Yoko isn't exactly what fans of the first three albums might be expecting, but it's still a Beulah album. [#5, p.99]

We have here a nice mix of balmy love songs and enthusiastic foot-stompers with only a scarce few clunkers. [Sep/Oct 2014, p.81]

At times, it's as moody and transporting as great film music, but, fat too often, these songs never materialize into anything more substantial than vapor. [Winter 2008, p.80]

Transferring the energy and spectacle of their live shows has to be challenging, but the songs here come as close as any of their earlier work. [Spring 2010, p.63]

For Sloan, it amounts to another fine effort. [May 2011, p.88]

Phoenix still hasn’t overcome the faults of their previous efforts. [#14]

Despite the album's failure to forge any radical new ground... Visitations still offers some satisfaction by giving longtime fans exactly the sort of spooky rhythms and cryptic lyrics that made them fall in love with the band in the first place. [#16, p.90]

This is gorgeous Americana from an artist who has already garnered a dedicated following in Europe. [Winter 2009, p.78]

While it's fun to see such a promising band trying to make big leaps, Foil Deer only succeeds when Sadie Dupuis and company stick to their roots. [Apr - May 2015, p.86]

On Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails hints at new directions, but hesitates to take a leap.

The songs on No Ghost are never less than pretty, though one wishes a few of them had been steered by a stronger melodic compass. [Summer 2010, p76]

Ventriloquizzing is the sound of a band settling comfortably into its personality, though one can't help but feel that the best moments are still to come. [Year End 2010, p.70]

Simple, meditative stuff that's probably quite personal. [May 2011, p.87]

Half good and never outstanding. [#10, p.113]

Elf Power seems to be confined by the pop formula rather than doing much to improve upon it. [#7]

Cool but slight. [#5, p.101]

Bootlegs provides a capsule overview of Lerche's work and a sense of which material from his seven albums he feels might best represent him in a live setting. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.112]

Ultimately, a steelier grip might be preferable to their warm handshake. [Summer 2010, p.77]

While the new pieces are generally good, it's the songs from [last year's EP} Target Heart that continue to shine brightest. [Summer 2010, p.82]

At least half the time, Holy gets it right. Maybe more importantly for an album like this, it's never boring,. [Aug 2008, p.83]

Tuneful, but as the opening tracks promised, intensely moody and far darker this time around. [May 2011, p.87]

Songs From The Vanished Frontier has enough fuzz on the fringes to keep its bubbly, mellow vibe from going flat. [Jun-Jul 2013, p.97]

Maybe she doesn’t need Lanegan to write, but his creepy presence is missed not only as a voice, but also in the DNA of the songs themselves. [#15]

Melodia represents a clear fade from glory, but only a slight loss of merit. [Spring 2009, p.74]

The Ship sees Eno try his hand with the darker, cinematic side of minimal, and for the most part it works. The melancholic catalysts for the record (The First World War and the sinking of the Titanic) don't transcend quite as powerfully as they could have, though.

While Highlights still has many moments of unapologetic fun where Emm and Cohen sound like they could write those gorgeous, summery songs in their sleep, they have also rebuffed and polished their signature sound to the point where every attempt at deeper songwriting gets lost in the gloss.

There's nothing that will truly stick with you for the long haul, but sometimes a nice tune and some supercharged instrumentation are enough. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.115]

Admittedly, it's an intriguing attempt at reinvigorating an established sound. But far too often it fails to connect, with many numbers drifting out as the feeble efforts of a band that's lost confidence in itself.