What was once enjoyable as a one-off now seems forced. [#25, p.89]

Mid-tempo balladry and redundant choruses sap all the percussive vigor from this former song factory.

It's a mess--not without some tidy bits--but what's better: these songs could be the death throes, finally, of these guys' unfettered id.

Zeitgeist is mostly a grinding, straightforward affair that demonstrates none of the innovation and vision of the band’s previous efforts.

Pairing synths with Springsteen is a formula that's worked well for The Killers' frontman before, but here the Lanois production begins to grate amongst the constant God imagery and every third line being a cliché.

Singer Aaron Beherns is gifted with the evocative falsetto wail of Freddie Mercury, but wastes it unnecessarily here with hurried urgency, producing words as quick as he can instead of savoring each and every note. [Winter 2008, p.92]

Too painful to be background music. [#5, p.89]

The songs on Ten actually sound shockingly more insufferable this far out of their original grunge context. [Winter 2009, p.97]

Quality though it could be, if only the vision wasn't so occluded.

It’s a sad affair best summed up by the title track.

While Sound City Studios was unforgettable, this glorified jam session is not. It’s uneven and top-heavy.

They don't stray from what they know and they don't tarry from their blueprint. It's just that they don't know much and their blueprint was done in crayon. [#5, p.92]

This is a brutal disappointment. [#19, p.97]

A thin and innocuous stretch of yawners. [#22, p.97]

Whereas previous albums took a massive leap into noise and danger, this disappoints.

Texas-based group This Will Destroy You is somewhere past the breakers, floating on a body of layered soundscapes and ambient atmosphere.

If listening to sentimental techno ballads about giving up the days of tits and cocaine is what you want to do with an hour of your time, look no further.

This is an incredibly abrasive album.... There's screaming on this album, lots of it...nay, way too much. [Summer 2008, p.102]

Most of it just falls flat, neither recapturing the glory days nor squarely moving the band into a new era. [#21, p.102]

One is a kinder, gentler record and I mean that in the worst possible way. [#14, p.98]

This isn't a case of a band branching into a new sound as much as becoming a new band altogether. And this one just doesn't make the cut.

[A] failed attempt to straddle nostalgia and reinvention. [#21, p.95]

Weak poetry set to any music sucks, let alone this plodding folk-lite. [#13, p.90]

The worst record [Homme's] name has ever graced. [#10, p.89]