It all hangs together well, and is ably supported by the band's superb musicianship. [Nov 2012, p.87]

sometimes the going gets a mite too easy, too laid back. But there are several memorable teamings. [Nov 2013, p.91]

Both slow-burning, early Zeppelin-style blues, its understandable they would front-load the album with its trump card, but both seem slightly at odds with the Dickinsons' mission statement. [Jan 2014, p.101]

The disillusionment makes for downbeat and decidedly adult pop. [Feb 2014, p.88]

Though some things remain reassuringly the same--the glitzy, moody, twangy, cinematic '60s Euro-pop feel--as if time hasn't passed, there's also a strong sense of Turner and Kane having grown as people. [May 2016, p.86]

Lowly strikes their balances adroitly, but Hifalutin could easily have become another album--one that was more straightforward. [Jun 2019, p.94]

Her confidence as a performer is clear, as is her growth as a songwriter. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Sonic Nurse is not... a classic rock record. And it's not a classic Sonic Youth record. It's an excursion, into corners weird and corners familiar. [Jun 2004, p.100]

Young set up a tour with a fine country band playing at state fairs and rodeos. This set includes live, countrified version of Re-actor, Old Ways, Harvest, even Buffalo Springfield and five previously unreleased songs. [Jul 2011, p.120]

Rooted in dubby pop and embellished with punchy horns, it captures the Birmingham group's maiden rebel sound. [Oct 2016, p.98]

The joy of Steely Dan's early albums was that their superior playing, production and craftsmanship was vibrantly energetic, spiced with rollercoaster twists and turns, and deeply sardonic lyrics... Fagen now lacks those vital extra elements, leaving just craftsmanship with no spark. [Apr 2006, p.104]

The tunes recall artworks born of constraint and a strictly limited palette, a very specific kind of less equalling more. [Aug 2023, p.80]

It feels like a big step forward. [Jan 2014, p.101]

Wanderlust sees the singer execute an elegant slide into a more stately kind of pop. [Feb 2014, p.88]

More so than on predecessor The Spell, the Procession's ominous, gothic-baroque sound now suggest angular German Expressionist cinema and the raven wing atmospheres of Edgar Allan Poe as readily as The Bad Seeds. [Dec 2009, p. 94]

Raitt remains a master interpreter of song. [May 2012, p.87]

Local Valley has no lows, nor any thrilling highs, but it's an even, easy pleasure from start to finish. [Oct 2021, p.91]

Save for a couple of re-edits, this deeply satisfying blend of emotional techno, Afro rhythms and stripped back house comprises all Daphni Originals. [Sep 2017, p.93]

Morse Code is more concerned with our collective lost soul rather than individual anxiety. [Nov 2019, p.86]

What it all means--if anything--is hard to take in, but the journey to finding out is utterly epic. [Nov 2013, p.85]

These are exotic lullabies which, superficial cosiness notwithstanding, lead only to nocturnal anxiety. [Apr 2018, p.91]

O resoounds with the lustily imparted vocals of Kianna Alarid and Neely Jenkins, while the band's signature instrumental palette--fizzing guitars, chunky '60s organs--has expanded into a thick sonic cheesecake. [Nov 2008, p.109]

Although Duffy sounds like a pissed Year 9 teacher on 'Live And Let Die' and The Hold Steady confirm suspicions that their greatest strength is being an E Street Band covers act on Bruce Springsteen's 'Atlantic City,' Hot Chip, Peaches, TV On The Radio and Elbow all go that extra mile to create something new, unique and often quite wonderful. [Apr 2009, p.101]

There are perky alt-pop nuggests aplenty here, so it's a shame the momentum can't be maintained. [Jun 2009, p.96]

It's an unlikely explosion of X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats, Oliver Mtukudzi and Stella Chiweshe, but it's a winning one. [Aug 2019, p.97]

A music-box intricacy keeps these anxious, wondering songs on a room-sized scale even as they worry at the big issues over strings and keyboards. [Dec 2021, p.90]

The lack of personal revelations that brought nuance and light to 2016's Made In The Manor often makes these vivid, grim depictions of inner city strife uncomfortable listening. [Nov 2019, p.89]

On first impression If By Yes sound floaty and melodic. Ideal for backdrop sounds at classy fashion outlets. Yet it;s more than that. [May 2011, p.109]