An enthusiastic album full of masterful strokes and electrifying intensity. [#23, p.98]

It occasionally feels slack, especially compared to old faves like “Wildcat” or their bootleg hip-hop remixes.

Elevator has the zing of classic pop--and its sureness too. [May 2005, p.115]

They sounded great in the lounge; the garage suits them even better. [Oct 2006, p.130]

Their weaponry is wrought from comedy gold.

Forth is that rare comeback record--unafraid to show its age, and better for it. [Sep 2008, p.85]

This is slick, snarky pop with flashes of brilliance. [#12, p.151]

It's Costello at his most emotionally direct. [Oct 2004, p.118]

Her voice--half dark, lazy molasses, half bourbon with a silky finish--rings with equal parts defiance and vulnerability. [May 2004, p.128]

It’s an immersive, art-school-bred aesthetic that, three or four times on the band’s debut album, makes for some very good music, too.

A spirited, gutsy evolution from the formalist new wave of Metric's first album. [Nov 2005, p.138]

The record's initial thrill comes from the confidence with which the Distillers and producer Gil Norton revive rock as a demolishing force. [Nov 2003, p.116]

Blink-182 have found a new, angrier way to never leave junior high. [Dec 2003, p.135]

3D's sheer creative vibrancy is itself a testament to Lopes's live-wire charisma. [#12, p.155]

An hour's worth of the good stuff: churning, yearning synth-rock. [Jun 2005, p.114]

Since his 2005 debut, T-Pain has seen his Auto-Tuned swagger jacked by everyone from Kanye to Lil Wayne, but he has kept his sound fresh with a bottomless bag of hooks and a grainy rasp that the computers can’t buff away.

The gruff, authoritative Chuck and irrepressible second-banana-turned-VH1-ladykilla Flavor Flav know that uplifting kids corroded by gangsta rap means offering something emotionally fierce and reasonably current.

Creamy and precise, every coo and arpeggio blows through your ear buds like the ruffle of crisp bills.

The pie-in-the-sky ambitions may be a little much, but credit Franti for dreaming up a kinder, gentler new world order. [Sep 2003, p.122]

These oddballs have chops aplenty, and the balancing act they pull off on Quebec is no joke. [Sep 2003, p.132]

Scored with ramshackle grandeur by scribbly guitars, fat horns, poignant keyboards and ragtag sing-alongs, Benaim’s lyrics narrate the anxieties and optimisms of New York City’s young, educated and underemployed.

There are magical, creepy moments here. [Nov 2005, p.131]

Proves that [You Forgot It In People] wasn’t a fluke.

May be the best CD of his career. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.112]

Sure, it's commercial, but Rosey's expert melding of dance beats and hippie dippiness adds up to a debut slick with beatnik cool. [#8, p.122]

Benefits from a fatter recording budget, with swooping symphonic arrangements and dazzling melodies. [Aug 2004, p.138]

Even if the high-minded concepts prove elusive, no worries. [Nov 2006, p.138]

Here, their frustration with scheming girlfriends and negligent boyfriends boils over into a cathartic froth. [Nov 2004, p.132]