Ever wonder what an all-star band featuring Burt Bacharach, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd would sound like stoned on the final reel of 2001: A Space Odyssey? [May 2006, p.172]

Despite some bummer subject matter, this could be the year's most fun album. [Nov 2013, p.84]

Deerhoof's 13 years of experience have honed their sound to near perfection and is pleasing even to the most critical of ears. [Mar 2007, p.136]

You can hear that rage burning throughout this record’s 11 songs, most notably on “Mourning In Amerika,” “Welcome To The Breakdown” and the untamed aggression of “Bullshit,” on which frontman Tim McIlrath rails against the divisive politics that sadly led us to an orange man in the White House.

Folds cracks jokes and spins incredibly sad tales with no restraint or common sense, and oddly enough, we love him for it. [Oct 2001, p.79]

Musically, he's a little more conventional than one would hope. [12/2000, p.90]

A gorgeous and welcome display of growth... [#155, p.68]

If Lush hadn't died, it might have wound up in the same solemn, yet provocative, place. [May 2004, p.104]

Fans of extreme metal will find Unearth's latest release a tad too light, but anyone who likes metal in their 'core should go completely bat-shit over this album.

The Ghost Inside are one of hardcore's brightest lights, and Get What You Give is a perfect example of heavy music with a high IQ.

Imagine a pagan Danielson Famile on magic mushrooms, or a folk-rock cLOUDDEAD. [Aug 2004, p.122]

Of these five tracks, only closer "Thrown Right At Me" is underwhelming, plain where it compatriots are--much like the great plains themselves--full of hidden idiosyncrasies despite outwardly appearing flat and one-dimensional.

At times lushly orchestral and at others achingly stark, Migrant is the masterfully actualized first chapter in the true story of the Dear Hunter--the band. [May 2013, p.88]

Sing When You're Winning is as powerful as you want, as lovely as your dreams and as subtle as the best practical joke. [12/2000, p.121]

These six songs are louder, faster and heavier than the first EP. [Jun 2014, p.105]

Close the Distance is an album that does not only further separate Lancaster from his past--it also widens the gap between Go Radio and their peers. [Oct 2012, p.83]

What makes Fortress much more than just a chain mail-clad sweep-picking clinic is the band's ability to weave bold melodies into the album's thudering riffage. [Feb 2008, p.116]

Real Hair continues down the path set by their first two records and that’s a good thing.

Turner's third solo release shows how versatile he is as he single handedly bridges the gap between Brian Fallon and Billy Bragg. [Oct 2009, p.115]

He's created a bona-fide pop album--smokingly soulful, sure, but armed to the teeth with hooks and refrains, radio-ready and simultaneously transcendent. [#147, p.84]

[Travis have] set aside the drifting atmospherics iin favor of complex arrangements. [Dec 2003, p.154]

He's a poetic if not somewhat mad genius on his own, but Peer Amid makes it clear Higgs is at his best pacing the prow of mighty musical vessel. [Mar 2011, p.99]

All at once tragic, gorgeous and ugly in just the right ways. [Nov 2005, p.212]

Dusk And Summer is proof that Carrabba's ability to drop hugely emotive choruses into three-minute pop songs has become its own form of classic American songwriting. [Aug 2006, p.199]

Though lifeless songs such as "Estranged" still remind you of LeMaster's yawn-inducing past, the rest of Dark Light Daybreak suggests he should've stretched out like this a long time ago. [Nov 2006, p.200]

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]

Through it all, they retain their fundamental hardcore power-chug while vocalist Liam Cormier gives his most diverse screaming/growling/speaking performance yet. [May 2010, p.105]

By sticking to a strict formula of short, frenzied blasts of razor-wire guitars and mosh-inciting rhythms, Cerebral Ballzy have gobbed out an absolutely fluff-free album. [Aug 2011, p.112]