A collection of crisp, melodic pop tunes that showcase not only his musical abilities, but his vocal skills as well. [Mar 2007, p.145]

It's nice Walla's doing his own thing, but it's also clear from Field Manual that in terms of his main band, credit has always been given where credit was due. [Mar 2008, p.141]

The album provides further evidence of Drozd's remarkable artistic growth since he took on a more active songwriting role starting with The Soft Bulletin. [Sep 2014, p.106]

Its sweeping cinematic scope and all-instrumental tracks recall the lushness of Orbital in their prime. [Oct 2002, p.86]

Masterfully crafted torch songs, coated with a thin layer of orchestral gloss and trip-hop beats that stand out as unique. [May 2001, p.64]

The sound is just as expected: sweaty, sexy and leaner than a Thanksgiving turkey. [May 2002, p.94]

With a deeper, more mature sound, Halfway sounds like the work of a producer in mid-career crisis making music inspired by the dancefloor, but not shackled to it. [12/2000, p.89]

It's wonderful stuff, partly because Shearwater's renditions are lovely enough to make you want to seek out the real things, and partly because, really, does anyone need another bloody cover? [Dec 2013, p.100]

Their eighth album, Oblivion With Bells, showcases a more refined approach. [Nov 2007, p.176]

Mercer manages to sing behind the beat, beside it, in front of it, all while tossing out upper-division stanzas that are mostly cryptic, sometimes creepy, and occasionally sublime. [Apr 2009, p.134]

There's always been a heavier influence in the band's music, but on Arrows & Anchors, their ambitious desires to step outside the genre box often get bogged down in a sea of down-tuned guitar and maudlin lyrics.

A tastefully echo-bathed, psychocandy-flavored production job by the Raveonetts' Sune Rose Wagner, and you've got a soaring and psychedelic dream-pop stunner that will leave you wondering how being bummed can feel so inanely good. [Sep 2013, p.88]

Penny feels both sculpted and spontaneous. [Oct 2010, p.112]

Their songs are categorically contagious and surprisingly smart. [Sep 2005, p.164]

Instead of rehashing rap and rock, he smashes up pop melodies, metal riffs and industrial beats with a hammer, creating something that teeters on parody yet heralds an enthusiastic return to the days when hair metal knew how to get the crowds loaded. [Apr 2002, p.65]

Feels like a jam session--bluesy keyboard lines and guitar riffs busk with soul-inflected harmonies, world-music percussion and complex, exotic rhythms. [Apr 2002, p.68]

While their weird is very often wonderful, these 10 tracks are somewhat inconsistent. [Oct 2014, p.98]

A renewed sense of purpose exudes from every song, with an abundance of electronics playing nicely with their roiling guitar rock. [Apr 2017, p.80]

It's by far the most readily accessible release in the A&C catalog and heightened the Stills anxieties to pathological levels, like setting bullet points from "An Inconvenuient Truth" to upbeat tunes. [Sep 2008, p.150]

Abounds with ADULT.'s trademark terse tension you can dance to--albeit as if in a straitjacket. [Apr 2005, p.128]

While all the riffs and parts are brillantly performed, they rarely if ever repeat one, and none stick in your head after the band is gone. [Dec 2009, p.108]

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]

[Often the album] leads to pleasant but forgettable songs, leaning toward Britpop.

Red Light is a sturdier, more rocking affair (relatively speaking) [than their debut]. [Jul 2012, p.94]

It's like BVB's other output in that it's not perfect, but the high points are still pretty damn high.

Fly By Wire is more nuanced, mature take on the group's comfort-food keyboard-pop. [Oct 2013, p.92]

There are hints of something fresh on There's Nothing Wrong With Me. [Dec 2014, p.106]

¡Tré! feels scattershot and slapped together, making it difficult to enjoy on its own merits.

On 2008's Brain Thrust Mastery, the trio attempted to inject a bit more seriousness and Brit-pop influence into their best-when-kept-simple sound, to varying results, but Barbara finds them back in their comfort zone--fun, danceable pop-rock.

There's a fine line between vintage rock revision and progressive insight--Hammond Jr. has mastered the balance. [Aug 2008, p.170]

The Bronx III shouldn't be perceived as a misstep, because this band's growing pains have more character than the parade of desperate losers saddled with pay-to-play blues lined up in front of L.A.'s Roxy Theatre. [Dec 2008, p.129]

The songs sound more like a collection of B-sides than a new album. [Dec 2006, p.206]

Portamento is a dramatic, bitchy and playful collection that can channel the aforementioned grief through the Drums' lively fingers, and come out effervescent on the other side.

Succeeds only as an inessential novelty. [Jan 2004, p.98]

While they are accomplished musicians and combine their growling, death-metal-influenced moments with a wealth of shiny hooks, they fail to do so in a way that counts. [Feb 2012, p.84]

While such eclecticism usually plays better across the pond, it's hard to resist the nimble melodies and kinetic enthusiasm the Scientists put on display, even if the authenticity is somewhat suspect. [July 2008, p.158]

The singer continues to exude a sophistication that raises the bar for aggressive rockers who can mature with both grace and continued relevance. [Nov 2011, p.93]

The sound of an artist losing the qualities that made him unique to begin with. [Apr 2006, p.216]

Chirpin Hard makes you feel like you're getting chased by a swarm of giant mosquitoes in a scrolling Mega Man hellscape circa 1992, while Church Gone Wild is a nerve-shattering whirlwind of atonal chaos. [May 2005, p.168]

As long as there's a hunger for heavy riffs, Monotonix will satify. [Oct 2009, p.111]

The dozen tracks crackle with the energy of post-millennial British rock and the hook-lined swoon of the late-'80s British post-wave. [Sep 2011, p.120]

Highly Suspect successfully avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.

A cluttered, derivative mess. [Dec 2006, p.200]

Channels the spirits of no wave via clinks and clanks, doomy vocal chants, ominous tribal thumps, abstract guitar scraping and jarring haunted-forrest samples. [Mar 2004, p.110]

Don't Believe The Truth strips away the layered excess of albums like 1997's Be Here Now to revisit the streamlined pomposity of the group's earliest discs. [Jul 2005, p.182]

Herren manages to deliver another dense, cinematic electronic record without repeating himself or--worse--the competition. [Dec 2007, p.187]

The chops are there, the gimmck is there, and hopefully, the fanbase will be there, too. [Apr 2009, p.135]

The Red Album is a wonderful jumping-off point for their second wind. [July 2008, p.145]

N.A.S.A.'s dope beats and wet-dream collaborations make Apollo an absolute must-have. [Jun 2009, p.111]

Nearly everything that made Fitz And The Tantrums interesting has been thrown out the window for More Than A Dream. Fitzpatrick has run out of anything interesting to say, instead relying on awful cliches. [Jun 2013, p.96]

There’s a good deal of filler on In A Warzone, to be sure, but fortunately there are still some rewards awaiting those who stick it out.

Building on the same base that made his early material brilliant (a love for both odd sounds and cheesy pop), Warren has painted himself into a musical corner: knowing its hard to get any listener to swallow the same thing repeatedly outside the mainstream market, but also wanting to indulge his muse. [#151, p.78]

The humor practiced by Black and cohort Kyle Gass hasn't evolved much since [2008's "Pick Of Destiny"]; Fenix is loaded with classic-rock-aping material which simultaneously admires and lampoons everything from Star Wars ("Deth Starr") to organized religion ("Throwdown").

The overall ambition is commendable, but perhaps a better plan of action would have been to strip the story completely, cull together the album’s best songs and instead close the EP trilogy with a stronger, shorter release.

As a collective work, Pacific Daydream is ultimately a step below the resurgent greatness of the White Album, but it still soundly ranks in the upper tier of Weezer’s new-millennium output. It’s peppered with some of the band’s best songs in recent memory.

Despite its pristine arrangements, Colonia turns into sonic NyQuil about halfway through, and ends up a low-day--albeit impeccable-sounding-listen. [Jun 2009, p.102]

Even songs in White Lies' comfort zone--namely the brooding ballad "Change," which wears its Joy Division influences proudly--feels more confident. Only the cringe-inducing "First Time Caller," whose lyrics riff on the tired "first-time caller/long-time listener" radio phrase, truly drags down Big TV. [Sep 2013, p.94]

Jaill's pacing and musical phrasing feels noticeably lethargic. [Jul 2012, p.94]

The album sounds, not surprisingly, overproduced, lacking even a hint of the earthy quality of 'I Do Not Want...' and leaving little space for O'Connor to stretch out vocally. [#146, p.96]

In simplest terms, this is emotional catharsis put to pop music. And it sounds fucking great. [Jun 2006, p.174]

There's very little here to grab the listener. [Nov 2007, p.162]

Seattle's Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band make a dramatic leap forward on this meditative follow-up to their eponymous 2009 debut. [Sep 2010, p.112]

Fire's beauty often feels distant and untouchable. [Sep 2005, p.164]

Some Loud Thunder isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures. [Feb 2007, p.114]

You'll probably get annoyed after about 30 seconds. [May 2005, p.138]

Other than the booming, Devo-ish vocal effects on "Spacetime," these songs aren't pushing the envelope--but you should still tear it open and look inside. [Aug 2011, p.114]

RJD2 has taken a lot of different paths in the past, but here he's found a way to make his diverse tastes blend into one cohesive effort. [Feb 2010, p.97]

As singer-songwriters go, Barlow's not worthy to make a Starbucks run for Conor Oberst, Jim White, Joseph Arthur or Chris Carrabba. [Mar 2005, p.122]

A fine distillation of everything New Order have been. [May 2005, p.176]

Unsurprisingly, he's at his best when he's melding heartfelt lyrics with otherworldly noise. [Sep 2006, p.230]

Listening to American Central Dust ultimately feels a bit too much like working on an assembly line. [Aug 2009, p.114]

Sounds like a teenage Faith No More at their first practice. [Sep 2003, p.116]

Painfully pretentious, plodding, self-indulgent drivel. [Jun 2003, p.97]

There is little on Golden State to differentiate it from its predecessors. [Dec 2001, p.76]

Deheza's still a fine singer and there are plenty of interesting tones and sounds flitting across the background, but all it ever coalesces into is wan, directionless, dance rock.

California sounds like what Blink-182 probably should sound like in 2016: upbeat, hooky and, above anything else, a total blast. Some will call the lack of truly progressive moments a regression while others will hail the album for being a breezy throwback. But Hoppus, Skiba and Barker have given Blink-182 momentum for future productivity and success.

Ultimately, the album's main fault is its resolute consistency, namely the fact that things basically run on one speed, and it gets repetitive quickly.

Multicultural rage is all well and good, but when you cop your flow from Vanilla Ice, it undermines your underground cred. [Jan 2002, p.98]

Solidly entertaining. [Aug 2004, p.122]

They lard The Printz with rote Aggressive Rock Radio fodder. [Jul 2004, p.148]

Bubblegum electronica with enough experimentation to keep things interesting. [Oct 2001, p.86]

On some songs... the cutting-and-pasting fails to produce anything new, but a handful of others blend their textures beautifully. [Sep 2004, p.122]

Rewolf is as essential to Asobi Seksu's oeuvre as any of their preceding records. [Dec 2009, p.108]

Unfortunately, the band overcompensate for all the testosterone with modern-rock romps like "Some Say" and with bland ballads like "Slipping Away." [Dec 2004, p.142]

Bright Lights is a super-serious record that demostrates some super-serious song craft. [May 2008, p.130]

Mostly, the band have improved their songcraft and melodies, as evident in the positively infectious album highlight "Bad Blood." [Apr 2010, p.122]

The album doesn’t work for all moods or times of day. It’s a dusk-to-dawn kind of collection that emanates a lovely, flickering fire-like glow from within.

Aveo's songwriting isn't as intriguing as their sound. [May 2004, p.94]

Yes, it sounds like Yes, and, no, I don't mean that in a good way. [Nov 2003, p.99]

Closest in style to 'Systemisch', it lacks the sublime glow of 'Diskont94', but it updates the former's chugging wash with a more varied tonal palette. [#146, p.97]

Other than "I Ejaculate Fire," the lyrics aren't that funny--it often seems like Small is trying to write real metal songs. And it's hard to see the point of that.

Yuck probably aren't mourning Blumberg's loss, but Glow & Behold--though more scattershot and less striking than Yuck--would be an ambitious and creative coping mechanism. [Nov 2013, p.94]

Contains three best-of-year-brilliant songs. [Mar 2006, p.124]

Even if McMahon's inspiration (lyrical and otherwise) are transparent on Passenger, the execution of his influences is impeccable. [Oct 2008, p.147]

Invicta is a real treat. [Feb 2012, p.84]

When they stick to the ’60s Cali Pop of the uplifting “We Are Done” and dreamy “California Rain,” they produce some remarkably winning songs worthy of van-loads of bearded, guitar-toting indie popsters aping the Beach Boys and the Mommas And The Papas. When they miss, though, it’s more unbearable than rush hour traffic on the 405.

Though such pop gloss ruins many indie acts, it fits CSS as snugly as vocalist Lovefoxx's Lycra stagewear. [Sep 2008, p.162]

In comparison with many imitators, Tanaka does what he does well... [Aug 2001, p.88]