Central Reservation

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

The most blandest shit I’ve heard. I could eat plain white bread with nothing on it & it’ll still be less bland than listening to this album

Die Achterbahnfahrt geht weiter. Nach einem absoluten Klassiker (The WHO) folgt ein Album, welches sich nach interessant klingendem Start zunehmend als Langweiler entpuppt. Schade!

Not my cuppa tea, at all

Boring

Every other song was fine. Nothing grabbed me. Florence and Alanis do this better

If Andersonville had a soundtrack. Boooooooooooring.

slumber

First listen Saved 1/12 Top track: Stolen Car

Toen ik de hoes zag, wist ik eigenlijk al voldoende. Vrouwelijke singer-songwriter uit de 90s. Dat betekent zielenroerselen van een twintiger met Dr Martens en een slobbertrui, die op haar slaapkamer teveel naar Joni Mitchell heeft geluisterd. En dat is ook precies wat we voorgeschoteld krijgen. Het is allemaal veel te traag en ze jankt echt als een soort Joni over haar pianootje, gitaar of viool heen. En dan nog een uur lang ook nondeju. Joni had tenminste aan een halfuurtje genoeg. Halverwege komt er nog een halvegare krolse kater meekrijsen. Man man man, haar stem is echt verschrikkelijk. Ik hoop dat we nu de periodieke portie Joni weer hebben gehad en we er nu weer voor even van af zijn. Anders moet ik elke keer weer zo'n rant over haar afsteken, maar dat betekent ook elke keer weer opnieuw dat alle energie aan me onttrokken wordt en ik weer opnieuw moet opladen. Gelukkig weet ik al dat ik straks een plaatje van the Eagles krijg om weer bij te komen.

Ajan kliseistämää laulelua + tasaisen keskitempoinen ysäribiitti (tai ei). Pettymyksenä jostain syystä erityisen harmittava.

Sorry, I just can’t abide her voice

Until today, I had no idea who Beth Orton is. Her 1999 album 'Central Reservation' seems to me, to be a mixed bag of sentiments. The track 'Sweetest Decline' carries an evocative quality, reminding me of the kind of song Nigella Lawson might choose to underscore one of her Christmas shows when everyone is turning up to the feast at the end. However, the overall tone of the album, marked by its mellow and laid-back vibe, positions it as pure background music. It's the kind of record that, for some, could seamlessly fade into the sonic backdrop of daily life without leaving a lasting impact. Personally, I found the album to be outside my musical preferences, and I must admit that I didn't even complete the entire listening experience. While tastes in music vary, 'Central Reservation' didn't resonate with me, prompting the realisation that not every album is destined to strike a chord with every listener.

I really didn't like this album. Her voice is so annoying. She sang a song called couldn't cause me harm, well she did a lot of harm to my ears. The songs were all dreary and miles to long. I would rather get tortured by the devil then have to listen to his album again.

I just found it mildly irritating at the beginning, by the end I wanted it so badly to be over. Super freaking dull.

Managed about 15 seconds. He voice and annoying affliction did my tits in.

Nej tack

Boring. Did not finish.

Boring, just like every other singer-songwriter album in this experiment

Hard Pa$$

tweedious

boring as fuck

Totally not my thing and probably the least listenable album so far. Might have to go back and revise my Zeppelin rating for this one.

Do not know...

My gaawwwd c'est plate!! Je suis fan de trucs downtempo mais ça c'était une torture! Ennuyant comme les pierres. Le pitch bend sur le vibraphone synthétique c'est non... Une toune à 2 accords qui a pour highlight l'entrée de bongos passé 5 minutes...ouf... La toune avec un beat trip hop est moins pire mais en général c'est long, c'est loooong pis il se passe pas grand choses. Occasion manquée de dynamiser le tout avec les strings, les arrangements sont très simplistes, trop. Tant qu'à leur faire jouer des roots à l'unisson mets en pas... Bref: pas pour moi visiblement. Peut-être l'intérêt est dans les paroles, j'écoute pas beaucoup ça, mais les bouts que je pognait sont pas transcendant...

Je ne vois pas l’intérêt. Elle chante à reculons. Pu capable.

Une voix intéressante. L’album démarre bien avec la pièce Stolen Car où le jeu de guitare est très intéressant, mais par la suite, ça devient un folk générique un peu ennuyeux pour moi et sans grande nouveauté. Quand on lis sur elle, on la reconnaît pour le son folktronica et on n’a pas ça ici. Son premier album aurait été plus approprié.

Zegnajcie halcyonowe dni, witaj kolejny wyspiarski picku, tym razem z gatunku babskiego grania, wylosowalo Central Reservation pani Beth Orton z rocznika 99, czyli muzyka folkowo popowa, z naciskiem na pop ze wzgledu na nature babskich problemow, bo jest to kolejna plyta na ktorym artystka wylewa z siebie jak to jej w zyciu zle i ciezko, bo przeciez milosc smutki i niesprawiedliwosci, instruemntalnie jest to dziwne polaczenie typowych dla folka akustycznych instrumentali z czyms nowym, elektrykiem, ale nie instrumentalnym, a muzyka elektroniczna, wiec beaty elektrykowe do ktorych brzdaka jakas gitara sa tutaj na porzadku dziennym, wsrod licznych producentow tego krazka pojawia sie takze nazwisko pana Watta z everything but the girl, ktorzy sie juz przewineli na liscie, a u ktorych jakos naturalniej pasowalo takie polaczenie elektrycznych synthow i akustykow, no ale nie mozna miec wszystkiego, albo czegokolwiek jak w tym wypadku, bo cale 58 minut central reservation najlatwiej okreslic jako bylejakie, niezapadajace w pamiec i sklaniajace do przemyslen nad tym czemu tylko kobiety potrafia wylewac z siebie smutki nad soba przez bita godzine, a ktos moze sie pod tym podpisac i jakos nawiazywac kupujac lub sluchajac tego krazka z wlasnej nieprzymuszonej woli

No ty

Very repetitive tracks.

Prepare yourself for a come down. Middle of the road folk, Beth’s voice has a slightly discordant resonance that to my ears clashed in places. Once the album was done I had to funk up the place to get me back on happy street. Cheer up Beth, it might have already happened but you don’t have to keep reliving it.

Eh

Veel van het zelfde, erg "anoukig"

1.5

Awful.

relaxing, soothing, nocturnal, mellow, melancholic