Trying to put The Suburbs in historical context at this stage is difficult, but it evokes Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation in its evocation of political discontent coupled with sheer white noise outbursts.

However beguilingly perfect their debut was, Noah's Ark surpasses it in nearly every aspect. [#10, p.105]

RTJ4 is the most potent, well-delivered incarnation of their work, released amidst the most essential moment for it. The album is truly Run the Jewels’ best album to date, without a weak performance or lackluster track to be found.

Rapturous. ... The album is an extended meditation on the vagaries of fortune through regeneration, but for the listener, the experience is pure bliss.

Each song unfolds so effortlessly one imagines it springing forth, fully formed, with the same exaggerated inevitability of a cartoon bubble sprouting above his head. [Fall 2007, p.74]

What this all amounts to is that All Things Must Pass, the expanded 50th anniversary reissue, is nothing less than essential. It takes one of the greatest works in popular music history (forgive me if you think this is hyperbole but let’s at least admit that if so, it’s only slight), and expounds upon its genius by exposing its creation.

The full orchestra doesn’t smack of overproduced grandiosity, which is a nice surprise. Less surprising, of course, is the album's incredible lyrical density. [#15]

Tone is an alchemic process, and Fleet Foxes produce gold with regularity, a stunning feat for such a young band. [Summer 2008]

Where B.R.M.C. merely boiled, Take Them On is positively frothing. [#5, p.100]

Superlatives barely do the record's beauty or brilliance justice. [Aug-Sep 2015, p.63]

In the Future is without a chink in its armor, the rare lull-free album, and shows that perhaps their greatest moments are indeed yet to come. [Winter 2008, p.80]

High Land, Hard Rain remains a career highlight.... Knopfler’s production has aged reasonably well, but the cover of Van Halen’s "Jump" (a B-side extra) shows how Frame’s perverse streak could have been managed more creatively.

Where the band's ninth studio album differs from its predecessor, The King of Limbs, is that it's entirely possible--no, recommended--to simply sit back and appreciate its sheer magisterial beauty.

Toast is an invocation of impending loss so powerful and relatable as to be, at times, unbearable. That Young with Crazy Horse are able to create sublime songs from this ruinous situation is a feat unto itself; that Young only felt safe to release them 20 years after they were made is an indictment of just how ruthlessly personal and genuinely affecting they are.

In all, And Nothing Hurt is nothing short of gorgeous: lush arrangements placed deftly upon somber subject matter. The resulting record is a fitting return for the spaced out and thoughtful.

Many songs play out like shared "private" jokes but succeed all the time. [Spring 2008, p.75]

Gibbons' voice complements the music perfectly.

What cannot be contested is the way the album oozes with a confidence and sensibility that suggests its creators know this might just be the finest collection of songs they’ve released since their debut, Nowhere, back in 1990.

The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte is another funny, sad, clever, stupid, artful, basic, beautiful journey into Sparks’ peculiarly well-crafted universe, resistant to external gridding, and a spectacular example of one of music’s most beguiling and bewildering bands.

The wondrous beauty of Yoshimi hasn't been abandoned entirely... but the fighting spirit throughout At War With The Mystics is what truly sustains it. [#13, p.85]

There is immensely evident craftsmanship that runs through the album, and a newly revitalized soul that, for all its beauty, And Nothing Hurt missed. If it turns out that Everything Was Beautiful is the last Spiritualized project we ever get, it is an unexpected gift that lives up to the best of Jason Pierce’s storied career.

An astoundingly accomplished collection of flawlessly interesting and compulsively beautiful songs. [#8, p.109]

Whether it's rage or just two guys trying to make each other laugh with dark humor, RTJ2 stands tall in a year of weak hip-hop.

Made In California does the band and its legacy well. [Aug/Sep 2013, p.103]

Pure Comedy is big and clever, and oh so very brilliant.

It's easy to get overawed by the sheer magnitude of such a work, but it lives up to the audacious premise grandly.

Reissued for its 25th anniversary by Craft Recordings, R.E.M.’s subtle ’90s masterwork has made a triumphant return, with something to offer listeners both old and new.

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