It's just that damn good. [#7]

Manages the not-at-all-easy feat of sounding remarkably undated and, well, timeless. [#39, p. 72]

The original nine tracks have all been remastered, sounding just as crisp and thumping as ever.

It's weirder, stylistically broader, and emotionally richer than the original Basement tapes. [Dec 2014, p.69]

There's not much left to say about The Queen is Dead, arguably the high point of The Smiths' formidable catalog, that hasn't been written before. Nevertheless, the notable thing about this reissue is the previously unreleased material on the bonus discs, which is enough to entice the interest of long-time fans who thought they'd heard everything there is to hear.

Elbow have always been the most intelligent band in Britain. Now they're the most exciting, too. [#12, p.91]

Other than the fact that it came out a little late, there isn't a single thing wrong with it. [#8, p.113]

A work that's at once blissfully romantic, ominously dark, and ridiculously imaginative. [#10, p.107]

Far from a collector's item for die-hard fan only, this is the most complete and perfect presentation of one of the key albums of a generation. [Jan-Feb 2013, p.92]

There are decades of material here and plenty to revel in for years to come.

The real beauty of all the context provided here for this batch of songs is not that it extols or magnifies, but that it humanizes.

Today though, with the skyline dominated by the likes of Kanye West and Plan B on their respective sides of the Atlantic, to hear this genuinely groundbreaking group in such magnificent high definition is probably the closest we're going to get to going back to any of today's megastar's roots.

The burning energy of A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle is refreshing, its release a major moment in jazz music. ... Jazz fans may rejoice, as this much-needed revelation is everything we’d hoped it would be.

Full of bonus features, on Disc Two Lennon's voice is heard on a raw demo: "Oh god saves us from defeat...from the war...from the street." It stops you in your tracks: Lennon was killed on the street. Yet, his vision of utopia is undimmed in the firmament thanks to these songs.

This material doesn't feel dated, but rather timeless as the political atmosphere is even more charged a quarter of a century later. The reason for fans to get this new deluxe edition, however, has more to do with the bonus discs.

Twenty-two years in the making or not, this is a return that captivates, excites, and is relentless in its grab for your attention. It's the perfect comeback.

It's a treasure trove of Britpop and English musical history, a veritable panoply of musical goodness.

Fans have long complained that the original version [of Lodger] is thin-sounding and so this is the response. Equipped with louder bass, cleaner-sounding and quieter, it's a nice variation on an old favorite, albeit one perhaps underrated given the tremendous albums it's surrounded by. By putting Lodger into focus, it gives it the attention it has always deserved. Plus, a remaster of the original mix is included on its own disc and it sounds great. In addition, there are two different double-disc versions of the 1978 live album Stage.

The songs all sound cleaner and tighter than those off the critically praised Lapalco, but instead of over-produced banality you're left with pure pop perfection. [#9]

The album is Westerberg at his extremes. [#7]

It's as though The Decemberists have been able to somehow summon that mystical muse that allows for all of the wonder of the musical world to open. [#5, p.100]

One of the year's most unlikely breakthroughs. [#11, p.105]

An unruly beast filled with vim and vigor, unrestrained in fits of rage, questioning, and discontent. [#17, p.87]

It's his best album in that much time [decade], easily, and sure to be instantly beloved by fans who hold Sea Change to be his crowning work. [Feb/Mar 2014, p.71]

Each song is expertly crafted, with an amazingly punchy set of melodies delivered by an extremely tight band with sometimes larger arangements that never become fussy. [Summer 2007, p. 76]

Here she simply stopped trying to impress and simply assembled through feel and intuition, and, taken as a whole, it feels perfect. [Jul 2011, p.82]

As a whole, the songs presented on The Sun Awakens come across as a work of art, evoking a response and then either building or contrasting to it. [#14]

This is pop music, filtered through the minds, hands and voices of two artists whose vision reaches beyond the bounds of the form. [#7]