Downright terrifying fusion of bass music, pagan folktronica and snarling guitars. [Sep 2013, p.104]

The result is undeniably lovely, if never truly transcendent. [Jan 2020, p.114]

Unpolished and unhurried, Peace Trail is another charming stop on Young's long and winding road. [Feb 2017, p.108]

Ultimately Smile is a case of what might have been, and after all this time that's probably only to be expected. [Dec. 2011 p. 140]

The result is that a few songs in you find yourself rather craving a bit of imperfection, something scruffy and incorrigible to disrupt all this generic rhythm and gusto. [Mar 2016, p.116]

Once again, then, it's a case of could do better. [Apr 2008, p.115]

It just about lives up to the hype. [May 2008, p.136]

So while the agit-prop lyrics say little new, the best tracks--'Barcode,' 'Hit From The Morning Sun,' 'Julian' and the title track--are convincingly atmospheric. [Mar 2009, p.102]

Tennis' obvious strength is in their constant stream of deftly-executed melodies. [April 2012, p.105]

The results are hyperactive and punky. [Jun 2009, p.117]

And while there's no escaping the notion This Is War would be easier to love could Leto decide whether he wanted to be in U2, Linkin park, or Marillion, one can't help but admire his style. [Jan 2010, p. 117]

Meteora is less an artistic endeavour than an exercise in target marketing. [May 2003, p.104]

The follow-up is an equally passionate, turbulent affair, sounding, oddly, like a cross between Foreigner and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The only problem is Slim Shady. As Eminem outgrows his old alter-id, so the obligatory pantomime villainy, skits and crass cameos by Shady Records signings become a hindrance. [July 2002, p.109]

The vocals make Savage Hills Ballroom an acquired taste, but those who enjoy a bitter pill will swallow it whole. [Oct 2015, p.117]

Powerhouse is a string statement: galvanised, streamlined, charged emotionally until sparks fly. [Jan 2019, p.113]

It might not add up to a must-have, but it's good to hear Springsteen with the pressure off. [Jun 2006, p.112]

A return to their roots. [Aug 2006, p.113]

There's so much going on, why hold it back by singing from a half-hearted songsheet? [Feb 2018, p.111]

Presley makes more connections than he ever drops. [Mar 2019, p.116]

It rearranges songs from the back catalogue into both psychologically probing dream-pop and freer, almost meteorological expressions. [May 2017, p.104]

Sunny melodies abound, even if the results are more pleasant than thrilling. [Aug 2008, p.139]

Tracks such as the arresting Human League-meets-Georgio-Moroder fusion 'One Day' and the gloriously uninhibited finale 'Happy House' remian an irresistible invitation onto the dancefloor. [May 2009, p.113]

An LP of sleek, sophisticated and teasingly soulful tunes. Eerily introverted one moment, warm and open the next, Essence demands attention but makes for an intriguing, rewarding experience.

IRM proves suitably unconventional thanks to the presence of co-writer and producer Beck Hansen, who plays fast and loose with Gainsbourg's breathy chanson, skipping from spiky percussion (Master's Hands) to lush orchestration (Vanities) even joining her at the mic for jaunty, '60s-flavoured duet Heaven Can't Wait. [Feb 2010, p 107]

Vol. Two will please Everclear's long-term fans with a return to their harder roots.

Stein sounds like she's coming of age on this album, addressing both her past and future, and mostly liking what she sees. [Aug 2017, p.112]

Is Indie Cindy good enough for the Pixies to keep going? Pretty much. [Jun 2014, p.113]

Wisely, Bloodflowers is every crotchet a Cure album. True, there's no blatant hit single - one of those sudden shifts into gloriously barmy pop frenzy - but there's still ample compensation to be had...

Though the pace is a little too consciously measured at times, and there is a certain sameyness about the arrangements, it's a record that, given time, yields up great rewards. [Nov 2002, p.100]

So There seems far more a compositional exercise for Folds rather than an album for the wider public. [Oct 2015, p.108]

It strips away their epic rock to reveal something more direct and emotionally satisfying. [Dec 2015, p.115]

For a marriage of new ideas with old traditions, look no further. [Mar 2016, p.108]

At times they meander a little too much, as on the ponderous Fool Thinking Ways, but this is far from the work of beginners. [Jun 2020, p.105]

They may have no defining sound of their own, but they're admirable recyclers. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Their sixth album uses the same unbending template as ever, but does so with the best songwriting since 2005's Howl. [Apr 2013, p.95]

While The Singles offers a skewed perspective on their career, the real attraction lies in the rarity of some of the material, such as Turtles Have Short Legs. A must for diehards, then. [Aug 2017, p.113]

A record that is a highly-concentrated shot of sound. You might lose your mind, but Black Dice never lose the plot. [May 2012, p.91]

None of their new album will be remembered in a few years' time. Yet, like most fast food, there's very little wrong with it right now. [Dec 2003, p.130]

Starsailor, then: not very exciting, but damned reliable. [Oct 2003, p.117]

The Ghost Of The Mountain is the sound of a band trying to settle on a style. [Sep 2013, p.105]

What's missing is a sense of Glover himself as a defining character. [Feb 2017, p.112]

In Rolling Waves' most successful songs benefit from restraint. [Nov 2013, p.112]

It's an impressive art-rock construction, just not one that easily fits into every space. [Mar 2019, p.118]

Their second album is high on brio, if short on innovation. [July 2008, p.102]

Everyone, while unsurprised that his vocals are unobtrusive and his lyrics unspectacular, will seek that greatness in the guitars. [Mar 2013, p.94]

The ambition is still there. [Jun 2016, p.114]

The songs become more conventionally meaningful, but less mysterious [on the disc of English interpretations]. [Jun 2016, p.108]

A credible effort, then, but not so groundbreaking as to prompt deep re-evaluation of their place in the world. [Aug 2017, p.109]

This return to blitzkrieg riffing is closer to nu-metal than old Stooges. [Aug 2001, p.136]

His 10th effort is his most focused since 2001's "Kittenz And Thee Glitz." [Oct 2009, p.111]

Sounds something like a male-fronted Cardigans... [Aug 2001, p.141]

Stuff with hooks, freakishly frisky and using everything in the producer's cupboard... Up! contains 19 new tunes that play shamelessly to the gallery. [Feb 2003, p.109]

This fourth is no less essential for fans than the previous three. [May 2013, p.117]

When he desists from inserting solos in the middle of otherwise palatable songs, his work can be engaging, even moving. [Oct 2005, p.115]

There are times when it can feel a little festival theatre tent. Even so, the musical chemistry is clear, and at best, captivating. [Feb 2017, p.112]

Its highlights pick up where the EP left off, the likes of Bad Friend and 4AM fizzing with energy and seemingly perpetually on the brink of collapsing into thrilling chaos. They're less sure-footed when they try to broaden their palette, however. [Mar 2019, p.118]

Their former high-speed heedlessness has been supplanted with a new awareness of song structure, grown-up texture and non-red-zone pacing. [Mar 2013, p.94]

For album number three he's assembled a trio of multi-instrumentalists and vividly succeeded in realising some of his early "Spectorian" ambitions. [Oct 2008, p.149]

This is largely Arab Strap on familiar ground: filmic guitar atmospherics backing an extended bout of post-coital melancholy.

It's 10 tracks are produced by veteran Chicagoan No ID, who provides a consistently soulful feel for the rapper's reflection on family, fatherhood and fidelity. [Sep 2017, p.110]

It's all done with a cheeky girl's charm. [Jun 2014, p.115]

Thomas doesn't completely capture the fleet shimmer of the best pop, but his songs are too much fun not to be taken seriously. [Aug 2016, p.108]

The spindly riffs and skiffle-y arrangements are as tightly wound as ever, while Bid's mocking lyrics have seldom been so waspish. [Oct 2016, p.109]

Shiny, but oddly inert. [Oct 2015, p.111]

A vigorous, if patchy comeback. [Jan 2020, p.114]

Despite operating in the between-floors world of indie R&B, it connects both sonically and melodically and as such engages the listener rather than, as in the past, totally overwhelming them. [Feb 2018, p.116]

This is a record of stormy intensity, hauling its emotions up to the mountainside to expose them to the elements. [Mar 2018, p.115]

Almost every song is blasted with canyon-sized quantities of reverb. [Mar 2013, p.95]

The over-sauced, finger-wagging Naughty might take the joyful retribution to far in the panto direction but I Will Survive update Me Without You and joyful dancefloor rebirth Rare prove that Stefani has lost none of her pop spirit. [Jun 2016, p.117]

A constant sense of discovery makes Colored Emotions an easy record to keep returning to. [Apr 2013, p.107]

His third album keeps the momentum going, even if its utilitarian construction is probably better live. [Oct 2009, p.118]

Apart from the slow-burning, spine-tingling opener Electronic Performers, though, the duo seem reluctant to exploit their remarkable gift for melody, and tunes are too often mangled or left to fizzle out.

Though not without merit, the reliance on other people's melodies (and words on the Caroline Says-pilfering Distortions) can become trying after a while.

Occasionally... it cloys. [Mar 2007, p.110]

There are questions over his naive writing, which often relies on hokey wordplay, but the horn-filled arrangements, his driving Stax-fuelled band and that voice carry him through. Just. [Jun 2010, p.131]

And so, yet again, Prince remains an artist in sore need of an outside editor. Still, if your attention span as a Prince fan has been sorely tested, HITnRUN Phase Two is a good point to reconnect with him. [Mar 2016, p.113]

Amazingly Brain Thrust Mastery manages to be both calculating and emotional in the same breath. [Apr 2008, p.117]

Locked inside Womb is an excellent EP, but stretched out to 10 tracks it can feel predictable. [Jun 2020, p.105]

'Scare Easy,' the single, and 'Bootleg Flyer,' reminiscent of Petty's classic 'American Girl,' are the standouts on this collection of rough and ragged, feel-good country-rock. [July 2008, p.107]

Not every song is a slow ride--True Love and Heart Killer are bluesy folk stompers--but on the likes of the luxurious Buzzing In The Light and Critical Equation they allow themselves to revel in dreaminess. [Jun 2018, p.110]

Wisely, everything is as it was. [May 2013, p.111]

Rockabilly queen gets the Jack White treatment. [Feb. 2011, p. 118]

Crackling with the background ambience of heckle and cheer, it's a decent attempt at bottling live lightning, if a slightly self-satisfied one. [#361, p.107]

A safe, calculated release. [Jan 2004, p.121]

It's a glum, muted collection of songs, but Giannascoli knows how to party like it's 1994: alone in the kitchen, feeling miserable. [Nov 2015, p.110]

It might not herald a return to the glory days but it does mean his recent creative slump has been definitively arrested. [Jan 2019, p.114]

It's when they go to the dark side that things pick up. [Mar 2019, p.118]

So the crude arithmetic of Day & Age is not encouraging: four great songs, two so-so ones and four duds. But the spirit in which it was made merits goodwill. [Dec 2008, p.124]

This is a better than promising start. [Jul 2009, p.118]

His first album since 2008's Ninja Tuna marks a radical shift, ditching both fishy puns and vintage soul samples in favour of swarming basslines and stuttering electro beats. [Jun 2014, p.116]

The results ate at once intimate and expansive, layering vintage synthesizer riffs over fidgety percussion. [Jun 2014, p.112]

Trouble is, they're often only half-good songs. [Feb 2003, p.94]

It's best when he makes mood music for out-of-body states. [Oct 2015, p.114]

Ora shines brightest on the album's calmer moments. [Jan 2019, p.113]

One can't shake the feeling that This Is Acting was compromised from the start. [Mar 2016, p.114]

A little less light and a little more shade, though, would make them a far more fascinating proposition. [June 2008, p.138]

Beautiful Future isn't quite as onsistent as it could be. [Aug 2008, p.138]