Glorious (The Singles 1997-2007/+DVD) - Natalie Imbruglia

Advantages: lots of fantastic songs, variety of different styles, fantastic voice, lyrics provided
Disadvantages: a couple of average songs (but nothing awful)

...I remember back in the late nineties, when I heard that Beth from "Neighbours" was going to be the latest soap star to launch a career, I was horrified. "Not another one!" I remember thinking. As far as I was concerned, the only soap star who has actually managed to make a truly successful crossover into pop at that point was Kylie - everyone else had fallen by the wayside, and for good reasons. Namely that they were crap. But Beth aka Natalie Imbruglia, really surprised me. From the first time I heard the song "Torn", I realised she could actually be different from the other pop wannabes. For one thing, she had a lovely voice, for another "Torn" was a beautiful song. Okay, so it wasn't Imbruglia's OWN song originally, but her delivery of it was fantastic all the same. Back in 1998 I was a student and didn't have much disposable... Read review

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Advantages: Better than White Lilies Island
Disadvantages: Not as good as Left Of The Middle

...I must confess a personal interest in Aussie bug-eyed beauty Natalie Imbruglia, and not just because I am a red-blooded hetrosexual male who fancies her to bits. When working on a kids camp in America I met one of her sisters, Carla, on a bus and we ended up travelling for a while and saw in Hurricane Emily together, locked in a bar off Virginia Beach. So when Carla told me her little sis got the part in Neighbours I was astounded. I have her parent’s home phone number for God’s sake. How can she be famous? And when Torn launched her musical career I was interested to see how the life of the latest soap actress turned singer would pan out. Left Of The Middle was a fine album. I was amazed at how good it was. It was the sound of a woman who had spent time in London honing her songwriting craft. It was one... Read review

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Advantages: Melodies, catchy.. perfect pop?
Disadvantages: one hit wonder?

...As a pop single, Natalie Imbruglia's torn seems virtually flawless. I was only about 7 years old when it come out, so I may be biased because it reminds me of being a kid, but even listening to it now, I feel like I can understand why it's a good pop song. I know little about Natalie's music other than this song, although it seems as if it was a bit of a one hit wonder. I feel that it stands the test of time, due (to some extent) to the somehow classic instrumental arrangement, the guitar strums ring throughout the song in a perfect constant tempo. Natalie's voice is always on note, and her original style of singing works well with the catchy melodies. The end of the song passes by with a simplistic guitar part - to fade. To me, this song marks the end of the ninties, and for a song essentially about feeling torn by love, that... Read review

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