The title number is exemplary epic...Others like 'Drum Song' and 'Dibango' unravel too loose and spill all over an otherwise immaculate canvas. [Spring 2009, p.78]

Elton John has always has a country streak to his songs, and most of the choices on this compilation fit this repurposing like a hand in glove.

While McCaughan retains a lot of his vitality, he can't completely shake off the specter of comfortable maturity. [#11, p.116]

All too often, though, it's an attempt at this exact same sound that lacks any ideas; not so much directionless as without destination.

If you can't tell by the horribly obvious title, Looping State of Mind is designed as a return to The Field's roots--and in many ways, that shift is enough to make it a step up from Willner's last effort.

Somewhere along the way, though, the emotions fail to match up, or the song structures that always sound so familiar fail to separate themselves from what's come before.

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]

Hidden, the young British group's sophomore full-length, was made much in the same vein as 2007's Beat Pyramid, but at times it's even less coherent.

The problem comes when Lykke Li steps out of her range musically. [Feb. 2011, p. 65]

It's so often cold and mechanical, yet wildly impassioned. [Aug - Oct 2020, p.87]

Throughout Swim, Snaith employs similar tactics, getting something interesting started, seducing the listener, only to challenge them to stay on board as the song develops. [Spring 2010, p.69]

Shine has a nasty penchant for treading water instead of making any real artistic statement. [#5, p.100]

Some tracks come across like impromptu recording sessions where ANOHNI worked through recently-penned material over production pieces messed around with just before she'd arrived at the studio. Still, there is enough in this unexpected assimilation of talents to hold intrigue.

The live shows were deafeningly loud and visceral and the atmosphere is impossible to translate to a record, gamely as they might try. The quality of the recording is very disappointing; varying volume and muffled production suggest it was dashed off in too great haste.

Earth are masters of this weird genre they've slowly, deliberately carved themselves. [Mar 2012, p.83]

For those who found Misery to be an unfortunate turn towards the melodramatic, 23 will probably further disappoint in that it has all the indulgence of that record but few of its emotional peaks and valleys. [#17, p.82]

Highways is a far cry from what made this now deceased legend eternal. [#14]

Has God Seen My Shadow? collects Lanegan's solo work, but makes it more apparent that when left simply to his own devices, there's a dynamic missing. His voice is so powerful, in fact, that it needs something to set it apart, or to duel with it.

Essentially, the music is crafted, beatific but ultimately characterless. [Mar 2012, p.88]

Some tracks come close to capturing that cozy, Superwolf magic, like the easygoing “Resist the Urge” and “My Body Is My Own,” but in too many there seems to have been an urge to make the songs larger and bolder than necessary. It makes those tracks more abrasive and loud than what many would probably expect from this unexpected follow-up.

Favourite moves forward not one inch from Whatever, which is safe and reliable, but also repetitive. [#17, p.82]

The gut-wrenching moments are too often usurped by lost wallets, Instagram photos, and tales of songs on the radio--none of which add up to anything greater than the sun of their parts. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.113]

The execution here might have seemed a bit more authentic had they been going for a pure concept album with a Civil War theme; unfortunately, hearing Stickles locked in bloodied-but-unbowed mode throughout the record doesn't add any greater emotional depth to the intertwining themes.

It's a wide-ranging, covers-all-its-bases album and, like their last release, it's arrived just in time for summer. [Spring 2009, p.67]

There are moments peaking around 'The Wind And The Dove' with its gauzy Wurlitzer and "Thief Of Baghdad arrangements. Later, 'Rococo Zephyr' and 'My Friend' start in interesting places but slowly dissolve into the album's clunky tail section. [Spring 2009, p.65]

With Animals does successfully create a cohesive mood, but it is not one of great substance. [Aug - Oct 2018, p.78]

Words and Music amounts to little more than an attempt to scale the same heights; sweet vocals, minimalist keys with the odd guitar thrown in.

If not excellent then at least vaguely enticing. [Feb-Apr 2019, p.84]