Exactly what you'd imagine. [Sep 2005, p.170]

Stellar. [May 2006, p.176]

The result is a heavy batch of driving tunes worthy of each member's origin stories. [Feb 2017, p.80]

Though written and recorded quickly, it's hard to imagine how these tracks could have been improved on, as they effortlessly cover a wide musical expanse. [Jan 2008, p.124]

Sonically spacious and spontaneous, Rose City is an endlessly tuneful bouquet of beaty. [Jun 2009, p.102]

His arrangements are floral and handcrafted and warm. [May 2004, p.102]

Hesitation Marks, the new album from Nine Inch Nails, is both business as usual and remarkably prescient.

It's only the countrified twang of the Promise Ring's "Forget Me"--which should be the most emo song here--that doesn't really work. Everything else is delightful and, naturally, delightfully sad. [Jan 2015, p.94]

If you're looking for a little warm blood pumping through the veins of your dance music, as opposed to the droning and repetitive beat sketches plaguing a lot of the genre, this is just about ideal. [May 2008, p.146]

Page Hamilton and Co. show more growth than they have in nearly two decades. And damn, they still have it when it comes to riffs. [Dec 2016, p.102]

Taking Back Sunday should be commended, not for just choosing not to rehash their older work, but for truly trying to branch out artistically--and succeeding most of the time. [May 2006, p.155]

Dulli is in peak form here. [Jul 2006, p.194]

The band come up with hooks aplenty, delivering anti-pop gold on the guaranteed-to-disappoint-no-one Expo 86. [Aug 2010, p.156]

True North is an engaging return to form. [Feb 2013, p.88]

There Is A Hell is an impressive and ambitious third effort that proves these Brits have staying power. [Nov 2010, p.109]

It sounds like, well, another solid Mission Of Burma record. [Nov 2009, p.110]

A dense, diverse, and sometimes dauntingly complex double CD. [Dec 2001, p.78]

An exhilarating album... [March 2001, p.88]

Drug Church will likely be off-putting for some with weaker aural constitutions, but if you can get over the fact that a skinny, weird-looking guy is yelling at you about nothing in particular, you’re gonna love this.

Exactly what you'd expect from the involved parties. [May 2005, p.138]

[A] thrilling trip to the sold-out stadiums of inner space. [Jun 2006, p.190]

Listening to Portishead has always been like floating through a waking dream, but now the sleek edges have atrophied into a dusty chaos, and it's all the more beautiful and perfect for the change. [June 2008, p.136]

However modern our world, Fischerspooner continues to give us a reason to listen. [Jun 2009, p.111]

Segall's laconic vocals and playing style ties everything together and maintains a blunted brilliance throughout. [Sep 2013, p.92]

Thrillingly adventurous and tuneful, if occasionally indulgent. [Mar 2013, p.90]

These clattering seat-inducers plow through both rational song lengths and all hopes of a settling conclusion. [Oct 2009, p.110]

When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes sounds like less of a comeback and more of a homecoming. [Apr 2011, p.113]

At times beautiful, at times shambling. [Jun 2006, p.194]

The Cave Singers find a way to remove the corniness from a jammy folk album, instead building Naomi with honest lyrics and a soothing ramble of guitars. [Apr 2013, p.86]

Blunderbuss has a special casualness to it, thanks to White surrounding himself with a coterie of Nashville locals able to take him where he wants to go. The destination in question may very well be back to the early '70s, where country- and blues-tinged crossover records captivated America's post-Vietnam psyche.

Has the abrupt, spasmodic intensity of an epileptic seizure. [June 2003, p.94]

With brief nods to Black Sabbath and slower Slayer, Sever rolls 40 years of metal and hard rock into a big joint and smokes it all. [Mar 2011, p.92]

It's an alluring listen. [May 2013, p.88]

Fucked Up's pop sensibilities remain impressively omnipresent, validating the hype. [Jul 2011, p.107]

Sparhawk and Parker's boy/girl vocals, Low's overall light instrumentation, and their minimalist approach to compostition all blend to produce an exquisite lethargy that's as haunting as Damon & Naomi's music. [#153, p.78]

Business as usual: Swervedriver create beautiful noise without breaking a sweat. [Apr 2015, p.94]

Admittedly, it takes a few listens for Save Rock And Roll to click, and some songs (“Alone Together,” “Miss Missing You”) are notably weaker than others. But overall, Save Rock And Roll is a blast of an album.

Kaiser Chiefs melt their influences into something entirely non-derivative--and thoroughly fun. [May 2005, p.172]

It’s a big, shiny, shamelessly indulgent affair played by talented musicians, and when it comes down to it, it’s just a lot of fun.

A bona-fide motherfucker of a stoner jam. [May 2006, p.170]

While World is simply a fun pop record at its core, the effort, time and most importantly, experience (gleaned both from the members' extracurricular projects and the near-decade they've been together) that went into its making clearly sets AAR apart from newer bands who keep attempting to capture this same sound with much less ambition.

The Empyrean ultimately proves that if things don't work out with his main gig, Frusciante as a healthy, slap bass-free career ahead. [Apr 2009, p.140]

Tears On Tape doesn't reinvent the wheel, but within HIM's impressive canon, it's among their best. [May 2013, p.90]

RJD2 possesses the rare ability to transform moldy samples into fresh-as-tomorrow compositions. [Jun 2004, p.110]

The Front Bottoms will soundtrack your life until it's like you've never been without them. [Jun 2013, p.96]

The New York quartet have outdone it with Lenses Alien. [Oct 2011, p.106]

Despite the variety and many obvious influences... the Greenhornes leave their own unique fingerprint on every song. [Feb 2006, p.126]

Dave Hause is a self-proclaimed "rock guy," and he has carefully crafted Devour to remind you of such. [Nov 2013, p.86]

Woods is the best record EBTG never made, a new peak for Thorn in a career full of heights. [May 2007, p.162]

It's a tight little package of anthemic hook and heft that moves with even more purpose than 2012's Harmonicraft. [Mar 2015, p.94]

Their best album since BAGIA, possibly longer. [Apr 2014, p.92]

Standards succeeds by making the most of the intellectual side of Tortoise--their stylistic cross-pollinations, their meta-musical analyses--without ever losing sight of the music's ability to do more than engage the mind. [March 2001, p.94]

This Detroit outfit have restrained their post-punk intentions somewhat, playing with more textured compositions rather than blunt assault of their earlier material. This proves to be the perfect swirling yet steady backdrop for frontman Joe Casey to spin his cheap beer-fueled freeform yarns of lost souls and tortured romantics. [Oct 2017, p.83]

Once the chuckle factor (unavoidable with kitsch) wears off, Pizzicato Five are guilt-free--non-rockist, non-tech-head--perfect 2000-01 listening. [Jan. 2001, p.98]

Once you get past the roller-disco-house vibe of the first single, "One More Time," your ears and booty will twitch just fine to the booming beats and taffy-stretching grooves. [#153, p. 63]

Cliff hasn't sounded this loose and giddy in years, and it's a thrill to find that side of him back in the music game.

The Cribs manage to keep enough of their edge while dishing out another pile of consistently great pop songs. [Dec 2009, p.112]

The [concept album] format doesn't overshadow the songwriting. [Jun 2015, p.100]

The sound of growing up has rarely sounded so self-assured. [Aug 2006, p.218]

Though they change direction with almost every track, Doomriders maintain an ominous and almost sleazy air throughout, and by the time it's done you just might feel like you need a shower. [Nov 2013, p.88]

The fifth disc in this succession proves Clinic never skip a beat or miss a step. [June 2008, p.134]

Skeletal Laming furthers the notion that Kevin Barnes is, in fact, the Prince of our generation. [Dec 2008, p.138]

Generals replaces Fire's starched chamber-pop pretentions with airy vibrancy and eclecticism that continually surprises and entices. [Jul 2012, p.100]

This go-around, it reads vulnerable, and while we’ll never know how autobiographical the record may be, its universal appeal is undeniable.

Hi-Fi are catchier this time around, continuing to trip through their songs with the joy of a teenager who just learned the chord change from "Smells Like Teen Spirit." [Apr 2003, p.72]

Dizzying psychedelic bong-fodder that requires neither psychedelics nor bongs. [Aug 2005, p.176]

For both diehards and neophytes alike, Bad As Me works as Waits' "greatest methods" collection. [Nov 2011, p.98]

Fantastic. This is the best new band Sub Pop has worked with in years. [June 2008, p.131]

It all comes together to create a perfect album for those sleepless nights when you need help to combat the loneliness. [Apr 2016, p.100]

Exotic without ever being self-conscious, dreamy without ever missing the beat, and serious without losing the capacity for serious fun, Black Sun is a rare and heavenly event in the crowded universe of EDM.

This disc is heads-and-shoulders above his contemporaries. [Mar 2009, p.116]

Settle is a rare animal: an EDM album that actually flows like an album should. Listening to it, there's a feeling that as much thought went into the track sequencing as went into the sequenced rhythms.

It boasts some of Avary's most concise songwriting to date and a self-confident, unfettered vibe that's invigorating. [Jul 2012, p.89]

Slug and Ant have no aversion to a killer pop hook. [Sep 2002, p.76]

The album demands a lot from our short-attention-span culture, but it's not time you'll feel like you've wasted. [Sep 2015, p.98]

The group still employ the boy-loves-girl lyrical motif--but the way they've expanded their sonic palette to include more than typical Warped Tour fluff is both admirable and a bit risky. [Aug 2011, p.122]

Smart, eclectically but authentically funky, and humane to boot. [Oct 2005, p.168]

That rare double album with enough life in it to deserve that much real estate. [Aug 2006, p.208]

This is the stuff that draws people in and this is the record that should bring a whole passel of new fans into Seaway’s world.

The finest moments om the buzzsaw riffage category arrive via the majestic "Triumph," a waking Siamese (Day)Dream, and the skin peeling darkness of "Ripe." [Mar 2015, p.94]

Hold this band close to your temporal lobe.

It's not a "clever" record in any sense, but who needs to think when the music is this much raucous fun? [Sep 2015, p.98]

TBS still manage to drive home those angst-filled undertones fans have both embraced and expected since the band's inception. [Oct 2016, p.90]

An impressive effort. [Nov 2014, p.98]

Organically building upon thier contemplative-rock base, Lucky is full of intricate melodies and bridges, intense while at the same time awash with the delicate touch of human experience. [Mar 2008, p.144]

That Cohen and Midgett are still making music after decades of popular indifference and one act of unthinkable tragedy is admirable; that they're still making albums as soulful, uncompromising and evocative as Blood Under The Bridge is close to heroic.

Their music is just too smart. [June 2003, p.96]

String arrangements--plus frontman Dan Eastop's expressive vocals--save songs like "SF" from falling into rehash hell. [Jul 2004, p.146]

The shift toward less discord and more opportunity for a listener to sing along may initially throw off a seasoned HEALTH fan, but it is sure to introduce new ears to one of the most accessible noise bands of the last decade. [Sep 2015, p.98]

The result is a beautifully sad collision of melody-drenched, aggressive art rock that retains plenty of the fast-paced intensity the band's perfected. [Oct 2016, p.90]

It's DM's ability to make you dance and look over your shoulder--sometimes simultaneously--that makes them relevant. [Dec 2005, p.212]

Whisper encompasses everything a rock band should be in 2006. [Jul 2006, p.202]

[Earth Suck] gives off the sense that even the band don't quite know where they're going--but they'll have a fine, noisy time getting there. [Nov 2014, p.98]

While The Finer Things may be fashionably late for this summer, it’ll sure as hell hold you over to the next one.

The Afterman: Descension almost manages to stand alone, but because of one key element, it doesn't. The lyrics aren't literal or married to a narrative--the theme explored through metaphor. [Mar 2013, p.87]

A laser-sharp collection of songs written with two things in mind: rocking hard and having fun. [12/2000, p.110]

Hearing him cut loose on this new project is a welcome change, and his obvious affection for Gordon shines through every note of this charming effort. [Oct 2016, p.88]

The album's strongest moments are found in the duo's ability to live in the moment and take a deep, cleansing breath. [Nov 2014, p.88]