The fact that Comicopera is a masterpiece proves it all right nicely. [Fall 2007, p.113]

Welch and longtime partner David Rawlings weave a spellbinding mix of desperation and salvation across this album's 10 tracks. [#52, p.111]

The album proper already excellently spoke for itself 20 years ago. [No. 103, p.51]

The pure-pop masterpiece everyone knew McCaughey had in him. [#49, p.84]

A massively significant step forward.... Rock Action is so monumentally magisterial, it approaches near heretical status: the post-post-rock era's Sgt. Pet Sounds' Lonely Hearts Club Band.

While the album justifies the lavish bonuses, if you get caught up in the myth, you might miss what a weird, wild work it is. Beyond all the beautiful sadness, there's joyful nonsense, a noisy screed against the GOP and the most unabashedly erotic song R.E.M. had released up to that point. [No. 149, p.60]

Kudos to producer Tony Visconti and the tight jazz team around them for making Blackstar dynamic. If Bowie indeed knew time was tight and death’s release was imminent, this treatise to magic and loss is a gorgeous way to say goodbye. [No. 129, p.52]

Saint Etienne's latest album is masterful: fanatically detailed, intelligent and swimming in lovely melodies and delicious electronic bleeps... easily one of the year's standout albums. [#46, p.90]

As impressive as Savage Young Du is as a musical release--69 remastered songs over nearly three hours--it's equally impressive as a historical document. ... One of 2017's essential releases, no matter how you cut it. [No. 149, p.61]

This remains the Gallagher brothers' finest hour, and one of the great debuts of the last 20 years. [No. 109, p.57]

It's towering tuneful stuff. [No. 126, p.54]

A gravity-defying 23-minute take of "My Favorite Things" shows how far Coltrane had come in such a short time. [No. 116, p.57]

There's not an ounce of flab on this record. [No. 134, p.60]

This lavishly packaged box, comprising either 12 CDs or 13 LPs, observes Bowie's blossoming into a chameleon, ready to shed personae and styles the minute they strangle his artists needs. [No. 136, p.52]

A monumental record from a towering talent. [#59, p.103]

One of 2002's candidates for record-of-the-year honors.... Too Late is a top-to-bottom masterwork. [#54, p.85]

A masterpiece that flows brilliantly. [#75, p.97]

A twisted funk masterpiece that simultaneously evokes bad pornography and an outer-space barrio. Yeah, Change Is Coming is that good. [#52, p.97]

A truly brilliant recording. [#53, p.93]

At the remove of three decades, this album remains as fresh and unconventional as the day the songs were first committed to tape. [No. 147, p.60]

It's a treasure trove of listening pleasure. [No. 94, p.51]

Some of the most compelling, essential rock music of the era, period. [No.90, p.61]

This is 46 tracks of certifiably bonkers brilliance. [No. 111, p.55]

Sound System could well be a life changer, containing, as it does, the collected works of hands-down the greatest rock 'n' roll outfit the UK has produced in the last four decades. [No.102, p.51]

Although the quartet might not have topped Merriweather Post Pavillion, it did the next best thing: make an album that's entirely new and just as exciting. [No.91 p.52]

Beguiling and brilliant. [No. 89 p.51]

Cinema finds Czukay ins subtle freeform space-jazz jam mode without ever being tasteless or proggy. [No. 150, p.51]

Benji isn't for everyone--what great albums are?--but it's a career-defining statement by a brilliant songwriter. [No. 106, p.59]