Some excessive ballads aside, Simple Plan's second disc all but perfects the one before it. [Dec 2004, p.141]

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 real reason narrow Stairs works so well is that despite the band's more esoteric experiments, they still contribute standalone pop hits. [June 2008, p.125]

With repeated exposure it becomes clear that these songs belong together, adding an extra dimension to the record, and those who to succumb to its charms could ask for nothing more.

Packs more moods and minx-like mischief than many albums twice its length. [Jul 2003, p.114]

His heavily metal solo debut delivers bigger stylistic departures (and wilder guitar solos) than his other side projects. [Aug 2011, p.114]

Ten Stories should easily please any mewithoutYou fan, but this is by no means pandering....11 musically and lyrically engaging stories. [Jun 2012]

Bow Down... was developed alongside a movie script and works as vivid NYC filmic music and an electic-by-default modern concept album. [12/2000, p.96]

Ruthless, catchy and armor-plated, the Los Angeles quintet have focused on refining their sound, yet there is also greater nuance, making this perhaps their most atmospheric record. [Sep 2013, p.88]

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]

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

Through every shift in tone and style, Fernow keeps his focus, connecting these songs with small bits of spoken word that conjure up dark visions of people desperately searching for meaning in an increasingly dismal world.

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

It's a snarling, agile beast with some posi moments along the way. [Aug 2012, p.90]

Yet another rock-solid album. [Aug 2006, p.204]

They're at their best, though, on moodier fare like the suitably hymn-like 'God Loves You The Best,' with a Beatlesque snatch of orchestration fit for their old buddy Elliot Smith. [Sug 2008, p.170]

Fresh, funny and unpredictable. [Apr 2002, p.72]

The Crane Wife isn't automatic for the people yet, but it's far from green. [Nov 2006, p.188]

Fallon's lyrics continue to embrace the Americana ethos that is sucessfully married with a soulful punk sound as timeless as the sentiments that inspire him. [Sep 2008, p.148]

On paper this may sound bleak--and in many ways, Curse Your Branches is--but ultimately there's a level of solcae in Bazan's sadness that's remarkably reassuring and, stranger yet, satisfying. [Sep 2009, p.106]

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]

Dark and compelling. [May 2004, p.104]

Its cleaner, more ferocious tone does this batch of songs well, pushing them back closer to their genius Nitro Records days.

Like Wilco, it's what SA do with what they've borrowed. It helps that the duo stitch it up Frankenstein-style and move on to the next idea fast. [Aug 2008, p.162]

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]

Madness successfully articulates where the band’s headspace is right now; SWS put the time in and came out poised for greater things.

Disarm the Descent sees the Massachusetts quintet reinvigorated, leaving 2009's Killswitch Engage in their wake. [May 2013, p.86]

Interlude continues where 'Water' left off, exuding a pall of melancholy that translates into heartbreaking beauty. [#153, p.85]