The record arguably lacks a killer track, Chrissie seemingly on autopilot throughout, although the sultry "In A Miracle" contains the occasional echo of past glories. [Jul 2014, p.76]

A sampling tour de force, but short on soul. [Apr 2006, p.112]

The period pieces--string-laden ballads by Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Forrest and Jo Stafford-provide some light relief, as does the Art Ensemble Of Chicago-style junkyard jazz of Greenwood's "Able-Bodied Seaman." [Dec 2012, p.72]

Pleasant enough, but The Magic Numbers do this stuff for warm-ups. [Sep 2010, p.87]

Here they continue their mission with bashes at Wilco, Pink Floyd, and a straight-but-great take on Yes' 'Long Distance Runaround.' [Dec 2008, p.81]

Opening cut "I Got You" promises faith and solidarity "even if they start to build that wall," and both the strident funk of "Above The Law" and the testifying "Pressure" lament the rise of inner-city crime. [May 2019, p.30]

There are wildcard influences--"Fire Lies Down" references English folk, "Warm Blood" moves into prog--that suggests Seabear could movie in many different directions. [Apr 2010, p.98]

The Devil, You + Me is no milestone of experimentation, but The Notwist win extra points with their emotional restraint, lyrical maturity and elegantly complex arrangements. [Aug 2008, p.101]

None of it is in any sense inspired, and Hammond tries his hand at that Swiss-finishing-school skank once too often, but many tracks here could comfortably make it onto First Impressions of Earth.

In truth, though, there's not too much here to alarm the undergraduate population.

The lyrics cover some heavy subjects--feminism, Catholicism, corrupt Irish institutions-- so it's a pity that the hopelessly muddy production means that they might as well be singing in Icelandic. [May 2016, p.79]

Levi's eclectic debut strikes a winning balance between electro-glitch cacophony and shouty grrrl-pop. [Mar 2009, p.92]

Dark Night Of The Soul will probably be remembered more for the stunt with the blank CD-Rs than for the music intended to be burnt onto them.

On her opening 21st-century work she's still raging. [Jul 2009, p.97]

The listener is left longing for a change of texture and pace. [Sep 2015, p.81]

Metal-tinged stadium rockers like "The Machine," "Stand And Fight" and the Sabbathy "The Alchemist" still offer their strongest moments. [Dec 2020, p.27]

The Bride Screamed Murder channels the band's two-kit battery into intense percussion romps topped by burly call-and-response bellows, like a military drill conducted on strong hallucinogens. [Aug 2010, p.88]

The lo-fi production means it can all sound a bit shrill. [Dec 2011, p.88]

For all Keely's best intents though, Original Machines falls short of genuine enlightenment; simultaneously too much and not enough. [Mar 2016, p.75]

The results, while hardly ground-breaking, are moving and accomplished. [Sep 2010, p.102]

Their combination of new wave rhythms, with such conspicuous use if strings is impressive, but it falls a little short of grandeur. [Oct 2008, p.105]

Eventually Brad Hargett's depressive baritone voice will get you down, but not before it has demanded your attention. [Apr 2009, p.87]

The album come out riffing, with a packed list of guest guitarists. ... Ozzy sounds world-weary, sometimes a bit knackered. [Nov 2022, p.35]

This is urban-global rather than world music. [Mar 2012, p.92]

The Dead Weather is another slightly unsatisfying fling alongside The Raconteurs. [Jul 2009, p.84]

Still present is a populist edge that, while occasionally somewhat saccharine, shakes out some great choruses. [Feb 2010, p.90]

Quarters four 10-minute jams allow them instead to indulge their more experimental side. [Jul 2015, p.77]

The combo of an unadventurous set-list and cutting between several different shows makes Under Great White Northern Lights an oddly detached experience. [Jun 2010, p.111]

This is a very odd album. [Apr 2003, p.103]

There's not much here that departs from the blueprint Cobain establishment. Still, though, it's an undeniably exciting listen. [Aug 2015, p.80]

Fragrant but underpowered 10th LP. [Aug 2015, p.76]

It's uneven in places, but "OMW" - a twinkly 10-minute closer written with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig - is a low-key delight. [Mar 2021, p.25]

Over time, vocalist Aaron Ross stands out as the weak link, his voice merely shrill and average. [Apr 2007, p.102]

Too often, however, he's overshadowed by the phlegmatic vocals of pub rocker Roger C Reale, which means the most revelatory tracks here are the instrumentals. [May 2021, p.24]

Rumours of emotional maturity are exaggerated...but the reflective moments are best. [Dec 2007, p.98]

As his vocals wobble theatrically over synths, seasick sequencers and squelchy early-'80s sonics, Crush's component parts conspire to pack a considerable emotional punch. [Oct 2010, p.85]

Though the production has improved, there's still a certain lyrical flimsiness and a sense that, enjoyable and stylish as Two Suns is, it's still just horsing around in the dressing-up box of '80s pop, in a way that's more Might Boosh than Kate Bush. [May 2009, p.77]

His attempts to capture some of that city's pre-Katrina musical spark are satisfying, in parts - as well as recruiting former Meters bassist George Porter Jr to help out, tracks like "idiots In The Rain" capture the clatter of Bourbons St. However, Ounsworth's nasal vocals might still be an acquired taste for some. [Jan 2010, p. 116]

Thankfully, Phrenology is more therapy than quack science. [Feb 2003, p.86]

Such a see-what-sticks approach means Native To clunks in places, but when they get it right their enthusiasm is infectious. [Jul 2011, p.87]

Their debut's brevity and sharp hooks suggest a band with an acute sense of purpose. [Aug 2006, p.100]

A festive 10 tracks. [Feb 2019, p.29]

The Vision unveils a colorful, sensualist take on the dubstep sound, flexing basslines set into relief by twinkling R&B melodies and a host of guest vocalists. [Dec 2011, p.87]

Welcome To... is impressive rather than truly loveable. [Aug 2009, p.102]

Fears that Sitek's heavy hand will smother Miranda's songs, though, are largely dispelled. [Mar 2010, p.88]

The Trio's third album is similarly, unconventionally earnest, often doing for the New Romantics when Gayngs did for 10cc. [Nov 2011, p.84]

This is a conventional effort, featuring four-to-the-floor rock and likeable disco-indie. [Aug 2010, p.102]

This US trio make a more than decent fist of their upbeat retro-music without ever quite shaking off the scent of pastiche. [Dec 2011, p.87]

It's yielded his best solo album in years. Rather than home, it's actually a close-knit kind of jam session. [Oct 2010, p.96]

There are moments--notably 'You Can't Count On me'--but the band behind him are wringing diminishing returns from their polished country-rock. [May 2008, p.92]

Sometimes excessive technological trickery gets the better of them, but there are some icy anthems. [Sep 2010, p.101]

This singer-songwriter neatly balances the darkly troubled with the charmingly childlike, acoustic clunkiness with intricate finger picking. [Mar 2012, p.98]

May has a knack for hooks and titles. [Oct 2017, p.32]

While it's not a great record, the world would be a marginally better place if people were drooling over John Wizards rather than Vampire Weekend. [Sep 2013, p.90]

Sometimes enthralling, sometimes throwaway. [Nov 2006, p.120]

"You And Your Heart" tries to kick out the jams, but in the most polite fashion imaginable. He's at his best on more familiar ground of the mid-tempo chug "Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology." [Aug 2010, p.84]

The shouty threesome's hit-rate is good. [Jun 2020, p.27]

Anyone still reeling from Chan Marshall's sultry and imperious covers collection, "Jukebox," will find further thrills on this six track mini-album.

At its peaks, it remains bracing in its intensity. But between climatic passages defined by Nathan Weaver's hoarse roar and stern batteries of kickdrum, the band seems to recede into misty, ambient washes that are engaging in their heavy melancholy. [Apr 2009, p.105]

Against considerable odds--'Cause I Sez So is a bit of a hoot. [Jun 2009, p.95]

There are some nice details though daft lyrics such as "I kiss your knees and I try to be bold" threaten to undermine the flashes of brilliance elsewhere. [May 2014, p.73]

The occasional glint of mandolin and fiddle fails to alchemise Time's glossy LA rock, or excuse some shocking lyrics. [Jun 2013, p.79]

At times the backdrop is so subtle that the end result is almost like an aria. Elsewhere the tunes deliver more pf a punch. [Jun 2013, p.75]

The eclectically banging result is an invigorating circuit-workout through righteous rage, swinging from livid EDM beats with Steve Aoki and Rise Against's Tim McIlrath, to furious rap with Big Boi, Killer Mike and Bassnectar. [Nov 2018, p.28]

Retains a uniform ambience of savage, unsmiling riffing. [Jun 2005, p.114]

A strange, untethered creation. ... But when Romano Keeps it simple, he's terrific. [Feb 2019, p.32]

Harding here ups the comeback ante with a baker dozen of frothy, breezily melodic gems. [Dec 2011, p.84]

The tone of observational distance build to an understated climax with "Shadow Boy." [Jun 2013, p.74]

Black Noise was the most seductive techno album of last year, and it probably deserves better than this somewhat perfunctory remix comp. [May 2011, p.93]

By no means a rebirth, but feistier and more fun than last year's Destiny's Child record, for sure. [May 2005, p.95]

There's a fair amount of Fugazi worship on display with track like the churning punk of "Ruptured Line," but the album really flies when the metal influences come to the fore. [Nov 2018, p.]

"Pluze" and "Branches" resemble Air in their languid electro-revisioning of jazz-funk and prog, while the title track pulls back sparkling synths for a noble and histrionic sax break. [Dec 2012, p.68]

While his lyrics crackle, the music seems like an afterthought. [Dec 2011, p.84]

The tunes seem to have lost a little of their punch, producer Ken Coomer setting Milia's pale voice against folk-pop arrangements that often feel strangely bloodless. [Mar 2017, p.30]

Antarctica is leaner then Flat Worms, and if the tunes don't hit quite as hard, then at least the smart lyrics are easier to catch. [Jun 2020, p.29]

An unusually exciting attempt to revitalise past glories. [Oct 2002, p.111]

Her best album for many years illustrates her uniqueness. [Jun 2010, p.97]

The sonic ambition is admirable. [Aug 2018, p.28]

There are plenty of moments where everything clicks, with Sun Araw's dayglo-acid guitar skirling over motorik rhythms and hubble-bubble analogica. But these don't on their own justify its existence, alas. [Oct 2011, p.84]

Much of Drum's Not Dead suggests a Ligeti score for The Blair Witch Project as played by The Residents. [Mar 2006, p.88]

It almost works. [Nov 2011, p.84]

The Rifles' standard formula is cliche-ridden but effective. [Dec 2011, p.95]

Untrue is altogether warmer than its predecessor. [Jan 2008, p.87]

It sees them adapt while retaining their street credibility. [Nov 2008, p.117]

It's a smart collection of songs full of inner turbulance, delivered in an emotional voice that at times recall Guy Garvey. [MAr 2010, p.90]

Return To Form's one of their better efforts. [Mar 2010, p.90]

The success rate is variable. [Oct 2005, p.94]

This is fizzy, superficial pop by a band convinced they're making classic rock. [Dec 2005, p.114]

His 2007's "Spiderman Of The Rings" was filled with good ideas but prone to novelty. Bromst goes a long way to reversing this trend. [Apr 2009, p.84]

As is generally the case with Loaf's oeuvre, the ridiculousness of the enterprise is redeemed somewhat by a recognition of its own absurdity. [Jul 2010, p.112]

You can not fault the passion of the songs or the tasteful nature of the playing, but it's difficult to see what of himself, besides an admiration for Bob or Bruce, he's actually serving up here. [Oct 20101, p.101]

Lenses Alien harnesses the singular vision of singer and guitarist Joseph D'Agostino to finely nuanced, feedback-soused art-rock. [Nov 2011, p.83]

Slim Twig's louche theatricality will probably repel as many listeners as it attracts, but life is a cabaret, old chum. [Jan 2015, p.92]

Like most albums by reformed bands, it reminds you what you liked without opening up an essential new chapter. [Apr 2015, p.84]

For all their adroitness, most of the songs on Tonight sound too similar to each other (and to existing Franz Ferdinand songs).

A familiar sound predominates: an impressive fanfare for a royal procession that never quite arrives. [Apr 2009, p.78]

Beneath the catchy hooks, a collection of bleak songs about nihilism and failure are revealed. [Sep 2009, p.92]