A cluttered, derivative mess. [Dec 2006, p.200]

Too much of this collection tries to get by merely on Allan's mumble-to-a-scream vocals and a smothering wall of reverb, leaving the instrumentation dull and the tunes indistinct. [Oct 2013, p.86]

The problem: Semi-masked in the Healers, he's short an originality chromosone. [Feb 2003, p.70]

They make OMD sound like Joy Division. [Aug 2004, p.124]

The Church's languid melancholy sedates rather than seduces. [Feb 2004, p.88]

The majority of the tracks are watered down reminders of their indie big brothers. [Jul 2011, p.107]

Second-rate Shins. [Aug 2005, p.164]

Dark Touches has its catchy moments, but sticking a song in the listener's head is not the same thing as creating important music. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Sounds anemic. [May 2005, p.138]

A dispirited, half-baked record. [Jun 2007, p.156]

The Nirvana box set isn't the Holy Grail. The Nirvana box set isn't even Incesticide. [Jan 2005, p.105]

Although M83's ambitions are often great, there is a problem here: Before The Dawn often drags its feet. [Mar 2005, p.138]

At times, borders on unlistenable. [Nov 2004, p.146]

The other songs beg for remixes, guest vocalists or anything to give them more depth. [Nov 2012, p.92]

A novel idea that falls flat due to poor execution. [Dec 2004, p.162]

My Damnation is destined to become another album absorbed by the sonic wallpaper of bands copying a similar, well-worn blueprint. [Aug 2011, p.112]

The unpredictable edge that's helped made the series a standout is gone. [May 2004, p.108]

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

Not much on Magnetophone's debut really distinguishes them from the legion of bedroom-based nerds playing with the same breakbeats and software as they do. [March 2001, p.83]

Finn employs an arrhythmic delivery... sounding like Jello Biafra covering Talking Head's "Once In A Lifetime," or a snake-oil huckster participating in a poetry slam. [May 2004, p.96]

[Dalley] repeatedly dilutes Leave Your Name with empty atmospheric exercises in barely-there vocals and shimmery keys. [Feb 2004, p.80]

An admirable effort, yet this feels like Gang Of Four taking six steps backwards into obscurity. [Mar 2015, p.93]

Clogging their previously supple grooves with banal guitar bluster and noxious singing, VHS Or Beta don't set the Night On Fire; they just dampen your spirits. [Oct 2004, p.148]

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

Whether Black Tide are going heavy or tender, every desperate attempt to conjure a moving moment fails. [Sep 2011, p.110]

Dominated by sparse instrumentation and lyrics that are merely good... relatively lifeless tunes. [12/2000, p.115]

While they are accomplished musicians and combine their growling, death-metal-influenced moments with a wealth of shiny hooks, they fail to do so in a way that counts. [Feb 2012, p.84]

There's little sign of life here, only gently unassuming arpeggios and blanketing softness. [Jan 2004, p.98]