Lidell's gospel hollars are impressive, but the music verges on pastiche. [May 2008, p.136]

Sadly most of these forgettable songs tend to evaporate on impact. [Apr 2012, p.101]

Even utterly dedicated Albarn fans will be hard-pushed to force themselves to play it more than once. [Jun 2012, p.107]

Pretty much everyone sleepwalks through a cabaret mix of standards and new songs. [May 2013, p.102]

This time there is too little that snags the ear. [Nov 2016, p.114]

There is something dispiriting about trawling through so many songs which show glimpses of lucidity, even brilliance, but always seem to either nod off or descend into chaos by the end. [Jan 2006, p.120]

The atypical melodic 'English Rose' aside, there's little to distingusih Motorizer from its 19 predecessors. [Oct 2008, p.149]

Aladdin could more properly be called Peter Pan, the work of a boy who never really grew up. It doesn't help that it comes with a sickly, stoner-friendly concept attached. [Jun 2016, p.111]

In accommodating all those guests Mariam too often has to take a back seat, so destroying much of the couple's special chemistry, the very thing that sets them apart. [May 2012, p.90]

Bursts of corrosive techno that have all the instrumental variety of a car alarm. [Sep 2016, p.108]

While Glenn gamely belts out every song like it's a Broadway audition, his band's appeal remains some distance short of universal. [Aug 2014, p.111]

With no fresh ideas or strong melodies to lighten the mood, [Sadier's] icy hauteur makes for bland and featureless listening. [Apr 2006, p.120]

[Mangini's] speed is not in much evidence on A Dramatic Turn of Events, though, where prog-metal riffs give way far too easily to pianos and technical indulgence. [Oct 2011, p.120]

When she stops bawling (on Colors), Potter reveals herself as an affecting vocalist who deserves better than the barroom. [Sept. 2010, p.118]

It's the sort of manic outsider funk that succeeds or fails on the basis of how charming you find Nguyen's delivery. [Apr 2013, p.95]

Turn It Up is a wasted opportunity, weighed down by beige soul ballads and cheap-sounding R&B that could have been cranked out for any talent show contestant. [Oct 2009, p.113]