yes, they are both boring. i don't like them, although i did purchase Back To Bedlam, but was extremely disappointed and never listened to it again.
Katie Melua's singles bore the shit out of me, i don't even care to give a chance to any of her albums
here's an example:
many people would call hip hop shit here, probably. although, it's definitely not true. there were/are good hip hop artists (Public Enemy, Notorius BIG, Beastie Boys) and bad (mainstream hip hop/rap).
so it's just a matter of taste, if you ask me. but describing hip hop as shit generally is harsh and stupid. you either like it as genre or not, but don't generalise ;)