Central Reservation (album)

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Central Reservation
Beth Orton-Central Reservation (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
Released9 March 1999
StudioThe Church ·September Sound ·RAK ·Olympic ·Little Joey's ·The Garden Shed
Genre Folktronica [1] [2]
Length58:50
Label Heavenly RecordsHVNLP 22
Producer Victor Van Vugt, Ben Watt, Mark Stent, Beth Orton, Dr. Robert, David Roback
Beth Orton chronology
Best Bit
(1997)
Central Reservation
(1999)
Daybreaker
(2002)

Central Reservation is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Beth Orton, released on 9 March 1999. The album featured contributions from folk musician Terry Callier (with whom she also recorded the b-side "Lean on Me"), Dr. Robert and Ben Harper. Several tracks were also produced by Ben Watt of Everything but the Girl.

Contents

Central Reservation received critical acclaim and garnered Orton a second Mercury Music Prize nomination, and won her Best British Female at the 2000 BRIT Music Awards.

Release

Central Reservation was released on 9 March 1999 on Heavenly Records. It reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for eight weeks. [3] It went to number 34 on the ARIA albums chart in Australia, [4] number 35 on the RIANZ albums chart in New Zealand [5] and number 110 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. [6] It also went to number two on the US Heatseekers albums chart. [7] By 2002 it had sold 244,000 copies in United States. [8] The first single from the album was "Stolen Car", which was released on 13 March 1999 and peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart. [3] "Central Reservation", the second single, peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. [3]

On 30 June 2014, British independent record label 3 Loop Music re-released Central Reservation as a 2CD Expanded Edition which included b-sides, original demos and live recordings. [9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 84/100 [10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
Entertainment Weekly A− [12]
Houston Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
NME 8/10 [15]
Pitchfork 8.9/10 [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Spin 7/10 [19]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [20]

Central Reservation received generally positive reviews from critics. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic gave the album a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 and called it "stunning". [11]

Orton won the award for British Female Solo at the 2000 BRIT Awards. [21] The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [22]

The album is ranked number 982 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000). [23]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Beth Orton except "Love Like Laughter" by Orton and Ted Barnes [11]

Standard edition
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Stolen Car" Victor Van Vugt 5:26
2."Sweetest Decline"Van Vugt5:40
3."Couldn't Cause Me Harm"Van Vugt4:48
4."So Much More"Van Vugt5:41
5."Pass in Time" Bruce Robert Howard 7:17
6."Central Reservation"Orton, Mark Stent 4:50
7."Stars All Seem To Weep" Ben Watt 4:39
8."Love Like Laughter"Van Vugt3:06
9."Blood Red River"Orton, David Roback 4:15
10."Devil Song"Roback5:04
11."Feel To Believe"Orton4:02
12."Central Reservation" (The Then Again Version)Watt4:00
Japanese edition (bonus track)
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
13."Precious Maybe"Orton4:02
Australian edition (bonus tracks)
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
14."Best Bit" Youth 4:03
15."Central Reservation" (Spiritual Life/Ibadan edit)
  • Orton
  • Jerome Sydenham [a]
  • Joe Claussell [a]
4:04
16."Central Reservation" (William Orbit remix)
  • Orton
  • Orbit [a]
4:43
Cherry Red Records expanded edition – Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Someone's Daughter" 
2."Sweetest Decline" 
3."Blood Red River" 
4."Pass in Time" 
5."She Cries Your Name" 
6."Devil Song" 
7."I Wish I'd Never Seen the Sunshine" 
8."Stars All Seem to Weep" 
9."I Love How You Love Me" 
10."Precious Maybe" 
11."Stars All Seem to Weep" (shed version) 
12."Central Reservation" (spiritual life ibadon remix) 
13."Love Like Laughter" 
14."So Much More" 
15."Central Reservation" (band demo) 
16."Couldn't Cause Me Harm" 

Notes

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1999)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [4] 37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [5] 35
UK Albums (OCC) [3] 17
US Billboard 200 [6] 110

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [25] Gold100,000^
United States244,000 [26]
Summaries
Worldwide478,000 [27]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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