His authoritative vocals demand immediate attention and his brutal array of battle rhymes are utterly breathtaking.... While the pugilistic MC shows growth as an artist, Canibus' vast potential remains largely unrealized thanks to bland production.

As the album unfolds, certain themes of regret, sadness, and longing run to the surface, but they're all coated in glittering pop melodies and big rock riffs that mask the emotions of the songs.... their best, most consistent effort to date...

Malcolm Middleton's moody musical constructions -- sometimes punchy, sometimes hallucinatory and somnolent -- positively glisten in the live setting, and serve due notice that the most important trait of the band is its sound.

He has moved on from the effervescent prettiness of his former band to make music for himself -- something the Verve might have done somewhere in time, but it wouldn't have been so honest or stripped as this solo jaunt

Like its predecessor, Golden Greats meanders a bit too much and it places a little too much emphasis on surface, but when the surface sparkles like this, it's hard to complain too loudly.

Smart, melodic, catchy songs that not only have strong, wonderful structures, but are graced with inventive, clever arrangements.

If there is a fault to this album, it is that it is too smooth; while the listener is surfing these waves of happiness and cushiony pop, an occasional desire for edges and bones surfaces.

It's some of the band's fullest-sounding work, rich with strings and keyboard flourishes... The Rising Tide is one of Sunny Day Real Estate's -- and 2000's -- most impressive albums.

The Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature punk thrash sound.

A distinctive work.... it's a remarkably beautiful album.

She sounds lonely and afraid in songs like "Jealous" and "Dancing Lessons," yet her fierce confidence overpowers such insecurity on the pinch-hitting "No Man's Woman."

Some of the smooth, spacey ballads that were characteristic of their 1993 self-titled release show up here, but more often than not LeBon is lost in a swamp of over-production.

Their most cohesive collection of songs to date...

France's Tahiti 80 seem so enamoured with their musical idols that they can barely voice a personal touch of their own.

There are moments of pop pleasure here, surrounded by spare, languid electronica sections, vaguely reminiscent of the High Llamas.

Quality Control hits all of the same highs as Jurassic 5's excellent EP of three years earlier...

There is undeniably something almost romantic about the duo's newfound acceptance of relationships, even if the main evolution is that they now view them as a necessary evil, rather than simply evil.

With an inspired cast of co-producers and guest vocalists, Movement in Still Life takes on electro-funk and breakbeat techno with plenty of room for nods to the kind of epic trance that made his name on dancefloors all over the world.

With their fifth record, Blonde Redhead finally emerges from the shadows of Sonic Youth's post-punk legacy by avoiding the expected detunings, distortions, and shrillness of the genre. The three-piece manages to create a record that is subtle, tuneful, and sublime.

Steve Earle proves again and again that he is the original alternative to the glossy side of Nashville.

The problem is that the album is perhaps too subtle for its own good, and even after repeated listens, it fails to connect on any meaningful level

Harking back to the glory days of late-'80s acid-house, it's heavy on dark club jams that work around a simplistic sample with diva theatrics and rapper freestyles. As such, most of these tracks work much better on the dancefloor than the living room.

It might not make for a great listen, but its swagger and white-trash style make it the second-best record in his catalog.

As on the first, the Bragg-written and sung music is the most convincing, since he captures the cadences and spirit of Guthrie's music. They sound like classic, weathered folk songs whereas Wilco's numbers are modern inventions, splicing music that is clearly theirs with Guthrie's words.

Highly recommended.

They might not be as unsettling as they were in their early days, but they still know how to mess things up.

The most alluring aspect of The Platform is the array of finely-crafted beats-