It's all unabashedly bizarre, but that's what makes it good. [Apr 2009, p.142]

Tracks like "Terra Firma" evoke every new-age-groove cliche imaginable, from Gregorian chants to pan flutes to politely understated hip-hop beats. [#152, p.74]

What Worlds never does is cohere in any appreciable way, stomping all over its finer moments with another synth glitterbomb and burdensome bass drop. [Sep 2014, p.107]

What matters is that Everything Is Borrowed is enough of a triumph that despite all evidence to the contrary, you'll be convinced the world is indeed a beautiful place. [Dec 2008, p.153]

On Fever, it's all about the harmonized riffs and the high-flying melodies interlocking with the type of rhythmic thud that feels like it could move the earth--and the pop charts. [May 2010, p.104]

The mild vulgarity and cute arrogance put to such an innocent melody [in "Fool Like Me"] is the brand of sass for which Cobra Starship are best known. Unfortunately, these traits are desperately lacking from the rest of Night Shades.

Garbage were always futuristic, but this album proves they're still ahead of the curve. {Jun 2012, p.81]

The baby-making music never reaches above its already-set guidelines to become something truly special, preferring to explore already charted (and re-charted) territory. [Apr 2007, p.180]

The Cross of My Calking is far more spirited [than their last album], creating a univese somewhere between Primal Scream's Rolling Stones phase and the Mars Volta's brand of jam science, with an occasional Bo Diddley beat thrown in. [Jan 2008, p.129]

Longwave aren't so much groundbreakers as they are purveyors of haunting, earnest pop. [Apr 2003, p.80]

Between The Senses follows in the hallowed Brit-rock tradition of trembling vocals, chiming midtempo guitars and delicate lyrical sensibilities. [Oct 2002, p.80]

Records like this deliver atmosphere and little else, and most of Pelo's 10 tracks make a point of ending two minutes later than they logically should, but still, feel-good artsy pop has never felt bubblier or more confident. [#151, p.72]

There's little sign of life here, only gently unassuming arpeggios and blanketing softness. [Jan 2004, p.98]

The sample-based backing tracks, hard-hitting but plain, don't have much choice but to play second-best. [Jan 2002, p.74]

The biggest problem on Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is that the campy B-movie samples and song titles like "Jesus Frankenstein" and "Werewolf, Baby!" come across as juvenile and lame. [Mar 2010, p.98

It seems silly to declare Time To Die too well put together, but it's not always the shapest knife that gets the most use. [Oct 2009, p.110]

As exhausting as it is brilliant. [Dec 2005, p.202]

A hint of what Pet Shop Boys would sound like with guitars. [Apr 2003, p.72]

Fans will enjoy his latest installment of heartbreak set to piano. [Mar 2003, p.92]

Songs like "16.12" are so captivating, you'll barely notice they're over 10 minutes long. [Dec 2004, p.162]

A crooning Busdriver is frequently more intelligible, revealing his sense of humor and beauty. [Mar 2012, p.94]

Although it sounds pristine, Youth often drifts along aimlessly, mostly because of shapeless songwriting that stresses atmosphere and sound sculpting over structure. [Jan 2014, p.95]

The songs on Get Hurt do all the talking for him, loud and proud, crashing and bashing into the night, taking heartache and turning it into triumph. Pure rock ’n’ roll.

Thankfully, there's enough variation in tempo, nuance and arrangements to stave off monotony. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Their fourth effort is sabotaged by a weak second half spent on played-out '80s darkwave fascinations. [Nov 2012, p.94]

In all, it's easily their most ambitious--and praiseworthy--effort to date. [Apr 2012, p.92]

Grainger's vocals, however, hang a little harsh in the mix without the jagged musical edges around them. Still, the essential energy in his performance powers through the awkward spots, making the disc a welcome payoff to a dance-punk dream destroyed.

The stitched together samples, drum machine splatters, and foreboding synthesizers come across like the soundtrack to a particularly quick edited and terrifying lo-fi horror flick.

Both Sole's most accomplished album and his least distinctive. [Apr 2005, p.130]

Alternately maddening and enlightening. [Jun 2003, p.110]

The duo-especially Urie, who turns in some of the premier performances of his career-sound absolutely recharged, likely a result of the lineup shuffling, but also perhaps a realization that the '70s were a nice place to visit for a couple years, but life in the 21st century is much more fun.

It's a handy metaphor for the record, and Folds in general: Obsessed with love but with a careful eye for the absurd, humanizing details. [Nov 2008, p.160]

Beyond weird? Yes, but in the best, most deliciously mind-bending of ways. [Oct 2013, p.88]

It's clear the band have grown up. [Apr 2009, p.135]

It's a moody composition with occasional moments of brilliance that will ultimately leave most listeners as confused as they are content. [Oct 2009, p.114]

Battle For The Sun takes the best elements of thier sound and focuses it into a cohesive listening experience--there's no filler to be found. [Jul 2009, p.130]

Matt and Kim deserve albums that sound clean and ambitious, but in all of Sidewalk's studio processing, their endearing personalities--decidedly brash, raw and awesome--unfortunately aren't well-represented. [Jan 2011, p.93]

A batch of lazy mid-afternoon pop songs that only sound better when his friends from Wilco show up to sing along. [Apr 2004, p.86]

There is very little here that makes any sort of meaningful connection. [Dec 2001, p.85]

Like a late-night screening of Blue Velvet, it may be hard to get through, but impossible to ignore. [Dec 2011, p.121]

At once loud and elegant, Karmacode raises Lacuna Coil's heaviness tenfold without sacrificing a drop of the band's mystical ambience. [May 2006, p.168]

Sweaty and thick, convincingly urgent and highly sexual. [Jul 2006, p.210]

This is some subversive fun. Baffling, however, is a nearly note-for-note sonic reproduction of the Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody." [Mar 2013, p.93]

This, more than any of their releases to date, is an actual album. [Jun 2002, p.90]

The disc's bread and butter is Auf Der Maur's smoking riffs. [Jun 2004, p.106]

There are faint notes of Bossa Nova and Kate Bush in Bejar's sunny yet skewed arrangements--femme flights of fancy that brush past '70s and '80s folk-pop without sounding less than organic and original.

There Are Rules truly stands out in the members' collective catalogs as a completely unique entity, and one that should be viewed as nothing less than an absolutely stunning success. [Feb 2011, p.85]

Pop's dirty-bassed rock may expand T.'s audience, but it's diminished his art. [Sep 2005, p.170]

With shorter songs and more restrained production it lacks the epic quality of its predecessor, and overall it is weaker for it.

A meticulous, flashy electronic-rock opus that doesn't come close to meeting its rock-star aspirations. [Sep 2001, p.76]

More fun than most of the original NYC no-wave bands to which the Seconds pay tribute. [May 2006, p.178]

Too Much Information has just the right balance of depth, maturity and consistency to ensure success. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Most of Neighborhood Watch is uncompromising proof that hip-hoppers, like rockers, can move units and still stay true. [May 2004, p.106]

There’s something un-Pixielike about that tentativeness, yes, but surely this group, and these fine if uncharacteristic songs, should have the chance to re-enter pop life on their own older, wiser terms.

Honkey Kong exhibits Hughes' versatility as a songwriter and performer, but it's at the expense of sonic continuity. [Oct 2011, p.106]

In place of Morcheeba's poetic brooding is a poppy, chorus-hook-chorus songwriting style that will probably irk a lot of their fans.... From the sounds of it, Morcheeba are going for the teen-pop market... [#146, p.104]

Bad news for fans of either party who'd expected the union to generate something revolutionary. [Dec 2002, p.85]

[Stephin] Merritt likes to sing about dancing--'I'm Lonely' gives us good reason to join him on the floor. [#147, p.92]

It's still a blast to listen to Hot Hot Heat when they sound like they're having fun, even if they have to fake it. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.169]

The collaborations produce some occasional gems, but midway through the disc one gets the impression the X-men are no longer "in their own session." [Feb 2002, p.82]

If you've been moved by Sparta before... you're going to have the same reaction once the roiling "Guns Of Memorial Park" opens this album. [Jul 2004, p.127]

This is isn't a terrible album, but considering the rest of their vibrant catalog, it just seems a bit stale. [Mar 2012, p.98]

Pathetic. [Jul 2005, p.182]

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

It's not that Hey People! is bad, because it's not--but it's not that good, either. [Feb 2006, p.126]

For the target audience, such education lines as "K is for kid fart/L is for long and loud farts" will leave house apes wondering what the fuck they ever saw in "Wheels On The Bus." [Oct 2008, p.153]

Marks a slight improvement from 1999's Bury The Hatchet. [Nov 2001, p.79]

Cheap Girls’ songs blur together--hell, so do their albums--but it’s something to take a deeper look at.

The album's got its share of throwaways, but it's definately an artifact of a band reaching their peak. [Apr 2008, p.160]

There is some filler, particularily within the latter half, which despite the inspired riffage, isn't as memorable as the former. If Fight was a smidge more consistent, it would certainly be receiving a higher rating in this review. [Apr 2009, p.131]

Nauseatingly upbeat. [Oct 2003, p.138]

All Amputechture does is test patience. [Oct 2006, p.200]

For the Malin faithful, these are the seeds from which the glitter in the gutter sprung. [Nov 2008, p.129]

Although we have a hard time following along with this one's theme, we do enjoy the music in spurts. [Jun 2009, p.103]

He and his mercenaries swing cleverly from noodly instruments to introspective acoustic ditties, but never settle down long enough to let their concoction congeal. [Jul 2009, p.127]

Shit rules so hard. [Oct 2009, p.108]

Gay For Johnny Depp succeed because they don't take themselves seriously and they know how to write a crushingly good hardcore song. [Mar 2011, p.93]

There are good cop/bad cop phrasing, well-placed electronic glitches and enough predictable, djent-ish riffing to keep the pit going. [Sep 2014, p.104]

It's rare to pull off an album this succint and not invite boredom; it's even rarer if it fucking rocks. [May 2008, p.135]

While he's a better songwriter than a singer, Eitzel definitely knows his way around a tune. [Jun 2002, p.82]

Too often, Kasher is lost in his screamy, overdramatic posturing. [Sep 2005, p.154]

There's nothing about Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee's performance on Life that will make you realize you're listening to Ben Folds Five. Still, a few songs are gems. [Oct 2012, p.84]

The Fratellis may have simply have heightened our expectations by sounding too good too soon. [Aug 2008, p.170]

Grand Romantic is proof-positive more Nate Ruess is always a good thing. [Jul 2015, p.100]

Certain segments remain faithful to the original material while others are unrecognizable through veils of sawing bass, guitar clank, expansive percussion marches and a gang of 50-year-old dudes reliving their adolescence through music and busted guts. [Dec 2014, p.107]

18 makes Play sound like a what-if experiment in techno blues; now Moby sounds like he means it as much as his sampler does. [May 2002, p.77]

While the album has occasional moments of brillance, most of these songs sound like underwhelming sketches instead of finished products. [Oct 2007, p.160]

The album nods to "Things'" lush, layered pop, while adding hefty shoegaze crunch, kicky new-wave synths and diffracted drone.[Dec 2008, p.148]

When the band are a little more concrete and less spooky, the results are especially compelling, but Screamworks is ultimately successful in its blending of melody and muscle. [Mar 2010, p.90]

Sadly, Modulate comes off as a former punk's clumsy and unsuccessful attempt at diving into a genre that relies less on the organic than it does on the synthetic. [May 2002, p.96]

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

Too much of this collection tries to get by merely on Allan's mumble-to-a-scream vocals and a smothering wall of reverb, leaving the instrumentation dull and the tunes indistinct. [Oct 2013, p.86]

Curses is all jutting hips, attitudinal riffs and massive kick drums that demand fists be pumped in the air. [Jun 2006, p.186]

The addition of electric instruments and Morello's nasal speak-singing do make Rebel Songs read a little like a radicalized Dylan. [Sep 2011, p.116]

Redolent of the sound of Spiritualized's Pure Phase. [Nov 2001, p.94]

...ya know? manages to maintain a cohesive sound despite its disjointed source material.

It's hard enough to decipher his demented verses without constant interference from squelchy synth-bass farts. [Aug 2006, p.222]

In addition to writing stronger songs, the trio seem much more comfortable and focused in the studio. [#153, p.85]