Dense, chaotic and ugly, every track challenges the listener to make it through the stormof noise in one piece, refusing to do anything the "easy" way. [Aug 2013, p.84]

More like sophomore triumph. [Nov 2014, p.94]

The Lemonheads is the album Dando should have made 10 years ago, and poppy punk ain't what it used to be. [Nov 2006, p.200]

Shines with a matured level of song composition. [Aug 2006, p.208]

The disc is at least 20 minutes too long, with Slug coming off like he's simply recycling the same lyrical ideas in the last third of the album. [Jun 2014, p.104]

With Nothing, Manchester Orchestra have created what will ineveitably be regarded as one of the landmark releases of 2009, and more noticeable they've exceeded the hype that's surrounded them for nearly three years. [May 2009, p.109]

Live! is essential listening for Decemberists obsessives--and an excellent primer for those who aren't fans just yet. [May 2008, p.135]

O finds Tilly And The Wall perfecting the art of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses--without losing their inherent sweetness or zest for music's restorative qualities. [July 2008, p.150]

While the album is rooted in chiming and growling guitar licks, the dense layers of each song are revealed only through multiple listens. [Jul 2001, p.66]

Only one or two tracks capture that combination of venom, wit and old-time Northwest angst that made Mudhoney one of the grunge movement's standouts. [Oct 2002, p.88]

It's the succinct pop of a punkier Squeeze or a sloppier, edgier Beatles that makes Sword a treasure. [Sep 2001, p.94]

Plays out like a tepid, second-rate version of Iowa, which pretty much makes it a third-rate anything else. [Jul 2004, p.142]

Carter and Ansell aren't reinventing the wheel, but they've got a way nicer ride than most of the pretenders currently being exalted by friendless bloggers. [Aug 2012, p.84]

This album absolutely stands on its own, never requiring visual accompaniment; for Air fans, it's a vital addition to their catalog. [Mar 2012, p.94]

The band have finally created songs as big as their love-and-death themes. [Nov 2007, p.163]

The band seem determined to be the molten missing link between Black Sabbath and Black Mountain, making Himalayan a towering triumph. [May 2014, p.88]

He's rarely assembled a stronger collection of songs. [May 2010, p.102]

At its best, the disc forges a middle ground where trebly guitar power is fortified by the electronics, resulting in a new propulsion. At its worst, the disc is as meaningful as "superstar DJ" sets, designer drugs and having your picture taken by the Cobrasnake. [Feb 2009, p.99]

The larger flaw of This Is All Yours is the excessive studio ornamentation attached to songs like "Choice Kingdom" and "Hunger Of The Pine" that fails to cover up unbalanced, disjointed writing. [Oct 2014, p.96]

A smart, slashing set of B-plus-level pop-punk. [Apr 2003, p.78]

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

On Sunshine and a handful of others, she's M.I.A. protege in Kala mode; elsewhere, she's been "optimized" for a climate more partial to Nicki Minaj. [Jun 2012, p.84]

This is Terror at their very best. [May 2013, p.92]

The disappointing thing about New Moon is that it could have been better.

The most accomplished work of Grohl's post-Nirvana career. [Aug 2005, p.174]

The songs have the urgency and vitriol we've come to expect from the band, but there's one major problem: the spit shine production. [Jul 2004, p.128]

Disappointingly forgettable. [Nov 2005, p.218]

More proof that sophomore efforts don't have to be sleepy. [Oct 2006, p.212]

in•ter a•li•a isn’t about capturing a zeitgeist as much as it is about jumpstarting some urgency in a rock scene that desperately needs more wild abandon and psychic plasma.

Another Sound Is Dying, despite the title connotation, is indeed giving birth to a stirring new noise. [Apr 2008, p.156]

M83's latest flight into the synthesized stratosphere is so steeped in '80s influence, it;s as if teen filmmaker John Hughes was lurking behind the keyboards. [June 2008, p.137]

So the Furnances are up to their usual tricks, making unexpected mash-ups of their own ideas. [Nov. 2007, p.160]

There's lots of talent in this New York sextet, but it gets lost in all the unbridled exploration and layers.

Go Plastic fuses the insanely intricate beat programming of Feed Me Weird Things and Daddy with the abstruse experimentation of 1998's Music is Rotted One Note. It's the best of both worlds. [Aug 2001, p.98]

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

Perfect major-label American alt-rock--slick, smart and serious enough without being somber to reach out to even the least emotionally confused people without scaring off the moody ones. [May 2002, p.94]

An acquired taste. [Sep 2004, p.124]

Singer Ricky Wilson holds it together with his charismatic personality, demanding you sit up and listen the second he opens his mouth to kick things off. [Dec 2008, p.146]

The Color Before The Sun manages to maintain momentum for its duration, proving Coheed have shown themselves a band skilled in evading the lines of genres. [Nov 2015, p.100]

The album creeks through 13 unlucky tracks that range from minimalist, Leonard Cohen-esque piano dirges to demented waltzes with equal aplomb. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Most of the songs are brutal, chugga-chugga workouts, with Phil Labonte barking like a roid-raging Masshole spoiling for a fight while the band riffs away behind him. [Nov 2010, p.108]

Punchier production and more energetic songwriting point The North in the right direction. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Owen leave behind the emotional outbursts of his collaborations with his brother Tim in Cap'n Jazz, Joan Of Arc and Owls, but keep a quieter, suburban rage alive on his sixth album. [Dec 2011, p.121]

Monuments to an Elegy is a stunning return to form, offering concise songs that plumb the vocalist/guitarist's stock in trade while offering new sonic veneers. [Jan 2015, p.93]

The Orchard is a significantly more melancholy collection of songs. But melancholy seems to suit Ra Ra Riot, especially since they don't get too caught up in its gloom. [Sep 2010, p.113]

One-man synth-pop act Ernest Greene's singing lacks firm consonants and dribbles out unintelligibly most of the time over the most compelling of his stripped-down electronic compositions. [Aug 2011, p.122]

Gibbard isn't reinventing himself with Former Lives, but after a decade and a half in the business, he proves he's still got a lot to say. [Nov 2012, p.88]

How they were able to construct an entire multi-layered universe (sonically, lyrically and with narration!) for listeners to get lost in-while writing some of the strongest and catchiest songs of their career-is anyone's guess. For the cookie-cutter bands and haters out there, that's what we call sweet revenge.

A laid-back meshing of chilled hip hop, late-night jazz and upscale dancefloor grooves. [Aug 2002, p.84]

The album doesn't stary too far from what made MUTEMATH such an enjoyable listen, but it's nuances cement Armistice as the band's best work to date. [Sep 2009, p.99]

Once you assimilate to his timbre, the earworm hooks and easygoing drive of Giant Orange will be a welcome salve to the wounded spirit. [Mar 2012, p.94]

Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is a collection of alt-country songs that alternate between darkly funny and deathly serious, cleverly coy and crappily dull. [Mar 2008, p.140]

The simple, muscular rock and folk are matched in directness by lyrics that keep returning to troubled relationships, and risk the occasional awkward line to make their point. [May 2009, p.121]

Guitarist Lindsey Troy's molten riffage and roaring voice-landing between Karen O and Brody Dalle--are paired perfectly with drummer Julie Edwards' wall-shaking bears on "Your Love's A Lie," which is as (not very) sensitive as this collections gets. [Nov 2013, p.88]

K-os occasionally veers into icky soft-pop territory on Atlantis, but give him props for mostly imagining where hip-hop might go in the future rather than recycling its past. [Mar 2007, p.144]

With more focus on Knopf's reedy voice, acoustic guitar and piano/synth progressions, Intuit sets itself apart from Knopf's day job with aplomb. [Sep 2009, p.108]

Fun with out being frivolous or dumb, the album lives up to pre-release hype and solidifies Kid Sister as the fiercest new hip-hop female on the block. [Feb 2009, p.107]

While This Addiction might not be perfect, it's a more than respectable entry into the band's already sizable canon, proving that though they may be in that rarified group of punk-rock lifers, Alkaline Trio aren't done evolving yet. [Mar 2010, p.89]

Though it unfortunately eschews the dynamic emotive crests and space of past efforts in favor of MO's intensely urgent intent, its results make it a completely worthy addition to an already strong alt-rock catalog. [May 2014, p.89]

Unfortunately, the tinny stutters and retro keyboards... drag when they're not amped up on desire. [Dec 2003, p.158]

Admittedly, Emblems begins to drag towards the end, but the album succeeds on a visceral level. [Jul 2004, p.136]

Jet storm the new rock pack with the diverse appeal and catchy compositions. [Nov 2003, p.112]

The Most Serene Republic play it incredibly safe while maintaining thier baroque-rock rep. [Aug 2009, p.111]

Givers have created a debut that will surely set them atop the indie-rock world, if not only for their strict adherence to trying everything possible and succeeding gloriously at it all.

It's impossible not to throw up the horns, bang the head and get caught up in the heavenly haze of 13.

By creating an homage to youthful, timeless pop-punk--New Found Glory sound revitalized and relevant. [Nov 2011, p.91]

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.

If you’ve long hoped for a more mainstream direction and always wanted to hear just how sweet a singer Krauss is, Bitter Rivals could be your favorite Sleigh Bells yet. But if you’re wishing they could’ve evolved in a way that didn’t involve quite so many ballads and especially not at the expense of what made Sleigh Bells so great, this might not be as essential as you presumed it would be.

Comparatively [from debut Celebrasion], About Last Night is significantly polished; the sound is brighter, and Kandel’s vocals have become smoother and more refined

Avery's overall strengths are his lyrics and his delivery, where each song tells a story that you simply can't wait to hear. [Apr 2017, p.80]

Pretty.Odd can be summed up in one word: ambitious. [Apr 2008, p.147]

Smoke is a pleasant pastiche of David Bowie's "Berlin" period--with a lab-coated synth freakout at disc's end for all those Morton Subotnick fans out there. [Dec 2007, p.188]

A Hundred Miles Off is nearly 100-percent on. [Jul 2006, p.204]

There is a breadth of influence throughout, even if the energy level rarely falls below absurdly scorching and the sonic approach remains a fuzzy haze. [Apr 2008, p.150]

Either way, previous Academy Is... fans will surely dig the tunes, but Fast Times is probably not the album that will see the band expand their scope too far out of the high school/Warped Tour crowd.

Comatose-inducing. [Mar 2003, p.94]

Points to a genius that should overtake the world of IDM like a funky tsunami. [Jul 2002, p.81]

Warm, lush soundtracks bathe the ears in the same bittersweet symphonics that marked out the latter-day Verve. [#146, p. 82]

Eight near-impeccable tracks. [Nov 2004, p.140]

Their most complete-sounding disc to date. [Mar 2004, p.91]

Either the worst or the best thing I've heard all year. [Dec 2004, p.152]

The anger is what makes The People's Key's best moments so vital. [Mar 2011, p.98]

The cutest couple this side of Jack and Meg do exactly that [get serious] on the shockingly accomplished Grand. [Feb 2009, p.100]

Choosing to keep the songs dark and dreary bogs down Mini Mansions. That criticism aside, the band know how to craft a song, letting it build and drop when necessary. [Dec 2010, p.114]

They can take their time crafting their next move, as they've given us lots to chew on here with this dense, pleasing, and--most importantly--fully enjoyable album.

What's left are halfhearted Hold steady wannabes and dull stabs at poignancy.

Like many trilogies, though, the third one stumbles to reach the bar set by its predecessors. However, Morning certainly doesn't suck, and fans will appreciate its place in the evolution of Eels. [Sep 2010, p.109]

The fantastic Ghostory actually sounds more realized than their previous two full-lengths. [Mar 2012, p.98]

They care not a whit about market share, EDM remixers or having annoying YouTube stars and/or rappers guest on their sessions, choosing instead to light up psychic votive candles for Joe Strummer, Desmond Dekker and Lemmy in order to capture the very same spirit those artists conjured all those decades ago.

For all of its precocious, borderline bratty moments, Death Of A Bachelor is a remarkably nuanced affair. [Feb 2016, p.95]

Flowers suffers from lyrical impairment and bloated self-importance throughout the rest of the album. [Jan 2008, p.121]

This is metalcore comfort food from two veterans, and little more. [Feb 2011, p.90]

It might not be Disintegration, but Optica confirms these Swedes as worthy acolytes. [Mar 2013, p.93]

Sound[s] like the work of a band once again coming into their own. [Feb 2006, p.128]

Nothing Hill works best when Adamson keeps his mouth shut and focuses on crafting moody instrumentals. [Oct 2002, p.76]

Packed with earnest but impotent stadium rock. [Jul. 2002, p.82]

Green's heightened tunefulness along with the broadened emotional resonance that results should enable this band to relate more to an enlarged fanbase... [#154, p.63]

CRX's only real mistake might be releasing a top-down record perfect for summer at the end if the year. [Dec 2016, p.100]