This fine album contains several striking songs (notably “The Dark Is Rising” and “Nite and Fog”), but it suffers in comparison to the artistic breakthrough of its immediate predecessor.

Has muddied sound in spots but careful, detailed and varied playing.

Their worst album so far.... Too much of the album ("Expecting," "Aluminum," "I Can't Wait," "I Can Learn") wallows in an odd, crusty hard-rock haze.

This mainstream update to the unvarnished directness of Sweet Old World starts slow and flirts with blandness but sparks to life about halfway through.

When the music is fully operational... the potential for greatness is obvious.

When it pays off -- which is more often than not -- BRMC's fuzzed- out angry shoegazer stance reaches levels of sonic brilliance unmatched by any of their peers.

A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure is many things: inevitable, insane and their finest album.

Even for a debut album, it’s too tentative and timid for its own good.

A record which adheres closely to the formula but fails to generate any sort of spark from it.

Begins the band's slide into sonic monotony and lyrical malaise.

She takes a slower, more folk-rock approach to much of the material.

It’s easily the weakest album in her career and sounds even worse when compared to the subtle path of Beautiful Creature.

The only complaint to be lodged against Bachelor No. 2, other than its partially duplicated track listing, is the mid-tempo groove from which Mann rarely extricates herself.

While nothing here fails the consistent artistry of his work, neither does any of it make the direct connection to a soul and heart.

A calm triumph.

The album navigates effortlessly from peak to peak.