Award-winning country from the school of hard knocks. [Oct. 2010, p. 103]

It occasionally delivers the eccentric, giant-chorused rock that made Faith No More so great. [Feb 2013, p.107]

The harmonies never reach the heights of say, Toro Y Moi--though Night In The Ocean's fusion of hip-hop thud and buzzing shoegaze guitars shows a welcome willingness to try. [Mar 2012, p.113]

Galoshes largely succeeds as a document of a delinquent soul finally coming to terms with his own past. [Feb 2009, p.119]

This follow-up to their debut shows more polish and a firmer grasp on rhythm. [Apr 2011, p.106]

There are rather too many old-fashioned slow songs here, and as a result, the album is predictable. [Oct 2004, p.114]

Clever, if a little monotonous; very much an LP for our times. [Nov 2019, p.112]

True, even misdirected, Eminem's disaffection sucks you in and the wholesale nihilism can still provoke shivers. But it all used to be more fun.

A smart mixed bag. [Oct 2002, p.106]

To a drumless folk palette of voice, guitar, piano and cello, he deftly blends his own compositions with covers of The Psychedelic Furs, Roxy Music and The Doors into a sweetly morose song suite that examines the heartsick mature male, post-love affair, wondering what it's all about. [Oct 2014, p.110]

Like untidy Casiopeia, it;s not all so absorbing, but the fact Ford and Shaw achieved this much in such reduced circumstances means the experiment must be considered a success. [Nov 2014, p.117]

Even when the music flags, Smith sings his way through these hillbilly anthems and barroom laments with eerie, unwavering conviction. [Nov 2012, p.111]

Three Wu-Tang MCs join forces; bring the pain. [July 2010, p. 136]

Nothing Important is madcap, abrasive and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. [Jan 2015, p.124]

Just enough texture and colour to lift his affecting compositions above the neo-classical norm. [May 2020, p.104]

What this collection leaves you wanting--and what Goldfrapp do most wonderfully--is weirdness. [Mar 2012, p.116]

The instrumentals can feel sketchy, but the vocal tracks shine. [Mar 2012, p.106]

The 41-year-old Frenchman's fourth repeats the same formula 12 times: namely, get someone from the world of hip hop/R&B to sing over a pumping house groove. [Oct 2009, p.111]

There's nothing here to suggest either a problem with what he's doing--Heavenly is as heavenly as its title suggests; Middle of Love shows how friendly Sexsmith can be; and the jaunty-sounding Eye Candy is covertly acerbic as they come--or that things will turn around for him. [Apr 2011, p.109]

Finds Zevon reverting to a fuller, plumper, back-to-the-'80s sound. [July 2002, p.122]

The results are serviceable. [Jul 2015, p.111]

With his piano-playing accompanied by Daniel Joseph Dorff's drumming, the arrangements are minimal affairs, placing Moore's voice centre stage and allowing the songs to breathe. [Mar 2011, p.112]

Intriguingly between success and failure, as if occupying a musical hinterland of its own. [Oct 2018, p.118]

At times, it's a frustrating, self-absorbing listen. [Oct 2014, p.110]

A positively unhinged record. [Dec 2006, p.133]

Feels like a sideways step. [Jan 2016, p.113]

It's the same sure-footed, Beatles-inspired pop that made them so popular in the early '90s. [Sep 2007, p.100]

Too aimless for the initiated, the likes of 'Barfuss Durch Gras,' a cacophony of clocks unwinding will have dinner party dilettantes spitting their soup. [Oct 2008, p.142]