If the original and inspiring Icarus Line take on itself had been continued from the beginning or, better yet, the record had been shortened, we’d have a masterpiece on our hands. As it is, a much better outing than Mono and a brilliant song in “Getting Bright at Night”.

The Grey Album isn’t much more than a well-executed novelty, nor does it illuminate some genius hidden deep within The Black Album.

You can actually hear the moment when the album turns sour.

With such a subdued and steady tone, I Dreamed We Fell Apart sometimes suffers from an overdose of languidness.

A lot of these songs blur together and become indistinguishable.

Where the Donnas offer confident exhortations and definitive declarations, Kiss And Tell is dribbling with foggy contemplation and emotional explanation.

On many of the songs here, the accompaniment sounds like an afterthought, adding to the bedroom-recording atmosphere.

It’s obvious that the group can write straight-ahead rock/pop songs, but only chooses to tease the listener with short glimpses of their ability in this regard.

Power is one more entry into an increasingly strong catalogue of widely varied danceable punk rock and should do little to disappoint fans.

The problem with this kind of record is not that it’s hard to find fault with, but that it’s hard to get excited about.

Many tracks hint at the notion that Deerhoof decided to make an entirely different album this time around, but counterbalancing these advancements are decidedly flat resurrections of past glories.

Goswell deserves praise for putting together a solid album that could appeal to both fans of her previous work and others.

For the first time it sounds like Royal City is stuck.

On The End is Near, the group seems to follow the same pattern as before, but with less than appetizing results.

Unfortunately, even when they attempt to paint a serious social commentary, they can’t seem to suppress their sophomoric potty humor.

Beam seems to have smoothed over some of his rough-hewn ruralist poetics in favor of undeveloped blandishments and sentimental homilies.

Too many tracks on It’s All Around You don’t quite measure up to the compositional quality or imagination of previous works.

From Every Sphere is frequently let down by Harcourt’s mediocre songwriting.

As accomplished as Radian's sound is, Juxtaposition has trouble conveying new ideas throughout the album.

Because of its unexpected instrumentation and fine songwriting, “on mani” is the only track on the album that can be praised as anything more than above average.

As a listening experience, The Tipping Point is a decent album, a rough transition at best and a stumble at worst.

Their musical gifts haven’t left them... and their overwrought yet empathetic lyrics signify that their bandwagon jumping is misguided rather than crass.

Maybe if this album had been released in the mid-eighties I’d be falling all over myself to praise it, but these days there’s just too much stuff around that’s surpassed the music here in originality, drive and smarts.

The Dirty South is relatively toothless in comparison to Decoration Day and the breakthrough Southern Rock Opera, rarely even building up that predictably satisfying head of steam.

It’s not mush, it’s just not quite as gleefully obvious as Mclusky Do Dallas was. But, by the same token, they’re not just treading the same ground.

The change is typically drastic, but given the uncharacteristically long period spent in the studio this time around, the sum of worthwhile material is far less impressive.

There isn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that this collection plays it way too safe to satisfy the über-devoted.

Music that’s easier to admire than love.