A prog-rock field trip that will give Diary fans something (else) to cry about. [Dec 2003, p.128]

It's more cerebral than aggressive.... A derivative effort that makes Keenan sound less talented than he actually is. [Oct 2003, p.105]

Sadly, Mayer's idea of a good time involves hiring jazz musicians to make himself sound like '80s James Taylor. [Dec 2003, p.128]

After one truly cool tune, their feeble musicianship becomes a problem. [Oct 2003, p.113]

The deadpan humor that animated the band's early werk is missing. [Nov 2003, p.117]

Hazy, almost-there stadium anthems that don't quite fill the stadium. [Sep 2003, p.115]

Their songs excavate new depths of frivolity. [Aug 2003, p.119]

This is the kind of bedroom folk pop E's done prettier--and weirder--before. [Jul 2003, p.111]

Shows a weakness for arena-rock voguing and Dawson's Creek-dipping melancholia. [Jun 2003, p.108]

The harpoons that Paul hurls at the industry's blubber have lost their edge. [June 2003, p.105]

He's got many peaceful, breezy songs about peaceful, easy feelings but lacks the hooks to hang 'em on. [Jun 2003, p.109]

The production is muddy, the sentiments vague. [June 2003, p.105]

This quasi-funky, horn-section-assisted record demonstrates that as a jazz vocalist, Ani's a fine folk singer. [Apr 2003, p.107]

Harper's a master of no genre. [May 2003, p.111]

What's most British about the Music is their tendency to try way too hard. [Apr 2003, p.108]

Nas' heart is in the right place but his mind is somewhere else entirely. [March 2003, p.119]

The storytelling here isn't as sharp as on Common's previous albums. [Feb 2003, p.100]

While most of the music on Whip It On is somewhere in the vicinity of cool, the vocals sound like two people trying out for a Jesus and Mary Chain tribute band. [Jan 2003, p.101]

Expends a lot of energy hating the haters and growling at the gold diggers. [Jan 2003, p.99]

A poor man's Aimee Mann. [Jan 2003, p.99]

Size's fuzzy, string-laden bass bombs seem a tad sober. [Dec 2002, p.141]

As an artistic statement, Stripped is all over the place--it's a move toward hip-hop, it's a move toward rock, it's ghetto, it's Disney. [Dec 2002, p.137]

On Voyage to India, Arie is just another girl on the neosoul train. [Jan 2003, p.98]

Believe sounds so dry and crisp it could have been recorded on a Dell laptop. [Oct 2002, p.113]

[Producer] Michael Lockwood lets her coast along over bland accompaniment. [Oct 2002, p.114]

The production smudges the songs into fuzzy watercolors, and Orton's twangy burr can't always cut through. [Sep 2002, p.128]

The Best tracks sweep ringing, acoustic-guitar verses into anthemic power-chord choruses. [Sep 2002, p.134]

It's a solid formula--trouble is, anything resembling emotional complexity gets blasted away by the heavy-metal howitzer of Don Gilmore's production. [Oct 2002, p.117]