If helium-filled kitsch 'n' synth tunes float your boat, this CD will satisfy. [Sep 2002, p.87]

He seems hell-bent on sabotaging his amiable, acoustic-guitar-based songs with the sort of distortion and static that drive most engineers up the soundproofed wall. [Jan 2005, p.114]

The band ultimately lose the pop craftsmanship and hook-filled bite that distinguished their debut. [Oct 2005, p.166]

Umpteen attempts at serious lyrics topple this album right off the runway. [Apr 2014, p.91]

Every successful band eventually put out a bloated album, and for Northern Ireland's Snow patrol, it's Fallen Empires. [Feb 2012, p.84]

A slick, expertly crafted crossover plea that can't quite push Oakenfold past every other beat-happy producer out there. [Aug 2002, p.88]

There's not much sonic discovery or eviscerating emotion here to elevate godhead outside the Pro-Tools realm of co-headlining tours with Stabbing Westward. [#151, p.82]

The music is fresh and compelling, sure, but there's nothing in the lyrics or the instrumentation that leads one to assume these musicians haven't been acquiring experience on the road for a dozen years. [Feb 2011, p.90]

Frontman Chris Carrabba then shifts into the "Mature Artist" EP, showcasing critic-approved influences like U2 and the Cure ("Blame It On The Changes"), but goes too far with the acoustic mewl of "Even Now" (which is so personal, it's awkward) and "The Motions," a failed experiment in '80s pop. [Jan 2010, p. 92]

A slick, synthed-up, unabashed party. [May 2014, p.92]

Buffalo Daughter seem more concerned with emulating others than with creating their own niche. [Apr 2002, p.66]

Head shows Eve 6 tweaking and perfecting their sound to become even more consistent and solid. [Aug 2003, p.104]

The album as a whole is scattershot; it's easy to appreciate the boundaries that Zion I are pushing, but the best authors have great editors. [Feb 2009, p.107]

Vannucci, stepping out from behind the drum kit, may not exactly be Dave Grohl, but his rock 'n' roll yelp is fitting with the music and a solid reminder that we don't need glitzy synths to craft solid, raucous songs. [Aug 2011, p.112]

High Llamas make the trendy retreat into their parents' soundtrack-filled record collection, and on Buzzle Bee, they use a film editor's aesthetic to cut, splice and dissolve their Pet Sounds-based pop into scenes from the celluloid past. The result is as atmospheric as Air, but not as danceably substantial. [#152, p.81]

The band have thankfully corrected course for their self-titled sophomore full-length, but Forever The Sickest Kids is still a frustrating listen at times.

The Pretty Reckless seems to have tried too hard to come across as outrageous. It's got every contrived reference possible along with clips of brainwashing television sermons and sound bites recreated from cheap porn. [Apr 2014, p.93]

Even if this Boat doesn't always stay afloat, Cook's eager-to-please melodic sensibilities can still get jaws a-smilin'. [Mar 2009, p.116]

There's a slickness to the sound as well-not to mention a pop sensibility, which could combine to give the band a shot in the Anglophobic US market. [May 2009, p.122]

This isn’t a record to slap on for kicks or to challenge the bass response of your car stereo; this is the album that makes you want to scowl under gray skies as you slog to your day job.

If 1987-era U2 is your bag, you'll dig it. [Jul 2001, p.74]

It's proof that there's plenty of life left in its creators. [Aug 2017, p.83]

It's almost silly to accouse An American Movie of being overproduced, because string-driven flights of fancy and studio gloss are simply what successful well-adjusted nice-guy bands do on their third album. [#146, p.89]

For all of his wild swinging, Jones never fully connects. [May 2005, p.136]

Even with these late-in-the-game flubs This Is War still shines as an artistic triumph for 30 Seconds To Mars. [Jan 2010, p.91]

A marked improvement over their eponymous debut, North sounds like Muse and the Stone Roses on steroids. [Jan 2005, p.113]

Darker, glitchier and garage-punkier... a gamble that doesn't always strike gold. [Jan 2005, p.114]

JXL's enthusiastic proficiency is largely consistent throughout. [Apr 2008, p.162]

The crossbreeding makes for a difficult listen, even thought it sharpens the Oscar Wilde-like wit Momus brings to the endeavor. [#155, p.86]

The serious tone is a natural progression for the Sounds but Rubicon's downfall is that it's songs don't linger much after the music stops. [Jul 2009, p.128]

With its techno beats, yowling vocals and laughably cliched lyrics, "I Am Your Skin" fumbles at being a love song, while "She's So Bendable" (the band's vision of Lou Reed fronting the Jesus And Mary Chain) is beyond generic. [Jan 2010, p. 92]

Basically, Odditorium sounds like a giant "fuck you" to [their] record label. [Nov 2005, p.218]

Not as overtly catchy (or cheesy) as Discovery, Human After All nonetheless is a hilariously cold and mechanical work that makes Kraftwerk sound like Curtis Mayfield. [May 2005, p.138]

Overall, The Boy With No Name has just enough personality to remind imitators like Coldplay and Keane from whence they came. [Jun 2007, p.151]

The songs tend to meander along without a sense of overall purpose. [Dec 2006, p.188]

Asstoria radiates a childlike glee and naivete you'll wish you still had. [Apr 2003, p.70]

Lady Sovereign celebrates her freedom from Def Jam not by leading with the (middle) finger, but instead by showing her vulnerability....[But after the first three tracks,] the old Lady Sov returns. [May 2009, p.123]

Man, this thing sucks. [Oct 2004, p.146]

A rock record that sounds a lot like Sebadoh with an aspiring guitar hero. [Mar 2003, p.94]

Raditude seems intent on establishing itself as a now album, sacrificing any sort of cohesive vibe for a pop-friendly disc designed for car stereos to be turned to 11.

He's never sounded more confident. [Mar 2005, p.134]

Though a giant-sized step in the right direction, Younger is not without its growing pains. [Jan 2011, p.92]

Lonely will buy Hawthorne Heights a few more minutes beyond the 15 they've already received. Here's to hoping they'll use that time to think outside of the box a little more when they write LP3. [Mar 2006, p.119]

The music, more polished and synthetic than ever, is fine.... But too much of this album comes off like self-parody. [Oct 2013, p.92]

For now, this stands as another good if inessential addition to their catalog-a phrase that, for better or worse, applies to the majority of their output.

A rewarding art-pop risk. [Dec 2004, p.148]

Ungrateful comes off as cluttered and confused. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Avenged Sevenfold is so all over the map musically and lyrically, it's difficult to decipher whether it's pure genius or the most convoluted mess of music you'll hear all year. [Dec 2007, p.178]

This is electronic by numbers. [Jun 2009, p.111]

Undercut by passion and urgency. [Jan 2005, p.113]

This North Carolina sextet's satisfying angst gets replaced with tinny keyboard effects and Guster-ready bongo drums. With every song, vocakist Adam Baker oozes further into an imaginary indie-lite Pixar flick. [May 2010, p.102]

Shawn Christensen's vocals are buried in the mix, while songs fly by with no memorable structure or hooks. [Aug 2009, p.115]

Maybe if Keith had spent more time on his lyrics and less time watching reality TV, this would be a better album. [Dec 2008, p.152]

Oracle sees Kittie moving from novelty status to bone-crushing legitimacy. [Jan 2002, p.86]

Deadsy's mix of electronics, death-metal distortion and lugubrious vocals offers something magnificently alien, yet familiar. [Jun 2002, p.69]

KMFDM rebound from the lukewarm MDFMK project pulsing and palpitating with a sense of urgency that proves this machine is not obsolete. [May 2002, p.88]

It has a hard time hitting the kind of peaks required to make a singer-songwriter disc truly memorable. [Jun 2006, p.180]

On their fourth full-length, the Used have delivered not only the definitive album of thier career, butarguably one of the best records you'll hear in 2009. [Sep 2009, p.109]

The isolation that came from recording in a remote cabin in the woods of upstate New York is palpable, and the sly inclusion of cello and viola upstage the requisite tambourines, handclapss and acoustic guitar. [May 2010, p.108]

Though each song is plainly predictable, the album is never boring as each track packs a few twists that thrill. [Apr 2015, p.91]

Except for the dearth of truly original ideas, Love Part II is, at its core, just another Angels & Airwaves record--nothing more, nothing less. [Jan 2012, p.100]

Although it could easily pass as B-sides from 2007's "War Stories," it's actually a sprawling, atmospheric effort with enough interesting tangents to appeal to even jaded "Never, Never Land" fans. [Oct 2008, p.170]

The Australian five-piece dismiss any notion of a sophomore slump. [Jul 2012, p.100]

There are no real surprises on Bleed, but as a return to the steady Garbage ferocity of old, it's first rate. [May 2005, p.134]

Mostly it works. [Mar 2009, p.113]

Sometimes it works, other times it just sounds bitter and gratuitous. [Jul 2013, p.96]

Haters can hurl epithets toward Drew and NSN as much as they want, but the singer's sincerity simply cannot be denied.

Epic and memorable. [Jun 2006, p.188]

What none of these songs has... is a hook that sticks with you. [Jul 2006, p.204]

The dozen synth-and-drum-machine-laden tracks that make up Hologram Jams range from percolating to breezy to nostalgic to inescapably annoying as hell. [Apr 2010, p.123]

It's a shame that there's so little of note on Free, because Gil Norton's production is fantastic as usual. But bless his heart, it's ultimately a wasted effort.

Noel Gallagher's songwriting is more derivative than ever. [Aug 2002, p.78]

This record sounds like Story Of The Year if they weree from the UK--energetic pop-hardcore that's ultimately a bit on the fogettable side. [Jul 2009, p.122]

These 14 songs find the band raging as hard as they ever have. [Jun 2015, p.97]

Between the bloated song lengths and repetitive arrangements, What Angels & Airwaves really need for LP3 is an editor. [Dec 2007, p.184]

Not much on Magnetophone's debut really distinguishes them from the legion of bedroom-based nerds playing with the same breakbeats and software as they do. [March 2001, p.83]

Lonely Road thrusts RJA away from being categorizeed as a "scene band," instead jouneying deep into the realm of radio-oriented modern rock. [Mar 2009, p.110]

III features the type of effortless electro-pop which made the act's 2006 debut, We Are Pilots, so irresistible. [Nov 2012, p.94]

What keeps Bitchin' from being more fun than Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson's sex tape is Jay Ruston's production job. [Nov 2007, p.170]

Blood is a disappointing step backward from a band that showed real greatness only two years ago. [Sep 2012, p.90]

The reason it works is that the songs themselves are consistently interesting without recognizable samples or gimmicks, often boasting melodies you'll walk away humming. [Oct 2012, p.88]

The Brazilian party inciters still diversify deftly on their fourth full-length, Planta. [Jul 2013, p.100]

Good Charlotte have obviously put a lot of effort and imagination into Chronicles, and if it comes off as slightly awkward in parts, well, isn't that part of growing up? [Nov 2004, p.135]

If Ian Curtis had stuck around for Zoloft and Hot Hot Heat, Joy Division's Closer might've sounded a lot like this album. [Dec 2004, p.158]

Young has a good chance at becoming a worthy replacement for the Postal Service; he just needs to monitor the ratio of sugar to substance on subsequent efforts. [Oct 2009, p.111]

James Walsh does have a beautiful voice, but unfortunately, it's not enough to illuminate Starsailor from the shadow of British bands like Travis and Coldplay. [Feb 2004, p.90]

Longtime fans will be comforted by Nightbird, even if it comes off like the fluff Giorgio Moroder might've rejected after a coke bender. [Mar 2005, p.138]

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

Overall, the Beeps still seem like a work in progress. [Nov 2004, p.140]

Whether Black Tide are going heavy or tender, every desperate attempt to conjure a moving moment fails. [Sep 2011, p.110]

Offers yet more fun funk/blues-rock mashups for unpretentious gatherings of all sorts. [Nov 2004, p.156]

Compromise is usually a dirty word in music, but here's one that really works. [Jan 2012, P.98]

One shudders to think how wack the rejects are. [Nov 2004, p.156]

It's quite a bit slicker and sonically feels as if it could fill an arena--but lacks personality. [Oct 2007, p.172]

The problem: Semi-masked in the Healers, he's short an originality chromosone. [Feb 2003, p.70]

Almost half of the album is bolstered by huge beats and pulsating bass. Even so, the disc's bet tracks are the ones that don't employ this formula. [Sep 2012, p.92]

While not everything is successful on Boxes--for example, the midtempo, electronic-burnished "Lucky One" tries too hard to sound modern--every song has seamless arrangements and a distinctive approach.

Disappointing--and worse yet, faceless. [Apr 2012, p.99]