The Cocteau Twins-lite feeling persists. [#7]

Some of Rowe's work here calls to mind Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen, though his gifts suggest that those names will remain references rather than long shadow to escape. [Feb 2011, p.73]

The ska bounce of 'Student Union' is the closest Jigsaw comes to the familiar Sov sound of nasal bleats over agressive beats. [Spring 2009, p.77]

California Son is uneven at its best, and borderline sacrilegious at its lowest points. This level of steady, maintained mediocrity will only make it harder and harder for all but his staunchest fans to continue caring.

Nothing here approaches innovation, and while the music isn't offensive to the ears, it provides little to get excited about. [#9]

Overall, Drake's dreamscapes lack the vibrancy to capture even our most alert attention. [Jul 2011, p.84]

Astralwerks inexplicably chopped this thing in half for its US release--which, if you're a fan of subpar neo-garage rock, is a change. [Fall 2008, p.86]

This album is, surprisingly, a steady, droning psychedelic experience.

The less a-political songs fall far short of REM's extremely high standards. [#8, p.111]

Sweet Sister isn't as saccharine as one might expect. [Winter 2010, p.71]

Overall, Civilized occupies a comfortable middle ground too often. [Summer 2009, p.63]

This anthology of both new and classic mixes reminds us, if nothing else, that Depeche Mode remain an inspiring and influential force in modern music. [Jul 2011, p.91]

Is it funny? If you're a 15-year-old boy, you'll love it as there's enough toilet humor here to stun an Ox. Will it be funny after the first listen? Well, the jury is out. But probably not.

Unfortunately, it plays like a joyless formal exercise that precludes a dialogue with the listener.

It's a poor album that irks and annoys at every turn, excellent musicianship and performance rendered irrelevant by the turgid material. Exhausting stuff.

{The Temper Trap] lose the sugar high on their eponymous second album. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.122]

And though the desire to not repeat themselves is admirable, one longs for precisely what made the first record such a rare breed. [#13, p.85]

The quality of the songs quickly fades as the album spins on. [#14]

Bloc Party has always been capable of great and deep thought, even when moving at a high rate of speed. Without that added urgency, Hymns falls flat. [Jan/Feb 2016, p.54]

The band's stylistic exploration is brave and admirable, but Home suffers most from a lack of consistency.

Cold War Kids seem to be aiming for something more akin to Kings of Leon, and the songs bear this out. [Year End 2010, p.69]

The score works best when the syrupy Hollywood strings are designed to interact meaningfully with M83's chunky John Carpenter-style synth work.

All in all, an enthusiastic effort, but... one wishes the band had embraced the trippy mindfuck of dub at its best, rather than the simple lockstep 4/4 on display here. [#13, p.84]

The Great Escape rarely moves past generic dance-floor thump and sway. [Oct 2011, p.100]

While the production sustains its vitality, Congleton's narrow singing range--hidden in the more bizarre, cinematic numbers--gets exposed nonetheless.

There are glimmers of the band that went before. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.130]

What's disappointing about Somebody's Miracle is not so much a matter of genre, tone or production sheen, but that Phair has made herself indistinguishable by falling in line. [#11, p.112]

With Wilder Mind, they eschew their recognizable sound, supplanting it with a less memorable collection of songs more readily relegated to background music than either of their previous albums. As big and perhaps unanticipated an adjustment as it is, however, Wilder Mind then deepens and improves with each consecutive listen.