All of it bears his precise touch, but the spectrum of moods he's able to conjure just got a lot wider. [No. 103, p.56]

As is the risk with such serious-minded albums, a few songs err on the side of heavy-handedness... but Arcade Fire's raw passion and heartfelt ambition remain intact. [#75, p.90]

Every track here honors the spirit behind her perfromance style first and foremost. [No. 121, p.51]

Underneath it all is a specificity of sound that threads all of the album's tracks together like beads on a string. [No. 121, p.55]

It's the best album Fulks has ever made, period, and even if you can't quite make out the twister that swept away all that old anger, it's easy to hear the sweet, sad emptiness it left behind. [No. 102, p.56]

Vernon's gorgeous falsetto and vice grip on melody hold it all together beautifully. [No. 137, p.52]

This five-LP/four-CD set collects all of its albums and a ton of extras, and paints romantic picture of a band that possibly could only have existed when it did. [No. 116, p.53]

I can't help but think we've all been here before. [#75, p.102]

Playfulness ultimately wins over arty schlock. [#59, p.106]

Welch and longtime partner David Rawlings weave a spellbinding mix of desperation and salvation across this album's 10 tracks. [#52, p.111]

The fact that Comicopera is a masterpiece proves it all right nicely. [Fall 2007, p.113]

There remain very few great "lost" albums. Make no mistake. This is one. [No. 147, p.59]

Her fourth and most accomplished album to date maps a course to know-not-where in the most emotionally direct, imaginative way possible. [No. 110, p.60]

Labradford continues to make music so quiet and haunting that, like falling leaves, creaking floorboards or the gentle flapping of bird wings, it seems to exist on its own terms... [#50, p.97]

That [M83] achieve My Bloody Valentine beauty through antiquated analog rigs is an achievement in itself. [#64, p.100]

Williams is competing with listeners' ingrained memories of these songs and thta can be a challenge. But the rock songs rock harder, the swampy blues groove more deeply, and the "He Never Got Enough Love" rewrite tells a better story. [No. 148, p.60]

Syro is surprisingly listenable without drawing much attention to itself. [No. 115, p.52]

Even when he's pouring on the lushness, the producer keeps Fay's gentle, weathered voice and arresting lyrics front and center. [No.91, p.54]

For all its listenability, Centres is still wildly inventive. [No. 133, p.55]

Essential listening for any heavy-music fan ... or youngsters wondering what that whole Seattle fuss was all about. [No. 138, p.61]

Separation Sunday is a book-on-tape, a grim and funny tome that draws from the Bible and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. [#68, p.98]

A more ambitious and confident document of Califone's ability to catapult old sounds into a new millennium. [#58, p.84]

As confusing as it is ultimately compelling. [#61, p.89]

A truly brilliant recording. [#53, p.93]

While all this sounds real pretty and is a pitch-perfect soundtrack for your hip cosmopolitan engagements, You Forgot doesn't have enough stick-to-your-gut songs to sustain a long-term, repeated-listening relationship. [#60, p.93]

Marling is the gutsiest of chamber folkies. [No.99, p.57]

Drummer Jerry Fuchs (now deceased) displaces air molecules the way advanced, AI-driven pulverizing machines in distant galaxies only wish they could throughout space banger "Yeah, C'mon," leaving guitarist Justin Chearno no choice but to vaporize his fretboard. [No.87 p.59]

A fascinating, headbanging and improbably accessible listen. [No. 136, p.55]