While Blunderbuss appears to be definite off-loading of emotional baggage, it also feels like a move toward rebirth. [May 2012, p.80]

With Z, My Morning Jacket have left their comfort zone, assumed the mantle of firebrands, and delivered a truly momentous work. [Oct 2005, p.96]

The recovering dope fiend's songs cut even closer to the heart. [Aug 2013, p.104]

Black Bayou is surely the album Finley was put on Earth to create, filled with stories only he could tell. [Dec 2023, p.82]

Even though it'll never be fully completed, Smile is a welcome time capsule from an unrepeatable moment in popular culture. [Dec 2011, p.106]

A grand sweep of material that shows their evolutionary flights and remarkable consistency. [Jun 2017, p.98]

It's masterful stuff: a full conceptual realisation, filled with great melodies, deep grooves, colourful characterisations and sonic detail that reveals itself over repeated plays. ... A keeper for the decades to come. [Jun 2021, p.84]

This is a profoundly good record. [Nov 2001, p.102]

Collective, improvisational, Krautrock gigantism for inner space odysseys.

Pageant has aged well, with the bonus disc of Athens Demos confirming that much of the album's brilliance is down to band and producer making the most of slum resources.[Aug. 2011, p. 113]

An instinctive and honest sublimation of a state of mind, full of intriguing revelations but leaving enough questions unanswered to keep you ever seeking more in its grooves. [Feb 2015, p.88]

There are many extras here to pique the completist's interest.... But the real punch rests in the unprecedented clarity of the remastered original tracks, and the audacious creativity and humour of the packaging. [Oct 2013, p.104]

[The Trinity Session was] An alt-folk classic--and this might be one too. [Aug 2018, p.93]

This box brims with supportive evidence [that they were "the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world."] [Oct 2013, p.103]

The most remarkable collaboration since Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters is also one of the best albums of the year. [Nov 2007, p.92]

Blue Lines still goes above and beyond. [Dec 2012, p.102]

All in all, it's pretty much perfect. [Jul 2003, p.100]

Rainford is a late-career answer to 1978 Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread, and beyond all reasonable expectation, fully its equal. [Jun 2019, p.94]

Sixty-plus years later, E lives up to his legend, rooted in African-American rhythm & Blues and bursting with explicit erotic energy, controlling his nuclear-fuelled enthusiasm with the gravitational force of his magnificent voice. [Sep 2017, p.102]

The sense of wonder in Fleet Foxes' songs is matched only by the discipline and talent that created this adventurous, evocative record. One which is already shaping up as an album of the year. [July 2008, p.98]

As passionately exciting as anything in the classic Carlos canon, Africa Speaks is an album of highlight after highlight. [Jul 2019, p.87]

Lynn's voice... is as strong as it was during her heyday, while her songwriting ability has only increased with age. [Jun 2004, p.98]

This is not a record that wants or needs to be solved, but the clues and traces it leaves behind are so compelling it's difficult to let it alone. [Oct 2015, p.86]

Pure Comedy is quite some trip and one that lifts Father John Misty to another level altogether. [May 2017, p.93]

No self-indulgence, no grandstanding, just excellent. [Mar 2004, p.100]

It's an album that is, by turns, melancholy and unsettling, tragic and nightmarish, unfolding with a creeping narrative dread. [Dec 2018, p.93]

Most of us missed the party 42 years ago, but now it's boxed for our infinite pleasure. [Nov 2013, p.99]

Though true sub-notes of contemplation are hard to find in Noel’s initial tranche of songs, there’s vulnerability in his solo version of Half The World Away recorded live in a Tokyo hotel room on September 16, 1994, as Oasis madness spiralled in earnest. It’s this expanded edition’s one true unreleased gem. [Jun 2014, p.102]

Packed with urgency, edge and scope, it's light years ahead of the competition. [Apr 2022, p.89]

To most ears, this late-night, whipcrack-sharp chooglathon, finally unveiled, sounds astounding. What were they like on a good night? [Sep 2019, p.107]

Shah's voice throughout is fantastic, carrying and castigating her listeners along with her, while her brilliant band nails radio-friendly rock, swirling 4AD-style gothic atmospheres, and perfect post-punk attack. [Jul 2020, p.82]

Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky is a fitting celebration of a band that, 50 years after the release of their debut, remain utterly unrepentant. [Mar 2015, p.107]

Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. [Dec 2005, p.96]

You can file the seven bonus alternative mixes under "interesting" rather than "essential," but the sheer magnificence of the rest remains undiminished. [Apr 2015, p.108]

Titanic Rising is a revelation. These opulent, sculptural songs have sacrificed none of Mering's idiosyncrasy, or ability to unnerve. [May 2019, p.87]

This is tough, honest, uncompromising beauty and the next great voice in music. [Apr 2005, p.86]

His singing has improved beyond recognition and, while rooted very much in the vintage storytelling values of the folk tradition, Upcetera is very much a landmark album for our times. [Dec 2016, p.95]

Skeleton Tree is an extraordinary piece of work, one that might impact upon you profoundly if you choose to bed-down in its dark corridors of hurt. [Nov 2016, p.84]

Blur 21's extraordinary warts'n'all scope makes its subject's odyssey momentous and tangible. [Aug 2012, p.98]

Re-contextualises them as an act who wrecked glorious havoc on their unchanging musical parameters for decades. [Aug 2023, p.95]

The cleaning up, editing and resequencing has brought out a warmth and depth of colour we've not heard before and allows the album to stand up to scrutiny next to modern records that aim for this kind of down-homeness and simplicity. [Dec 2003, p.134]

An album that ranks among his finest work, not just for its strident messages of hope, but also for simply possessing such a high quotient of unimpeachable songs. [Jun 2017, p.84]

There's very little talking and the music is powerful and gentle, thoughtful and utterly riveting. [Sep 2015, p.101]

Throws out the genre manual and leaves every cell, body and soul, buzzing. [Dec 2005, p.100]

[The remix disc] does a decent job of contextualising Leftism's legacy. But it's the originals that still burn with rare incandescence. [Jun 2017, p.100]

Ultimately, The Band raised all stakes, and a half-century later, musicians are still striving for its excellence. [Jan 2020, p.90]

It's reassuring that Beck Hansen can still pull an original record as substantive and absorbing as this one out of the hat. [Mar 2014, p.86]

Look Now bounces with unforced, uncluttered and cleverly fleshed vivacity, every song a cherishable gem. [Nov 2018, p.86]

This extraordinary record is more refreshing burst than last gasp and its timelessness speaks more to life than death.

An album truly fit to do battle with the rock classics of any age. [Jul 2013, p.80]

Incredibly, No More Shall We Part is as urgent and vital as Cave has ever been.... Raging and delicate, complex as faith and simple as a goodnight kiss, it is an incredible summation of a singular career.

As confident a second statement as you could wish for, full of strong melodies, affecting lyrics, sharp playing, immense arrangements and sympathetic production. [Jun 2016, p.86]

The sound is excellent, especially considering the age and the state of technology of some of the recordings. The songs, too, are invariably excellent. [Jul 2009, p.111]

A masterpiece. [May 2004, p.103]

The 2018 Beggars Banquet is classy slim-line history: clean, heavy vinyl with restored artwork (but no linernotes); a 12-inch platter with a mono mix of Sympathy; and a flexi-disc, originally included in the 1968 Japanese pressing of the LP. ... Sometimes, even in rock archaeology, the final result is all that matters. [Jan 2019, p.96]

This album is destined to redraw the parameters, thanks to its sheer scale and detail, its recurring themes and imagery, and its creators' refusal to settle for less than they could achieve. [June 2011, p. 90]

You get the Dylan stuff from those places in full, which allows a real sense of how each show worked. ... There are plenty of other breathtaking moments, many collected onto a final disc of "rare performances." [Jul 2019, p.103]

They approach the tradition with an awe and wonder that especially percolates into the instrumentals. ... Their most extreme statement yet. [Dec 2019, p.89]

What began as a benefit for Swami Satchidananda and evolved into a summoning of John Coltrane’s spirit now stands as a tribute to the liberating force of Alice Coltrane herself. It’s a communion. Drink deep. [May 2024, p.101]

As intimate and unforced an album as I've ever heard. [Nov 2006, p.104]

In all, it's not only Johnson's sixth ace long-player in three years, but a heaven sent sanctuary from 2020's many brutal realities. [Jun 2020, p.90]

Both of these albums twisted machines to Radiohead's will, to their need to hear soulful songs singing in their wires. And they're resonating still. [Dec 2021, p.102]

The Who Sell Out still remains fresh 53 years after its original release, and is thus worthy of this lavish and careful archive treatment. [Jun 2021, p.97]

[It] was mind-bending in its day and remains so now. [May 2006, p.122]

If you need reminding, it demonstrates what a good singer she is. [Dec 2018, p.90]

While the comparisons to Springsteen's Nebraska and Gillian Welch's Time (The Revelator) are obvious, they don't do justice to Jurado's wholly original craft. [Jun 2003, p.98]

Krlic has created a world in which the music of ancient tradition works like a sonic virus that simultaneously soothes and eats away at your very soul. [Dec 2019, p.95]

No Cities To Love stares down its troubles, power and joy ultimately lying in the hands of the people who can write such songs. [Feb 2015, p.86]

On this recording--as well as his body of work--Trane proved that music is the superior language. And that there is only one John Coltrane. [Oct 2014, p.100]

Collected together the fear might have been that the sound would be found wanting. yet from 1996's Nenette Et Boni to 2009's White Material here is a sound always pulsing with the same intimate warmth of Denis' films. [May 2011, p.112]

You couldn't wish for a more fitting musical soundtrack to the rest of your 2014. [Nov 2014, p.96]

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is genuinely a great record. [Feb. 2011, p. 108]

This 1981 release was the middle and probably the greatest of Grace Jones's Compass Point trio. [Jun 2014, p.106]

Martin's remix feels like the closest anyone can get to sharing the headspace of the people who made the music. The detail is staggering. [Dec 2018, p.98]

The songs, six previously unreleased, range from good to outstanding, the sound quality as clear and natural as if he were singing in the next room. [Oct 2009, p.115]

The Roots have created another masterpiece. [Jan 2003, p.100]

It's a set packed with ideas and enthusiasm. [May 2006, p.105]

Ramones is pretty much perfect. [Sep 2016, p.102]

Stimulating, entertaining and moving. You'll listen to it more than you have Anthology, I promise. [Dec 2006, p.100]

Brace yourself. This album is more clinging than quicksand, it is uncompromising, transcendent voodoo. [Sep 2014, p.92]

Crafting a sound that incorporates stinky Funkadelic psych with Prince harmonics and Rick James' pimp disco, this is hip hop with the power to convert even the most reactionary nonbelievers. [Jan 2001, p.107]

Apart from the comprehensive compilation aspect and the rich live presence, this double CD also pauses to capture the remarkable way he welcomes 20,000 people to his fireside. [May 2009, p.98]

Represents an ultramodern rock masterpiece, low-key yet ominous, offering new yet comforting ways of singing familiar tunes. [Jul 2003, p.98]

An album of great emotional depth and uninhibited artistry. [Nov 2007, p.96]

McFarlane creates a series of vibrant storytelling soundscapes where her sweetly soulful harmonised vocals intertwine with woozy synth sounds and throbbing electronic rhythms. [Sep 2020, p.92]

Revolver presents an accomplished, almost impenetrable sheen - which makes the archaeology provided by the outtakes and different mixes all the more involving. ... You can hear the pace of their lives and their ideas in this perfect encapsulation of The Beatles at their peak. [Dec 2022, p.96]

This is as perfect as any album can be. [Mar 2022, p.98]

The immediately obvious aspect of Magic is there hasn't been such a musically dramatic Springsteen album since "Born In The USA;" and like that album, this is a State of the Union address disguised as a pop record. [Nov 2007, p.88]

Joni Mitchell delivers a counter-intuitive, brilliant artistic response. [Oct 2007, p.90]

B-sides included here aren't without their charms but the album's genius clearly lay in distilling only the finest of Mould's new material into a powerful, singular statement. [Jul 2012, p.100]

It's on hypnotic original compositions such as Excess Success or reworked pieces like La Jetee that Parker's true genius shines through, an ability to create entire new sonic worlds from the tiniest of elements. [Mar 2022, p.88]

It's an album that at times sounds like it wants to smash your face to pieces, sometimes your heart. It's beautiful, horrible, bleak, spiteful, overwhelmed, overwhelming--a cry of panic ,despair, anxiety in the face of accelerating modernity. .... All three [previously unreleased tracks] are excellent in their way. [Aug 2017, p.100]

His first LP of complete originals is a thing of profound beauty; deep, sad, wise songs, allied to perfectly crafted arrangements, from a man who's lived long enough in darkness to address the big, heavy questions with a lightness of touch. [Aug 2012, p.96]

This is one of his most intense albums. It feels personal too. [Nov 2016, p.90]

The vital spark that graced Fleet Foxes' debut is back. [Dec 2020, p.80]

Stasium's work put a spotlight beneath these 11 songs, brightening hidden corners until Bastards Of Young, Left Of The Dial and Kiss On The Bus sparkle like unworn jewels. [Nov 2023, p.103]

Brilliant throughout. better than the official Stage with an art-rocking sound he never quite bettered. ... An essential purchase for Bowie fans. [Aug 2018, p.102]

Whether you consider London Calling to be the last great rock album of the '70s or the first great rock album of the '80s, the extent to which it fully merits its cultural and aesthetic status is utterly beyond question. [Oct 2004, p.123]