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]

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Year-end best-of lists, you've been warned. [#10, p.106]

Quasi have managed to drive their sound in a completely new direction without becoming self-indulgent. [#5, p.102]

This time around, a more restrained approach means a less exhausting listening experience. [#5, p.99]

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

Magnetic.... There isn't an uninteresting song on the whole thing. [#5, p.110]

An incredible electronic journey... A perfect ending for both Orbital and for fans. [#7]

Even though the stylistic diversity of the first album isn't present, it's hard not to get caught up in the dreamy spell that The Bees weave. [#7]

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

Part commercial breakthrough, part acoustic folk record, part experiment, More Adventurous gives little indication of where Rilo Kiley's sound is headed. [#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]

Perhaps Harcourt's strongest asset is in making the hackneyed sound fresh. [#8, p.106]

If you appreciate intelligent and literate lyrics, and are not put off by theatrical orchestration in your pop songs, then this is as good a Divine Comedy album as any to immerse yourself in the considerable talents of Neil Hannon. [#7]

A wholly stunning album. [#7]

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

This is emotional anarchy at its prime--urgent, passionate and honest. [#7]

An important, modestly beautiful album that is both heartbreaking and conversely optimistic--an exceptional piece of work that begs to be discovered. [#7]

An unstoppable, intense and astonishing assault on the senses that gives a respectable nod to the past while it blazes a trail to the future. [#9]

There is a certain confidence inherent in these tracks, as if Smith had finally proven to himself that he didn't need to try to outdo The Beatles in his arrangements. [#7]

It's their best yet, and that's saying something. [#5, p.100]

The ice from Vespertine has melted, and Bjork's voice sounds reborn like a phoenix from the flame. [#7]

It may not be the band's definitive moment... but, arguably, it is the experimental indie pop album of the summer. [#7]

The inclusion of organic instruments really takes M83's keyboard-based material to the next level. [#8, p.107]

A fantastic work of art from a modern master of pop music. [#9]

A crowning achievement. [#9]

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 group had a lot of hype to live up to and they nearly managed to do it. [#9]

Some of the best-written songs of this new century. [#9]

A shiny gem of a record. [#9]

An indie epic smeared with doubt and guilt that flows out of a forced smile. [#10, p.113]

An immersive experience that has unexpected turns and deep emotions at the core of every song. [#10, p.114]

The New Pornographers shine because every member gets their due. [#10, p.107]

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

Supergrass hasn't bothered with an unnatural, radical shift into experimental sounds and ideas; rather, they've simply recorded their fifth studio album. [#11, p.112]

This is the sound of things all falling apart, and few albums this year have sounded better. [#11, p.105]

One of the year's best. [#11, p.107]

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

The rare album that works even better in execution than it does in theory, one that rises far above the genre exercise it could have been. [#12, p.90]

The songs feel and sound organic and have an eerily timeless quality in their emotional universality. [#12, p.93]

Wondrous. [#12, p.91]

Lanegan's smoky voice suits these songs perfectly, and when combined with Campbell's angelic whisper and lush but not overdone orchestration, the result is a sound that is naturally mysterious and utterly affecting. [#12, p.89]

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]

Throughout, Skinner's production is more precise, his hooks more pointed and polished, and his writing more clever and poignant. [#13, p.89]

Ships reinforces the fact that he's a songwriter of considerable depth and pop craftsmanship, and this album is his most ambitious and accessible yet. [#13, p.84]

It's too early to call Scale a classic, but... Herbert has achieved one of the deftest balances of pop music and politics heard in some time. [#13, p.86]

A gorgeous pop album, to say the least. [#14]

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]

Return to Cookie Mountain sweats off most of the band’s more head-scratching impulses and leaves a manic, depressive, exhilarating album of experimental pop. [#15]

The results are what you would expect given its pedigree. In fact, it’s hard to imagine Gainsbourg and company pulling this off any better. [#17, p.85]

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]

A layered and beautiful work that solidifies The Shins as The Band That Matters. [#16, p.94]

Functions as an AM Gold collection filtered through Swedish shortwave radio with indie sensibilities. [#16, p.93]

Tones of Town carries the precision, sophistication, and sense of fun that made predecessor brainy pop bands like XTC so damned good. [#16, p.91]

Although Funeral is the better album, Neon Bible comes close enough without being a rehash. [#17, p.90]

You will be hearing more about Pop Levi. For now I’d recommend you simply hear more of Pop Levi—this shit is fantastic.

A big, fun, and passionate record that sounds enormous. [#16, p.92]

Not just an album that revisits the dancey guitar-pop that made "Float On" an unlikely #1 hit, but sharpens and emboldens it for their most accessible album to date. [#16, p.93]

Their overarching fingernail-meets-chalkboard eeriness... is what prevents a lapse into the preciousness that sometimes accompanies orchestrated indie rock, making the album a rousing success. [#16, p.90]

More sonically and lyrically ambitious than 2005’s I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and more fully realized than the scattershot Digital Ash In A Digital Urn, Cassadaga is Oberst’s most affecting and challenging full-length to date, and proves that he’ll be a defining figure in folk music for many years to come. [#17, p.83]

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

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]

Maybe In Rainbows is their life--settling into things, creating permanence. If so, we may grow to miss the anger and the striving and the discovery that comes as a result. But for now, we can enjoy the beauty of Radiohead understanding their identity and the craftsmanship that lies in comfort.

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]

Rock Music goes further, showcasing a fully mature band turning out immense tracks that combine the best elements from their previous works. [Winter 2008, p.80]

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]

This is likely to be the most fun release of the year. [Winter 2008, p.84]

The Seldom Seen Kid finds Elbow maturing into their sonic ambitions, adding a sorely missed depth to their ever-present innovation. [Summer 2008]

A lyrical and musical knockout, spearheaded by the miraculous 'Fools,' Visiter could be one of the best albums of the year. [Spring 2008, p.82]

Parc Avenue was carefully constructed to open your eyes to the subtle beauty of everyday life and it suceeds effortlessly. [Spring 2008, p.84]

Saturdays=Youth contains some of the band's best songs to date. [Spring 2008, p.77]

Third concludes with a string of stunners that feature sawing cello, improvisatory bursts of horns, and the most cathartic vocal performance Gibbons has ever set to tape, respectively. [Spring 2008, p.79]

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

Narrow Stairs proves that with Death Cab For Cutie, it's possible to relax and let them do their own thing. Which is a remarkable thing indeed. [Spring 2008, p.75]

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

In terms of recording, speeding up, and trimming down he has produced one of his most intimate and exhilarating albums to date. [Summer 2008]

Acid Tongue establishes Jenny Lewis as an idiosyncratic talent in her own right. [Fall 2008, p.76]

Olausson’s quirky observations are only as good as the band backing her. And as it herks and jerks, skanks, and generally rocks the fuck out across A Hundred Things, it constantly reminds that Love Is All is one of the tightest pop outfits on the planet. [Year End 2008]

Like all of Welcome To Mali, the underpinnings of 'I Think Of You' are fantastically layered, with a combination of precision timing and in-the-moment passion. [Winter 2009, p.68]

For the uninitiated, curious, or those simply looking for a one-stop overview, there is no better place for a comprehensive distillation of Danielson’s joyful noises. [Winter 2008]

Brighten the Corners has held up nicely and reminds us of the special gift Pavement had for hyper-literate songwriting that was humorous and heartfelt all at once. [Year End 2008]

Dear John is Svanangen’s true masterpiece. [Winter 2009]

As a concept album, listeners will need to forgo Gainsbourg's typical mixed bag of song structures within an album in favor of more similar songs threaded with recurring musical motifs. [Spring 2009, p.80]

This is a superb record, a spirted illustration of sepia-tinged Americana that feels linked inextricably with Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavillion" as one of the not only most hyped, but also finest records of 2009. [Spring 2009, p.66]

In an era of scripted and calculated music, the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants Dirty Projectors thrill at every blind turn they barrel through. [Summer 2009, p.65]

This music has history in its chords, and it is as powerful today as it was 20 years ago. [Holiday, 2009, p.80]

Stripped for much of the time of the horns and orchestral adornment of the first disc, Newsom turns a celebration into a confessional. Just when it seems Newsom couldn't possibly have any more rabbits in her hat, the third disc contains some gospel flourishes that concentrate her voice in a whole new way, bending down low to grab some bit of soul.

With a smoky voice reminiscent of Dusty Springfield, Burhenn wrings all emotions out of these tracks with seeming effortlessness.

James Murphy absolutely crushes the follow up, placing him on the shortlist of artists that truly matter, [Spring 2010, p.64]

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.