Another World is only for the devoted. [Jan 2008, p.124]

Pyramids can sound like several songs playing at once, a psychedelic instrumental played backward, or the muffled recording of a session two rooms away. [July 2008, p.155]

Mediocre. [May 2007, p.162]

The Montreal group's full-length debut, Some Are Lakes, frustratingly lacks that energy, as well as "Boo's" memorable afterglow. [Nov 2008, p.155]

It's surprisingly how generally lukewarm the music is on Newman's sophomore effort, Get Guilty. [Feb 2009, p.103]

The collection is loosely held together by vintage production, making many tracks feel like distant AM radio transmissions. [Apr 2013, p.86]

Bad news for fans of either party who'd expected the union to generate something revolutionary. [Dec 2002, p.85]

The biggest problem on Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is that the campy B-movie samples and song titles like "Jesus Frankenstein" and "Werewolf, Baby!" come across as juvenile and lame. [Mar 2010, p.98

Unfortunately, the songs still suffer from the same downfalls as their previous material; the album lives in the safe middle ground between Shadows Fall and Underoath. [May 2011, p.96]

While Apocryphon might be the band's push toward the future, let it also exist as a funeral dirge for the band's more vibrant and rule-breaking past. [Nov 2012, p.94]

Though Sublime With Rome's debut LP is a promising collection of summer songs, under the carefully fabricated surface, it's hollow.

It feels safe and too familiar.

On paper the choice of Jon Brion, a musician and engineer best known for his work in film seemed perfect, but unfortunately it didn't temper Barnes' misguided vision to be the indie-rock Prince. [Oct 2010, p.116]

Secret Machines is a bit of a misstep, failing keep their languid, explorative tracks from growing dull. [Dec 2008, p.148]

Merritt's singularity just feels awkward, and Realism is another album in a catalog more concerned with quantity than quality.

Unfortunately, many of the tunes wear out their welcome, overextending a single inspired idea. [Apr 2004, p.88]

Unlike Treats, Reign Of Terror never feels new, fresh or exciting; it just feels like a chore.

Mo Beauty becomes difficult to wade through as Ounsworth ventures further from his indie-rock roots. [Nov 2009, p.114]

For now, it just comes off like an unnecessary retreat.

They play things way too safe... which makes for a rather boring listening experience. [Mar 2007, p.142]

The album as a whole is scattershot; it's easy to appreciate the boundaries that Zion I are pushing, but the best authors have great editors. [Feb 2009, p.107]

It was probably inevitable, but having raised the bar so high for cut-and-paste music, Shadow spends a little too long here looking up at it. [Jul 2002, p.96]

Too much of Human Hearts feels like a retread of what they've already done on previous LPs. [Apr 2011, p.115]

It lacks the spark of the band's classic catalog material. [Apr 2007, p.191]

The disparate pieces of Melvins Lite don't quite line up. [Jul 2012, p.98]

The album may have neen best served as an EP; it's an uneven mix of energetic jams and unfocused duds. [May 2008, p.132]

Tori Amos fans will be thrilled, but those hoping to continue on a hard-rock bender will be left puzzled. [May 2015, p.100]

The overall ambition is commendable, but perhaps a better plan of action would have been to strip the story completely, cull together the album’s best songs and instead close the EP trilogy with a stronger, shorter release.

While we believe that Sum 41 have the potential to succeed without the aid of power chords, the fact that only a handful of the musical ideas on the album are fully developed makes for a frustrating listening experience.

Though fast and dynamic, it's just not exciting in the way it should be, and it's impossible to shake the feeling that something is missing. [Jul 2013, p.96]

The songs last twice as long as they should. [Dec 2004, p.152]

Pop's dirty-bassed rock may expand T.'s audience, but it's diminished his art. [Sep 2005, p.170]

The main frustration with Meyrin Fields is that neither artist seems hindered individually, only lost to elevate his respective partner in a meaningful way.

Either the worst or the best thing I've heard all year. [Dec 2004, p.152]

Why does Warp Riders feel so lacking? The root cause could be that the songs on this album are stripped of the sexy strut that marked the Sword's earlier efforts. [Sep 2010, p.113]

For all of its charms, One Kiss Ends It All sounds a bit sdhaky and unfocused. [Jun 2013, p.98]

It's nice Walla's doing his own thing, but it's also clear from Field Manual that in terms of his main band, credit has always been given where credit was due. [Mar 2008, p.141]

The good: Tyler Carter and Luke Holland's performance one-ups YouTube tryhards on Paramore's "Ain't No fun"; Set It Off are naturals at this whole "pop" thing, nailing Adriana Grande's "Problem".... The bad: August Burns Red's cover of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" tries to make a pp song pissed--it's dated on arrival.... The just plain ridiculous: Upon A Burning Body ft. Ice T covering "Turn Down For What?" [Dec 2014, p.107]

It's quite a bit slicker and sonically feels as if it could fill an arena--but lacks personality. [Oct 2007, p.172]

Too often, Kasher is lost in his screamy, overdramatic posturing. [Sep 2005, p.154]

[Travis Morrison's] earworm melodies and piquant lyrical outlook are Uncanney's only source of nutrients. The rest are empty calories. [Nov 2013, p.94]

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

Deheza's still a fine singer and there are plenty of interesting tones and sounds flitting across the background, but all it ever coalesces into is wan, directionless, dance rock.

Every successful band eventually put out a bloated album, and for Northern Ireland's Snow patrol, it's Fallen Empires. [Feb 2012, p.84]

Krug tests the patience of even the most tolerant listener via a convoluted and self-indulgent mess of music that occasionally--and seemingly accidently--stumbles across moments of brilliance. [Nov 2007, p.163]

Images Du Futur lacks the structural rigor and focused ideas of [Clinic], which prevents the album from having a strong impact. [Apr 2013, p.90]

My Shame Is True winds up feeling like white noise more than anything else. [May 2013, p.84]

The disappointing thing about New Moon is that it could have been better.

Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is a collection of alt-country songs that alternate between darkly funny and deathly serious, cleverly coy and crappily dull. [Mar 2008, p.140]

"Black Balloons" is built on a riff exactly like Bon Iver's "Perth" sped up, and hearing the grating lyrical wail of "Columbia" and you're left wondering if so much time away was a result of writer's block. [Feb 2013, p.90]

"Gonna Be Free" is a solid tune, but not strong enough to save Circle from mediocrity. [Aug 2012, p.88]

It's not that Hey People! is bad, because it's not--but it's not that good, either. [Feb 2006, p.126]

There's some decent stuff in the second half. [Sep 2005, p.164]

The band ultimately lose the pop craftsmanship and hook-filled bite that distinguished their debut. [Oct 2005, p.166]

Some Loud Thunder isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures. [Feb 2007, p.114]

Much of the material begs for memorable melodies, perhaps a bit of a rave-up or divergent musical moment would have helped. [Jun 2009, p.103]

All Amputechture does is test patience. [Oct 2006, p.200]

You either listen without prejudice or deem it the most pretentious, boring swill on the planet. [Dec 2007, p.176]

Idlewild undeniably sound like a once-great band helplessly slipping into their confusing middle years. [Sep 2005, p.164]

The 13 tracks here are improbably edgeless, all love-me-do/love-me-don't plaints that evaporate on impact. [Sep 2001, p.91]

What Worlds never does is cohere in any appreciable way, stomping all over its finer moments with another synth glitterbomb and burdensome bass drop. [Sep 2014, p.107]

There's very little here to grab the listener. [Nov 2007, p.162]

You'll probably get annoyed after about 30 seconds. [May 2005, p.138]

Ellipse is balanced but doesn't break ground. Fans of her past work will likely find little to quarrel with, but they won't be challenged, either. [Sep 2009, p.105]

While the album has occasional moments of brillance, most of these songs sound like underwhelming sketches instead of finished products. [Oct 2007, p.160]

This is isn't a terrible album, but considering the rest of their vibrant catalog, it just seems a bit stale. [Mar 2012, p.98]

When the twins harmonize, the results are sweeter than sugar-dipped honeysuckle. What they really need, though, is some fire in their bellies. [July 2008, p.151]

Lady Sovereign celebrates her freedom from Def Jam not by leading with the (middle) finger, but instead by showing her vulnerability....[But after the first three tracks,] the old Lady Sov returns. [May 2009, p.123]

The mild vulgarity and cute arrogance put to such an innocent melody [in "Fool Like Me"] is the brand of sass for which Cobra Starship are best known. Unfortunately, these traits are desperately lacking from the rest of Night Shades.

Shogun's assembly and architecture is devoid of the lively attack and emotional elan necessary to make this a true entry into the pantheon of heavy-metal long-players. [Nov 2008, p.158]

While it's enjoyable for what it is, you can't help but wonder where all the songs went when after an half-hour or so, you recall literally nothing. [Oct 2012, p.92]

The Life Pursuit is less confused than the three albums that precede it, but it's also just as forgettable. [Mar 2006, p.124]

Pure bubblegum, but with an often-faded flavor. [Apr 2012, p.98]

Fans will love it, but if you're not already on board, this album won't change your mind. [Oct 2007, p.169]

Often feels like the soundtrack for a party that's running short on ideas. [Oct 2004, p.132]

[A] slickly produced holding pattern. [Jul 2003, p.122]

Weak. [Sep 2004, p.140]

Where, say, Franz Ferdinand can fill dance floors with a jagged, arty sense of danger, the Bravery are more vanilla in their approach (read: They're Duran Duran). [May 2005, p.132]

Even Westerberg knows that he can do better. [Jan 2004, p.108]

Disappointingly forgettable. [Nov 2005, p.218]

Packed with earnest but impotent stadium rock. [Jul. 2002, p.82]

Easy like a Sunday morning, and just as dull. [May 2004, p.110]

The ladies aren't ready to carry an album by themselves. [Oct 2004, p.146]

Uninspired goofiness... [#154, p.98]

A perfectly pleasant background score for pasta-making, garden work, and other stuff 40-something yuppies waste their time on. Which makes it my definition of hell, actually. [Jul 2001, p.60]

There's nothing on Everything Ecstatic the likes of Madlib haven't already done better. [Jul 2005, p.186]

Five years later, it's easy to be blasé about [Aidan] Moffat's disgruntled first-person narratives. [#154, p.68]

While there are some nice moments of orchestral pop here, that's hardly enough to carry an entire album. [Aug 2006, p.208]

Comatose-inducing. [Mar 2003, p.94]

James Walsh does have a beautiful voice, but unfortunately, it's not enough to illuminate Starsailor from the shadow of British bands like Travis and Coldplay. [Feb 2004, p.90]

This doesn't say the labum doesn't have its moments, but when you consider the amount of time and patience it takes to get to tthat point, it's hardly worth the payoff. [Apr 2008, p.153]

The Southern-rock grit that used to make Band Of Horses spellbinding is in dangerously short supply, but there's nothing else there to replace it. [Oct 2012, p.84]

Good Charlotte have become caricatures of themselves. [Apr 2007, p.175]

Other than "I Ejaculate Fire," the lyrics aren't that funny--it often seems like Small is trying to write real metal songs. And it's hard to see the point of that.

They sound like Devo playing Nazi military waltzes. [May 2005, p.138]

Succeeds only as an inessential novelty. [Jan 2004, p.98]

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]

This is strictly a headphone listen--or, more likely, non-listen. [Nov 2010, p.108]