They focus too little on well-made songs and too much on creating an angst-ridden atmosphere. [Jul 2002, p.78]

Control's exhilarating high points take Pedro's brooding, hesitantly melodic indie rock closer to Ozzfet than they've ever been. [Jul 2002, p.94]

Held together nicely by Armstrong's expertly scored strings and a generally tranquil tone common to most of his work. [Jun 2002, p.71]

MMW charge brazenly past cries of Jimmy Smith worship into territory rarely covered by artists either acoustic or electric. [Jun 2002, p.80]

On offers tight musicianship, intimate lyrics and a wider sonic berth in comparison to indie pop's lyrically trite mistake celebrations. [May 2002, p.90]

Exquisitely crafted folk-pop minimalism that whispers with profundity and burrows deep into your heart. [July 2002, p.84]

If the vocals on Electric Sweat were produced as flawlessly as the guitars, and perhaps a different song order were arranged for a better flow, this album could be a retro-rock classic alongside other "hindsight visionaries" like the Vue or the Strokes. [May 2002, p.94]

The sound is just as expected: sweaty, sexy and leaner than a Thanksgiving turkey. [May 2002, p.94]

Perfect major-label American alt-rock--slick, smart and serious enough without being somber to reach out to even the least emotionally confused people without scaring off the moody ones. [May 2002, p.94]

Just what the doctor ordered for those underwhelmed by last year's Built To Spill album. [Jul 2002, p.94]

Slow and achingly graceful, L'Altra's mellow moods are welcome any time of day. [Jul 2002, p.76]

Instead of rehashing rap and rock, he smashes up pop melodies, metal riffs and industrial beats with a hammer, creating something that teeters on parody yet heralds an enthusiastic return to the days when hair metal knew how to get the crowds loaded. [Apr 2002, p.65]

Dangers' music remains remarkably fresh and adventurous. [June 2002, p.80]

A well-crafted ode to cock rock, minus the cliches. [May 2002, p.98]

May be Jackson's best work to date.... Playgroup is effortlessly retro, without sounding dated. [Apr 2002, p.80]

Unfortunately, the pretentious spoken-word ramblings, corny hooks and unremarkable trance put Maas, along with Paul Van Dyk and BT, in a less illustrious category: top-notch DJs with second-rate albums under their belts. [May 2002, p.90]

There's no doubt their musical literacy is impressive, but for every cliche it erases, Rings Around The World embraces two more. [May 2002, p.98]

KMFDM rebound from the lukewarm MDFMK project pulsing and palpitating with a sense of urgency that proves this machine is not obsolete. [May 2002, p.88]

Grooves with uptight downtown funk that's not just for beat freaks. [May 2002, p.88]

Kid Loco's production style stresses the band's shimmering guitars and rich harmonies. [June 2002, p.82]

Fresh, funny and unpredictable. [Apr 2002, p.72]

The live drums and guitars show how the duo's chartbusting sound bears a surprising similarity to modern metal. [Mar 2002, p.86]

Sadly, Modulate comes off as a former punk's clumsy and unsuccessful attempt at diving into a genre that relies less on the organic than it does on the synthetic. [May 2002, p.96]

What could have been a second coming of Stone Roses or even a newer New Order comes off like one big Spiritualized remix, light on the hooks, numbed by its own beats. [Apr 2002, p.82]

As stylishly remote, timelessly constructed and challengingly intelligent as you'd expect from artists like these. [May 2002, p.83]

The U.K.'s Lo Fidelity Allstars are having the genre-smashing time of their lives. [Apr 2002, p.78]

Buffalo Daughter seem more concerned with emulating others than with creating their own niche. [Apr 2002, p.66]

Didn't It Rain may be simplistic compared to its more eclectic and haunting predecessor ['Ghost Tropic'], but it evokes the world-weary tones of Neil Young's 1970 masterpiece After The Gold Rush. [Jun 2002, p.86]

Clinic have evolved from a set of brilliantly mixed parts into a distinctive whole to be reckoned with. [Apr 2002, p.71]

Feels like a jam session--bluesy keyboard lines and guitar riffs busk with soul-inflected harmonies, world-music percussion and complex, exotic rhythms. [Apr 2002, p.68]

Has an infectious energy that keeps things from growing stale. [May 2002, p.84]

The Rev is still peddling a buoyant mix of rockabilly, surf and cow-punk aimed at covering life's sinful little pleasures. [Apr 2002, p.98]

The band's most obviously emo album to date. [Mar 2002, p.72]

Fila's prowess on bass and guitar keeps the music feeling more composerly than other, more sample-heavy excursions. [Apr 2002, p.74]

This disc contains some intriguing moments. [Apr 2002, p.74]

Lyrically keen and immediately catchy. [Mar 2002, p.84]

South are at their most compelling when they apply the aesthetics and methodology of dance music to their epic rock music. [Mar 2002, p.88]

It's clever, literate and pretty, but also boring as hell if you don't flip off the lights, clamp on your headphones and concentrate. [May 2002, p.88]

An album full of songs so lethargic, it sounds like it needs a nap halfway through. [Apr 2002, p.71]

Where Music flowed with a pastoral warmth, Geogaddi feels colder and more mortal, bound to the tension between its upper and lower registers. [May 2002, p.78]

Radio 4 evoke the Clash, Wire, Les Savy Fav and neo-new wave, jamming epileptic rhythms with chunks of white noise to get a restlessly eclectic sound. [Jun 2002, p.82]

The collaborations produce some occasional gems, but midway through the disc one gets the impression the X-men are no longer "in their own session." [Feb 2002, p.82]

The Chems have returned to the early-'90s acid-house exuberance that first inspired them. [Feb 2002, p.67]

A smart and occasionally gorgeous country-fried rock effort. [Mar 2002, p.77]

What emerges here isn't the new techno folk or even world music for the e-universe, but a rare portrait of technology with a human face. [Mar 2002, p.78]

Much like the bubbly permutations of recent Mouse on Mars discs, the four pieces on Sign feature over an hour's worth of rapturous electronic textures. [Mar 2002, p.90]

With this soft-spoken and delicate record of almost-drawling songs, he's moved his work one step closer to Nashville. [Mar 2002, p.81]

Your Majesty comes off as less gooey and precocious than your average Vagrant Records paramour. [May 2002, p.78]

Half this record sounds like a field recording from a daycare play room. [Mar 2002, p.84]

Rather than suffering from the absence of Technicolor mania, Point instead revels in its nuances and depth, emanating a maturity and cohesion that Fantasma lacked. [Feb 2002, p.68]

Kittenz is stocked with decadent electro-house grooves, slinky synth burbles and Ms. Kittin's glammy, deadpan vocals that sound like Madonna on Quaaludes. [Mar 2002, p.80]

There are few hooks to grab the ear or inspire repeat listening. [Apr 2002, p.86]

A middle-of-the-road OTC record heavy on angelic vocal harmonies and light on innovation. [Apr 2002, p.84]

Asleep is just enigmatic enough to avoid plagiarism. [Mar 2002, p.77]

Sounds more like Bad Religion than any Bad Religion album has in years. [Mar 2002, p.71]

At best, Dead Media delivers tuneful, hilarious, pathetic tales of lost schoolboy love. [Mar 2002, p.81]

Though there's little here to entice newcomers, fans should rejoice. [Mar 2002, p.77]

Their best album to date. [Apr 2002, p.70]

Starsailor back up their hype with a debut album worthy of more than a few cursory spins. [Feb 2002, p.80]

With Cold House, Hood provide evidence that their time in the sun is long overdue. [Dec 2001, p.84]

Both soothing and exhilarating. [Jan 2002, p.84]

The duo's brand of hip-hop sounds like a mind-meeting between Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton and pimped-out Bay Area rapper Too Short. [Oct 2001, p.91]

Represents the best of British pop music.... A lilting, suave and grandiose near-masterpiece. [Dec 2001, p.80]

One of the most joyous and poignant party albums ever. [Feb 2002, p.74]

Oracle sees Kittie moving from novelty status to bone-crushing legitimacy. [Jan 2002, p.86]

A substantial improvement over the gentle snoozefest that was 2000's Early Days. [Apr 2002, p.76]

The only problem is that in making way for all the MCs, Dilated's tracks seem too peripheral, keeping Expansion from sustaining the momentum its MCs command. [Jan 2002, p.80]

There is very little here that makes any sort of meaningful connection. [Dec 2001, p.85]

Change may be audibly bigger-sounding -- in a slick, professional way -- than previous efforts, but the new angle just drives the point home: The Dismemberment Plan deserve to be huge. [Jan 2002, p.82]

Consistently intriguing, haunting and above all, very good. [Dec 2001, p.94]

Wratten's finest post-Field Mice LP. [Dec 2001, p.98]

Marks a slight improvement from 1999's Bury The Hatchet. [Nov 2001, p.79]

A dense, diverse, and sometimes dauntingly complex double CD. [Dec 2001, p.78]

There is little on Golden State to differentiate it from its predecessors. [Dec 2001, p.76]

The Argument is quieter, slinkier and even slower to develop than 1997's tortoise-paced End Hits. [Dec 2001, p.82]

Solid pop sensibility... [Nov 2001, p.89]

This is still some of the most original, passionate and listenable music of the year, but the mood has changed. [Jan 2002, p.95]

The pop smarts practically shimmer throughout. [Dec 2001, p.83]

Pleasantly pastoral. [Nov 2001, p.86]

The album makes a vibrant statement. [Dec 2001, p.82]

Delivers the goods in spades. [Nov 2001, p.94]

It's the skillful meshing of Benjamin Gibbard's part-stream-of-consciousness, part-confessional vocals with melancholy piano and achingly melodic guitars that reveal a fleshed-out Cutie are indeed a band of uncommon beauty. [Dec 2001, p.79]

Multicultural rage is all well and good, but when you cop your flow from Vanilla Ice, it undermines your underground cred. [Jan 2002, p.98]

Every unsettling movement is matched by something beautiful. [Jan 2002, p.94]

The abundance of derivative electronic tricks diminishes Beautiful's successful updates of Garbage's sound. [Nov 2001, p.73]

An ambitious record that pays skillful tribute to teachers like Pink Floyd, but shows off its ambition too much. [Nov 2001, p.94]

Gorky's emotional punch is as heavy as it ever was--despite the bells and whistles. [Jan 2002, p.84]

A sweetass blaxploitation-film score in waiting. [Dec 2001, p.87]

While it isn't his best work, Rain on Lens shows that Callahan is proving to be frustratingly hard to pin down, but capable of unleasing brilliance at any given time. [Nov 2001, p.94]

A rare good covers album--creating successful reinterpretations while piquing curiosity for the originals. [Nov 2001, p.74]

They reinvent themselves as house-music auteurs exploring a sound closer to shoegazing's late, great headphone womb than house's aerobic aphorisms. [Nov 2001, p.79]

If you're prone to enjoying the epic recall in rock, All Is Dream will be your momentary ticket outta here. [Oct 2001, p.82]

Folds cracks jokes and spins incredibly sad tales with no restraint or common sense, and oddly enough, we love him for it. [Oct 2001, p.79]

Sadly, one can hear decent tunes struggling to get out of this mess. [Nov 2001, p.78]

They haven't lost any of their quirky cool mojo. [Nov 2001, p.97]

The most powerful, viscerally brutal album the quartet have released to date. [Sep 2001, p.100]

A playful retro-pop event full of shifting moods. [Nov 2001, p.77]

The sample-based backing tracks, hard-hitting but plain, don't have much choice but to play second-best. [Jan 2002, p.74]