There are several places where the disc seems to lapse into very familiar territory, and at other times it definitely feels like it's coasting a bit.

Everything feels a slight bit too polished, but that's not a huge fault.

On first listen, it's not as immediately accessible as Up In Flames... [but it] reveals itself in several listens and contains yet another batch of fearless tracks from an artist who simply refuses to sit still.

All the tracks are spotlessly performed by the group, but don't differ from the recorded tracks all that much except in a few cases.

An ambitious, sometimes awkward mish-mash of soul-baring, ego-blaring, and everything in-between.

It's kind of a mess in places.

Fans of Macha might find the release lacking a bit in the percussion area, but The Ride makes up for it some with atmosphere.

Quite possibly their best album.

Although it's a huge departure for those expecting more of the same from Holmes, it's easily the most sonically interesting release by him thus far.

While the results may not break down conventions, it does provide a heaping helping of interesting music.

The back two-thirds of the disc simply wanders around a bit too much, but there are still some real gems.

At times touching and at others completely silly.

It's the sort of album that at times sounds like the group simply threw everything against the wall and hoped that something would stick. In many cases, it did, but in others it sounds like a raucous mess.

Many of the tracks on the latter half of the release simply don't change that much, and for that reason it's a little hard to just pop in the player and sit down to listen to unless you're into repetitive, harsh electronic dance music.

It's a solid return to form.

The Contino Sessions is definitely a step in the right direction for the group in terms of continuity and development of their sound, but their are still a few hiccups that they need to work out.

If you're a fan of their more experimental instrumental work, you'll find plenty to be interested in here, as the album as a whole feels a bit scattered.

It's at its best when it puts Albarn in situations that you wouldn't normally hear him in, but also stumbles occassionally with a couple tracks that feel rather tossed-off and others that feel like they could have come off a Blur b-side.

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

At times outstanding and at others a bit frustrating, Slappers is a bit too uneven to be essential.

Radiohead fans will obviously want to snag it up, but if you’re looking for melancholic electronic pop, there’s much better to be found.

If you go back to the touchpoints of the era in terms of music, there's certainly plenty of awful lyrics, and while I can often overlook lyrics if the music itself is strong, Saturdays = Youth sometimes lapses into a sort of emo shoegazer feel that's simply a bit too sickly-sweet for me.

At the end of it all, Guns And Drums feels more like an inconsistent experiment than a full fledged step forward.

Another semi-spotty release.

There's no doubt that Betke hasn't lost his finesse in creating tracks, but after such a long hiatus, this EP is a little lacking in the excitement department.

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

Somewhat hit or miss pastiche pop, Parallax Error Beheads You is harder to like that it should be.

At times enjoyable, at other times somewhat bland, And The Opera Circuit is a somewhat inconsistent follow-up release from the young artist.