My problems with it’s genre classification aside, I’m also not sold on this album as music. The more explicitly 90’s Pop tracks are awful, and the other tracks go on for too long. They’re all nearly or over 5 minutes, and so frequently repeat the trick of reaching the end of the written verses and then ad-libbing on the chorus for a minute or so before fading out that it becomes cliched. I was aware of it as a trend by track two, and it just kept going throughout the record. The only song I thought the trick worked on was, ironically, the longest one, Pass In Time, which at least had another singer for Beth Orton to play off. I’m also not a huge fan of Orton’s voice. She’s got the habit of over-pronouncing vowels and syllables, fake lilting Irish brogue, and fluty breathy timbre that has plagued this sort of ‘serious’ female singing since, well the 90’s. Is this the originator? Did Beth Orton start this trend that I loathe? The saving grace of the album are the lyrics which are, if cliched, at least interesting. But it isn’t enough to make me see past my dislike of the singing or my problems with the production. Put somebody willing to cut songs down in charge, and get her to stop with the affectations, and this’d be passable. As it is, two stars
The vocals are great and most of the songs are decent individually, but 58 minutes without much change of tempo or tone left me bored; the end couldn’t come soon enough. Pass in Time, much like the album as a whole, goes on far too long without justification.
Amazing voice, forgettable album.
I was listening to this for what felt like almost an hour, and I was only on the THIRD SONG? Losing my mind listening to this shit
Mediokre Folktronic.
This was difficult to get through.
Meh
Pleasant enough voice but not really my thing.
Rather average 90s singer songwriter stuff. Mostly was a slog for me.
I didn't get anything from this album. She's a talented songwriter, but the breathy, lazy singing just wasn't my jam. There's so much flourish in each song it's hard to tell what's actually going on.
Bit boring, was waiting for it to warm up, then it ended.
Never heard this before but it is very reminiscent of late 90s early 2000s output by Dido, Cranberries, etc. I can easily see this paving the way for artists in the like Phoebe Bridgers. Key tracks: Stolen Car, Sweetest Decline, Central Reservation (both versions), Stars All Seem to Weep. The highs here are great but it does seem a bit bloated.
Took a bit but I started to enjoy it towards the middle
Boring album that blurs the line between boring folk and boring electronica. 4/10
Trop tristounet à mon goût, mais ya du monde qui vont trouver leur compte
2/5
Couldn't get into it.
Not too bad, but kind of boring after a while.
Pretty meh on this. It's fine, it's not amazing and it's not horrible. Perfectly fine as some background fodder. Nothing stood out to me though and I will not listen to it again.
I had never heard of this artist or album before. It isn't awful but not great. It is merely there. It certainly sounds like a 90s album. The album is just there. Maybe little bit of Alanis Morissette.
Poppy singer songwriter stuff. Not terrible but a bit boring.
Niet slecht, maar singer-songwriter, ik vind het toch niet zo leuk. Dit album is mij iets te rustig, niet slecht hoor, maar gewoon niet mijn ding. Misschien als de zangeres wat leuker zong? **
Forgettable
Nice mellow melancholy, but a bit repetitive
This is some warm bathtub and a razor shit.
This is sonically pleasant, with nice instrumentation and vocals, but the song writing doesn't set me on fire. Perhaps a grower. The title track is probably my favourite.
Okay, but a bit poppy for me
Not my kind of music, I find it slow and uninteresting.
Inoffensive music is fine sometimes - I don’t always need to be offended. There’s a fine line between inoffensive and boring though, and I feel like this album treads that line. There were moments here and there that I appreciated but the album peaked at track 1 for me and then dropped off.
5/10 Bien commencé, s'est vite essouflé. Rien qui a capté mon intention. du folk ben basic
Stolen Car is brilliant, the rest meh!
So Beth, what separates you from the countless other female singer-songwriters out there? And if there is something, why didn't you let it shine through here? The late 90s gave birth to so much of this beige music (and not just female either, I mean Badly Drawn Boy and David Gray and Damien Rice and Ryan Adams and everyone else). It's music that belongs in romcoms and doesn't do a whole lot else. Dido was a lot better. 2.
Boring
This one dragged for me, I need some pep with my airy ballads
This album sounds like something I've heard before. "The Stolen Car" video -- lol I had that outfit in 1999! White cardigan and a black silk embroidered skirt. This feels tinged with nostalgia and I can't quite my finger on what it sounds like. Definitely hear Sublime in this album...maybe when I shouldn't? I liked "Stars All Seem to Weep" for that familiarity to something that is more of a haunting. I don't think I'd listen to this again. I experienced it for sure. Reminds me of 1999. And then not.
Your typical lilithfaire stuff. Inoffensive to the ears, but it never moves beyond memorable musically.
Someone could swap the vocals between any of the tracks and nobody would notice.
This is an odd album. It seems like if Norah Jones was a bit more experimental and less poppy and catchy. The songs are very 90s Esque with the style and melody. Overall it never really got me excited but there were a couple songs that were more enjoyable than others. It definitely feels dated and doesn’t give me much to want to revisit. 5.3/10
Sometimes interesting electronic textures can’t save this collection of Lilith Fair-light gloomy tunes.
I'm really wanting to give this album some praise, but I cannot figure out why it made this list. It's just another stock alt 90s record. This was a dime a dozen in its time, and I can't say anything special jumps out to me about this one.
My Central Reservation in rating this album any higher than 2 stars is based on a complete lack of memorability.
De openingstrack en Love Like Laughter vind ik best nice. Het album bevat wel een paar zeiknummers waarbij haar stem gaat irriteren, bijvoorbeeld het ruim 7 minuten durende 'Pass in Time' en 'Blood Red River'. Ik vind het niet slecht, maar ik hou er gewoon niet zo van. 2 sterrekes voor mij.
It's a well trodden genre and dozens have done it better, including artistes before Beth
I listened to this last week and I don't really want to listen again because now I'm behind on albumssss. I really like one track by Beth Orton called She Cries Your Name, I had it on a playlist when I was a teenager and it reminds me of some nice memories. God knows how I came across just this one song. I really like the vibes of that track it evokes a lot of different feelings and has a cool sound with a really nice guitar riff. Alas, this track is not on the album Central Reservation and nothing on this album stood out to me at all!!! Maybe I'll spend some time listening to her other work but this album wasn't doing much for me. Nice sounds but nothing jumping out as that interesting.
OK I'm sorry but this album made me so angry. Needless to say I did not like it at all. Beige wishy washy irritating repetitive songs that lacked flare or creativity. Lame lyrics and irritating singing, which I think was a style of the time. A bit Dido? Anyway, I'm sorry as I think other people might describe this as inoffensive, because it's not objectively horrible music is it? But that's what did offend me. A big no
I like the idea of Beth Orton but this just does not excite me.
Snooze fest
Just boring
Very chill, but has lots of generic floaty oohs and ahhs which I don't rate tbh, and they piano/keyboard they used sounds pretty bad Also singing somewhat out of tune on purpose seems to be a theme here Overall feels really dated, not sure I get it 1.5/5
I don't know why but I found this album so boring, I barely got through it.
хз
My wife loves this album. I’m less enamoured of the folksy musing though I recognise the musicianship on display.
Not bad, just a little too sedate for my likings. I think I’m failing to hear what’s special about this album because it sounded like generic indie singer-songwriter to me.
Nice enough sound
I didn't find anything particularly memorable on this album after Stolen Car. Just a wave of dirge-adjacent folk tracks that all bleed together.
Non offensive, but boring. Like an Ali Express version of Shawn Colvin.
Nimikkokappale hieman muita kiinnostavampi, muuten varsin tylsäksi jäävä levy. Lisäksi tuotannon puolella kauheita ysärijuttuja, jotka rasauttaa vieläkin. 2/5
I liked a few of the more folky songs, but I didn't care for the songs that sounded like basic somber female singer-songwriter stuff. Favorite was Blood Red River or Devil Song
Gave it an honest listen....just don't get it....
Slow
1.5.
In 1967, the French literary theorist Roland Barthes published an essay called La mort de l'auteur, known in English as Death of the Author, where he argued that the traditional view of the author's intentions and biography providing the definitive reading of the text was false, that the author's life and claimed purpose for the text were irrelevant to criticism, and that the multiplicity of interpretations a reader could derive should hold precedent (if an author does give their intention regarding a text, then all they are doing is proving their interpretation as a reader, which is prima facie no better or worse than any other reader). To illustrate this, consider the hypothetical of a monkey bashing away at a typewriter whose random stabs produce a variation on Hamlet where (spoiler) Hamlet survives. Should we take into account the monkey's mindset when it wrote this distorted masterwork? If you try and say yes to that, you're just being a dick. Anyway, Beth Orton. I could not place the name Beth Orton at all before I received this album for review. It turns out she had guest-sung on a few dance tracks, and that she had achieved some critical kudos during the late 90s with her fusion of folk and electronica, or folktronica if you will. Now, the idea of folktronica seems one of those ideas which for the first second seems clever but then suddenly becomes cringeworthy; funk metal is a more extreme example of this phenomenon. The reason folktronica becomes embarrassing so quickly is because of its advertised cleverness: "oh look," it says, "I'm such a smart merger of two disparate genres! I combine the lyricism and naturalness of folk with the starkness and prescience of electronica! I could very well be the music of the Moon!" Yes, in that it's as sterile and as lifeless as the Moon. Now this album doesn't feature that much electronica, with most tracks performed on acoustic instruments. If asked, I would say the album aims for the sound of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter, which is Nick Drake's warmest album. But that's where the issues of the album rise to the surface. You can remember Nick Drake's voice and songs. Beth Orton's voice, by no means bad, isn't distinctive enough make the songs memorable. I've listened to the fucker three times, and I could not tell you one lyric from it beyond the word "the", let alone any thematic conceits. Along with that, the songs themselves are not distinguishable from each other. So we get these folky sounds that drift along for an hour to no real goal. One review I saw on this site said the reviewer neither liked nor disliked it, but "just... experienced it". Which, if you think about it, results in this being an ambient album. It's an album to put on in the background, to become wallpaper or recirculated air. I don't suppose for a picosecond that this was intended as an ambient album, but as a sincere, updated folk album. Yet as I said at the beginning, the creator's intentions don't matter. What matter here are the work itself and the interpretation the listener gives it, and this listener considers it an ambient album. So how does it work as an ambient album? It's alright, I guess. Bit coffee-shoppy, bit predictable because of that, bit unengaging because of that predictability, bit disappointing because of that lack of engagement. You could say that distance from the listener is the intention of a ambient album, but I reply that you can ram your intentions up your fudgetunnel. noRadio, signing off.
This is exactly what I'd imagine of an album by Beth Orton, except without having "She cries your name" on it. I'm almost entirely certain that it's haunting and beautiful and shit, but dear gods it is boring. It is the soundtrack to a low budget independent film where a mid-to-late-twenties woman breaks up with a forty-something man because he's incapable of socialising without alcohol, doesn't want to settle down and hasn't had quite enough of a health scare yet to convince him to start jogging daily. As she sits sobbing on the back of a bus, Beth Orton's music highlights how broken her heart is. I am the forty-something man with the low-grade alcohol dependency and all I can say is "FFS pet, WTF were you thinking? Listen to some Dido instead, at least that has some remix value."
Many reservations. But I liked the half where she sounded like Carole King.
Dull. I even listened to this in a hipster coffee shop and felt nothing
Very “meh” album for me, nothing memorable about it
It was fine, but honestly, kinda boring. I listen to a lot of music that's downtempo, and even I had trouble getting through this one. Some standout moments for sure, but mostly kinda unmemorable. I have a feeling that even the songs I saved I'll end up skipping on playlists down the line. Standouts: Stolen Car, Couldn't Cause Me Harm, Pass in Time, Stars All Seem to Weep, Love Like Laughter
discovered Beth Orton from her more recent album, Weather Alive (which I like much better), but I enjoy this era of Lilith Fair musicians so this was pleasant enough. I would probably have liked this when I was younger
Inoffensive but pretty boring. Felt like a slog to get through at just under an hour. I have an appreciation but it’s just not for me
Maybe something to listen on a calm autumn night, in the background... Not particularly exciting.
Ok singer-songwriter
Bonito pero no esencial.
Can't say its is a particularly original or entertaining album
This is bland, inoffensive indie-folk background music. There are plenty of parts where I thought "that's a nice lyric" or "that instrument sounds good". Can't say I found it enjoyable or memorable overall. 2.5*
First song was good, rest of the album just blended into one.
There are some amazing guitar tones and riffs going in the first track, and then they completely disappear never to be heard for the rest of the album. All that's left is an hour of bland, stereotypical 90s singer-songwriter minutiae that's a shadow of what the opener promises.
Not really a fan, feels like this style got played out in the 90s
Folktronica, really? Fuck right off. I love folk but I hate electronica, it's pineapple on pizza all over again. Now that I'm listening though, I don't think folktronica is the right genre label for this... it's just more like Norah Jones if she smoked in the bathroom because of peer pressure, trying too hard to be cool. This sucks, but it's way lighter on the electronica than I expected so my ears appreciated that.
These songs are fine. I think that Beth Orton is a competent songwriter. Stolen Car is pretty good. The rest I found to be passably boring.
Esperava mais pelo vocal feminino. Mas soou como mais um pop bem cantado apenas.
Ten album był zupełnie nieremarkable. W sensie OK, ładnie zaśpiewane, ale daję 2 trochę z przekory - mam dosyć albumów w tym challenge'u, które brzmią jak nieinwazyjna muzyka w jakiejś kawiarni. Wolałbym już zaznajomić się z realnie przełomowym albumem, który mi się nie spodoba
Eh. One song was kinda good the rest was just the lady singing.
I don't know what to make of this. It's not bad, but most of these songs just made me shrug. The first one or two tacks were quite OK, but I couldn't get into the rest, fast forwarding my way to the end of the album. 2/5
I wanted to likes this. But the hard H before every vowel is too distracting.
I had heard of Beth Orton, but this was my first time hearing her music. I liked it.
Britisk singer/songwriter, afslappende, følsomt, lidt kedeligt
Nije za mene, prošle su 2 pjesme ja sam mislio da sam na pol albuma kolko sporo ide. Dodatna jer nije lose ko jedinice.
4/10
pretty chill but very forgettable 2.5
This was revelatory in the sense that I've finally been able to pin down the sound I encountered at numerous university open mic nights. Sleepy, hazy, slightly smokey, an aversion to consonants - this is Orton's singing style, and subsequently that of many lesser campus imitators. Anyway, this is a bit disappointing, because much of the promising material gets lost in Orton's rather monochrome delivery. It's an arresting voice at first, but the ersatz keening melancholia wears thin after a while. 'So Much More' is easily the highlight, and the one time where I think we hear a range of colours in Orton's voice. She should've leaned into the light goth-folk a little more; unfortunately, much of the filigree on Central Reservation comes from bland electronica instrumentation. The start of 'Stars All Seem to Weep' sounds like something from the soundtrack to Streets of Rage II.
didnt love it. felt like a lilith fair album that wasn't as good as paula cole, sarah mclaughlan, or ani difranco
Soundtrack to a chick flick. And a bad one at that. Don't deny the talent. Just not for me
Nothing incredible or unique about this album. Songs are pretty generic, sounded very late 90s indie pop. Wasn't really interested most of time
Her voice is really nice but the album was pretty boring. It didn't keep my attention, just turned into background music.
Fängt gut an, es passiert allerdings im weiteren Verlauf nicht mehr viel. Ziemlich eintönig das ganze.
This is pleasant, but it's a little too pleasant. It's too easy to put this on and for the music to just dissolve into the background, vague mood music. Maybe I'm stuck on the songs Beth did with the Chemical Bros, that combined her wholesome folky vocals with bold electronica that captured the mood (and maybe I'm nostalgic for that part of the late 90s). So yeah, it was pleasant to listen to but I can't tell you what I just heard.
Some albums are just nice and nothing more. For me this is one of them. My second time having this one come up in my daily listen. 2/5
This album started off so well.......then it went to crap!!
You have to be in the right mood to appreciate this album. A slow kind of mood where you want nothing to do with productivity. I wasn't in this mood 2.4
When was this list made? I can't imagine if it was updated now, this record making the cut. Don't get me wrong, its a very solid record. But it also seems unremarkable in the grand picture of all recorded music. White privilege? Haha. The production is great and I like when singer/songwriters are ok with weird sounds and instrumental interludes. I also really like the honesty of her voice. It sounds sweet but she also isn't over-trying.
Meh
very boring
I couldn't get through it. Didn't hate it. Just not my style.
She has a really beautiful voice, but I have never liked this genre of music because it reminds me of being one of the last kids to be dropped off by the afterschool bus everyday - something that I always hated. It was always dark and quiet with this type of music playing.
I need to throw a [citation needed] on the Wikipedia page - \"folktronica\" this is not, with only one song really having a beat. Fine but not my favorite.
Muy largo para mi gusto. Disco medianón pero tiene unas 4 rolas muy cabronas. Luego suena muy Cat Power, ¿no? Si Cat Power quisiera cantar "bonito", cantaría así.
It sounds to me just like some generic Alanis Morissette cover band. I'm not sure who came first, but this does not matter, it is just very boring.
boring
Meh.
Not bad, just a bit boring. 6.7/10
Couldn't finish it. Dross.
Nur in der richtigen Stimmung.
Meh
Gorgeous voice but all a little dull really
All the same pace throughout, rather uninteresting.
These "singer-songwriter" albums always seem to be very hit or miss for me, and this was a bit of a miss. Enjoyed Stolen Car, and that was about it - everything else was much too slow and frankly a bit boring. Not the best album to come back to after a bit of a hiatus Saved: Stolen Car
Saved Prior: None Off Rip: Central Reservation - The Then Again Version Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: This is alternate reality Tracy Chapman, down to the biggest song being Adjective + "Car", except it's boring
While I like Orton, I find the album too ordinary.
Hardest album to rate until now. For background music it might be an option (but not too loud), but a few songs felt like someone was nagging all the time. I might be too harsh for this one
Ik zat op het puntje van mijn stoel, deze zangeres kende ik niet. Helaas vond ik het al vrij snel afzwakken en was mijn aandacht verdwenen. Jammer
ehhhhhhh... Forgot each tune by the next bar. Think its music for your first period
Klinkt best goed, maar ik was er niet helemaal voor in de stemming.
Not bad, but not interesting at all
Boring.
Bit warbly.
Kinda boring to me
Ok but not really my thing
I like the general feel of the music, but I get distracted by some of the things she does with her voice. Dragged on a bit for me.
Das ist ein überflüssiges Album
So little instrumentation and effort can make my shoulders go up to my ears from how awful the songs make me feel inside, but it's also not bad, it's just drivel with a droning voice
Not a big fan.
completely unremarkable.
Folky, I get why it's on the list but not for me.
pretty good recent folk album with electronic backing. Not sure if this one will stand the test of time.
meh
It's OK but it's a little too alternative for me. I need trippy-er music.
Lepposaa taustamusaa
Gear: Dunu SA6 Artwork: 👨🦱😏👚 Production: 🤨👍🆗 Music: 🎶😖🏳️ Rating: 🚇/5
Not for me Tried a couple of songs, found it extremely boring. Turned it off and put on Spilt Milk by Jellyfish instead. Favourite track: New Mistake (by Jellyfish)
Yeesh...
Boring
Musically, it's a tepid bowl of oatmeal. But the music is an afterthought, right? It isn't the point. She's in a class with Nick Drake, Jackson Browne, Carole King, James Taylor, Sarah McLachlan. . . : lyricists heralded for their emotional depth and sensitivity for whom music seems like a vehicle; a logistic to be attended to rather than a magical universe to be explored. What really bugs me about this lot, though, is that their lyrics always come across as humorless and overly-earnest self-absorption; like the worst people to get stuck sitting next to at a dinner party.
This one really tested my resolve to listen to every album in full…just really not my thing. The very last song almost saved a star…almost.
Demasiado abajo y parecidas
Bad
post-apocalyptic folk, maybe? at the end of side 1 and every song has blended together into an indistinguishable blur of [___] vocals, strummed guitar and mild string backups. the only reason i know it's halfway is that i happened to check spotify. oohhhh this track has a *drum machine beat* i can't this is too boring 1/5
Den här jävla sångfraseringen ”HEEE HEEE HEEEE” i slutet på varje mening, ibland varje ord, ibland MITT I ETT ORD?! ”Ange-hee-heel”. Blir galen. Vet att hon vill att jag ska känna känslor, men är död inombords. Så satans daterat brittiskt piss, återigen. Så kommer lite everything but a girl-electronica där i mitten. Vem fan pallar det en längre stund? Har skittråkigt.
Eh
Like walking through quicksand.
Скучная шняга
I keep trying to find redeeming qualities in this album but this was just not for me at all. Voice was grating, folky style did not hit today, just everything worked against Beth Orton for me today. Hard to finish, rare 1 star
Not a fan of it
Eh
I tried but this was a very boring album, her vocals are actually really nice and remind me a bit of dido, but all that does is annoy me because it lets me know that I can listen to a more exciting album with just as good vocals and not have to skip through songs.
2.5, rounded down. Stealing cars was good but the rest was not. Just too much of the same and the production just hurts my ears
wack.
Don't know which is worse, this or Suzanne Vega's debut album. As bland as boiled chicken.
Un álbum insípido, monótono, aburrido, sin gracia, denso, repetitivo, sin chispa y olvidable. Se mantiene en una misma linea que no despega..
Easy listening, fine but nothing special 1 - doesn't deserve to be on this list
Snooooooooooore
boring as hell
o álbum mais peito de frango sem sal e sem tempero que já veio pra mim no app
Couldn’t get past the voice
Whiny
No
vid fjärde låten trodde jag att jag redan hade lyssnat om albumet.. men nej det var bara så generiskt att det lät likadant..
Literally nothing in this album even registered my attention until Stars Seem to Weep. And that was solely due to the change in backing track
Pretty dull
Very sleepy and a similar sound to several other female 90s artists, but not as good.
Pretty bland a flavorless.
Mellow
I tried to get a sense of purpose from this. Who is it for? What's the motivation? Massively overblown. My opinion is that you really need to earn a symphony on your album, you can't just toss off... whatever, and create drama with the string section. This album checks a box on some record company's list in the late 90's: Post-grunge 4 piece heavy rock act (like Bush)? CHECK Spicy girl group? CHECK Whiny angst-addled indie rock act that forgot to tune up and the singer sounds drunk? CHECK R&B group, R&B female singer, R&B male singer, dance music, rap, and or all of the above at the same time: CHECK, CHECK, CHECK Female pop vocalist... " Hey, Bill, we don't have a female pop vocalist anywhere do we, I need to check a box on this Corporate Music Form™?" "Yeah, Bob, lemme look... hm, best I can do is that sort of monotone trip-hop act called Beth Orton." "I haven't heard it, have you?" "No, Bob I sure haven't!" "Works for me, Bill!" Both laugh hysterically and drive off in Bill's Porsche to golf.
Ik voelde m niet
Not for me.
Ewwwwwww snoozefest
did not enjoy. DNF
Trodde ikke jeg skulle mislike denne, men.....
Really bad.
I don't hate it but this did nothing to me.
Nothing new or exciting
Not for me. Load of ballads.
Boring zzzzzzzzzz
11/1001 I was looking forward to this, as Beth Orton was an artist that mostly passed me by in the 90s - I remember its predecessor, Trailer Park, being a half-decent album at the time. Sadly, this collection doesn't do anything for me. Well-worn chord progressions with less ambitious arrangements than Beth's previous effort, it runs out of steam by the second track and never really picks up momentum again, save for the trip-hop treatment of Stars All Seem To Weep just after the halfway point, by which time it is too late to lift the mid-paced, wistful mood. A mood which, of course, may have been precisely the one Beth Orton was aiming for, but it was not one which I felt I could really engage with. Beth's lyrics are poetic and mature, but there is nothing memorably melodic to hang them on, and I soon found myself zoning out. I'm sure this album has an audience, although I am equally sure I'm not it.
Wannabe Joni Mitchell whines her way into the same discount bargain box as Dido
Her voice isn't bad and fits the music well, but I can't stand how she seems to keep adding syllables into words. It's very distracting to me and make me want to stop listening by the end of the first song. I made it halfway through before I had to listen to something else for a while. Not something I'd willingly listen to again. 1.5/5
This reminds me of Natalie Merchant. I hate Natalie Merchant.
just too boring for me (bought a cd copy of it at the time so certainly gave it a try)
Ouch, that voice was not good. Unpleasant tone, irritating style, and simply out of tune in several places.
Just can't get on with Berg Orton's voice. My fault, not hers. That said, Joan Armatrading had better be on this list somewhere...
1/5. After many instances, I have to believe that if an album is at all associated with the Mercury Awards, there is a 90% chance it is pretentious and or not good at all. Unfortunately, this one was one of the 90%. I wanted to remain interested but it just kept dragging on for what seemed like the same 4 chords through the whole album. I wanted to like it because she has a very nice voice but it is not enough to save this one. Just so boring honestly and hard to imagine anyone can sit through the whole thing without wanting to change it or just walking away. There some okay takeaways but listening to these all the way through is not the vibe. Best Song: Feel To Believe, Stars All Seem To Weep, Stolen Car
I really hate folk. This one slipped past the censors because its genre is officially "folktronica" but really only a handful of these falls under that umbrella. I liked maybe 3 of the songs and the rest were just not my thing at all.
Dull
Boring
# Playlist Track - Stolen Car # Notes - Bad britpop. Annoying, uninspired, bland. - The only decent track is the first one, that is kind of discount Alanis Morrisette. - One of the worst I've listened to, so far.
Had a hard time finishing this. So long and aimless. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood but hearing one limo song after another for an hour really got to me.
1. car - 1 2. decline - 1 3. harm - 1 4. more - 1 5. time - 1 6. central - 1 7. ztarz - 1.5 8. laughter - 1 9. river - 1.5 10. devil - 1 11. believe - 1 12. rezervation - 0