Once I read in the review on Orbital's Work 1992 - 2003 that that record is really good for beginners just get a starting point to approach to the music of Orbital. However I bought that album (Works) and it really did work for me as indicated.

Lated I decided to purchase another record (Middle of Nowhere) and it didn't catch me at all from the beginning so I put that record aside and forgot about it. After couple of months I decided to try it again and now I am really grateful for that decision... This record is absolutely amazing (except song No. 4 - it gets me very nervous). I would give 5 stars but I dont give it very ofen. No. 3 song Dont know you people is one of most favourite Orbital's songs ever!!! Try it, it really works :-)) Enjoy

This is a really nice Orbital work. It's a lot of processed sound changing through time with the beat. That's what makes this genre of music so excellent. The synth motifs evolve and transform, pushing the groove from one space to another. This CD is less choppy than other Orbital works and the tracks seem to blend into one another nicely. Just a good techno beatbox party out in the...

For the longest time, I didn't own any orbital albums. I was only familiar with a few of their songs, the most notable being Halycon + on + on ( one of the greatest techno songs ever, it will always stick with me). Finally in 200 I got the guts to buy this album. At first I hated it. it wasn't anything I was used to listening to, and none of the songs interested me, or they soudned too wierd. I thought about hopping online and reviewing it and giving it a D. But, i decided to put it away for a while and listen to it later. Gradually, I listened to it more and more, until eventually I finally discovered what a great album it truly is. The flow of this song is incredible and can only be matched by other greats such as Juno Reactor and Orb. I realize now why I didn't like this album before... it wasn't what i was used to, and it was wierd...but thats what makes orbital GOOD. They take great sound and blend it all into a storytelling album in unique and wonderfully musical ways. The first two songs are similar and use a variety of musical melodies, but again flow together. The 3rd is one of my favorites, as the cool sound effects at the beginning make a good contrast to the feel of the first 2 songs. As some people have mentioned, 4 is a weak spot on the album, but it is still good in its own right, just different from the rest of the album. The intro to 5 is one of the best intros I can remember, a great song. Then we have 6 and 7, the two Nothing Left's. I have a hard time picking which one is better, I just like to listen to the consecutively! Finally, track 8 (style) is a perfect way to end the album, with a symphony of synth that keeps developing. Overall this is a great album for techno fans and music fans alike. Orbital is one of the few Real Deals out there today, and I look forward to hearing more of their albums. This gets a good 92 percent!
oh and halycon + on + on is still one of the greatest songs ever!!!!

The first time I heard this album was when I saw them play it live in Glasgow before it was realeased. Of course I was wanting to hear tracks that I knew and loved, but the moment they kicked things off with Way Out, I was starting to have the most powerful musical experience of my life. The album in the live arena sounded so intense and engaging that I couldn't wait to get a hold of the CD when it came out. I bought it and it made me realise how fantnastic Orbital really are. Utterly original and exciting as always, this band will always have a special place in my heart.

After six albums and thirteen years of music, enough has been said by now on seminal electronic dance band Orbital, British blokes Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Listening to their work anew, the 1999 release Middle of Nowhere is (begin argument here) their best work. Perhaps too much a reiteration of past ideas, or bereft of historical relevance ala the Brown Album, but packing the technical sophistication to make it an ideal starting point. All well and good, but how do you describe their signature sound?

1. Orbital are a trance band. "Way Out" and "Nothing Left" shows their penchant for 8-minute epic stirrings, with pristine synth work and the soaring vocal inflections of Barbara Cohen and (notably) Alison Goldfrapp, though the Spanish horns on "Way Out" and intricate drum programming of "Nothing Left" add an edge smoothed out of most commercial trance.

2. They're breakbeat artists. Just look at the rock drummer attitude of "Don't Know You People." There's a reason why Adam Freeland, the Plump DJs and likeminded artists all get the call for remixes; Orbital rarely hold a straight, simple drum pattern, though their soundscapes are too clean to ever call funky. Hence the beefy revisions for clubbers. And oddly, Orbital rarely use pronounced bass, making their music (especially on Middle of Nowhere) more home-friendly than dance floor minded. The exception: "Know Where to Run," with giant hoover-bass sweeps propelling it with racetrack rush.

3.They're new age noodlers. Overeager synth lines and exuberant production often lead to hodge-podge tracks crammed with half ideas (exactly, "Spare Parts Express) bearing wonky keys and acid burps. Closer "Styles" tinkers four minutes away before getting off the couch to do something.

4. They make music that defies categories. That's most of Middle of Nowhere. And when the results come together, as in the stuttery-breaks, hauntingly sublime centerpiece "Otono," well, that's why you buy Orbital albums.