There are several songs on the release that are easily among the best that the group has ever done, but by the time the 15 tracks and well over an hour run length are over, the release feels a bit on the long side and many of the shorter tracks simply feel like sketches that weren't fully fleshed-out.

In the end, it doesn't really matter that it's the soundtrack to a video game that I'll never play. It's a new Amon Tobin album (and a good one at that), and that's all I need.

Even if the lyrical content is supposed to be ironic, it's still pretty horrible.

While all the songs are nicely performed and recorded, they simply don't capture the amazing qualities of Case and her band.

At times touching and at others completely silly.

In truth, a couple tracks could have been cut to turn this into an epic single-disc release of huge proportions, but it's still the best work that Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have done since Murder Ballads.

While it makes a lot of musical leaps (it's probably the most "experimental" work he's done), not all of them work, but there are still some great moments for fans of his work here.

I actually find it kind of funny that the group has managed to land on a large label with this release, because even though it's a bit more polished sounding than anything they've done before, I simply can't imagine anything on "Crimes" playing on anything other than college radio.

Dangerous Dreams is just such a mixed-bag of goods that it's hard to feel much about it other than a couple of standouts.

The quiet/loud, quiet/loud thing has been going on for a long time now, and while Mono has things in common with everyone from Mogwai to the aforementioned groups, they're definitely one of the better bands I've heard doing this in a while.

Overall, the album doesn't show quite the range that some of his previous works have done, but if you enjoy Waits, you're definitely not going to go wrong here.

I simply can't imagine a time when I'd put this disc on for pleasure listening, but considering Halloween is coming up, Burned Mind is the perfect thing if you want to scare the bejeebus out of the neighborhood children.

If you're a fan of work by the Animal Collective, you'll probably want to check this out, but keep in mind that you'll need a little patience.

Your tolerance level for the group will probably mostly have to do with how well you can stand the rather light vocal stylings and the sometimes lighter-electronics programming.

If I were to have just heard the first half of the disc, I probably would have proclaimed it the best of the year as well.

It still doesn't quite have the emotional grab of some of their older work despite the addition of more vocals and a slightly more glossy sound.

The group takes the term "clinical" to new heights, yet this newest effort still sounds more loose than their last effort.

While it might not be a full exclamation point ending to their career, it's far better than a fall on the face.

While they have incorporated new sounds into their palette, the sonic experiments don't quite work all the time and the album suffers a bit in places because of that.

[A] lovely debut album of hushed folk that may be one of the best things in this sort of genre that I've heard in some time.

Take some metal and stir in some prog, sludge, and psych rock and basically you've got yerself Comets On Fire.

While I don't think that it's quite the groundbreaking release that many have given it credit for, there are definitely moments during the 12-track release that I feel like the group has cracked into something unique and downright amazing.

In the grand scheme of Orb albums, it lands as slightly better than their last effort Cydonia, but not nearly as good as classics like Orbus Terrarum.

Highly recommended for fans of The Shins [and] New Pornographers.

An atmospheric slab of mostly instrumental keyboard-driven music that basically sounds like a further advanced version of what LaValle has been doing for some time now.

Some of the more stunning psychedelic rock I've heard in awhile.

It's not that The Slow Wonder is a bummer by any means, because it's not. It's simply not riding quite the same giddy highs as work by his previous groups.

If you take away the 9 minutes of their already-released big single, you could probably squeeze a tight EP out of Louden Up Now, but as a full-length [it] starts with a bang and ends with sort of a whimper. Fun to filler in 53 minutes.