It's the succinct pop of a punkier Squeeze or a sloppier, edgier Beatles that makes Sword a treasure. [Sep 2001, p.94]

Plays out like a tepid, second-rate version of Iowa, which pretty much makes it a third-rate anything else. [Jul 2004, p.142]

Carter and Ansell aren't reinventing the wheel, but they've got a way nicer ride than most of the pretenders currently being exalted by friendless bloggers. [Aug 2012, p.84]

This album absolutely stands on its own, never requiring visual accompaniment; for Air fans, it's a vital addition to their catalog. [Mar 2012, p.94]

The band have finally created songs as big as their love-and-death themes. [Nov 2007, p.163]

The band seem determined to be the molten missing link between Black Sabbath and Black Mountain, making Himalayan a towering triumph. [May 2014, p.88]

He's rarely assembled a stronger collection of songs. [May 2010, p.102]

At its best, the disc forges a middle ground where trebly guitar power is fortified by the electronics, resulting in a new propulsion. At its worst, the disc is as meaningful as "superstar DJ" sets, designer drugs and having your picture taken by the Cobrasnake. [Feb 2009, p.99]

The larger flaw of This Is All Yours is the excessive studio ornamentation attached to songs like "Choice Kingdom" and "Hunger Of The Pine" that fails to cover up unbalanced, disjointed writing. [Oct 2014, p.96]

A smart, slashing set of B-plus-level pop-punk. [Apr 2003, p.78]

This disc is heads-and-shoulders above his contemporaries. [Mar 2009, p.116]

On Sunshine and a handful of others, she's M.I.A. protege in Kala mode; elsewhere, she's been "optimized" for a climate more partial to Nicki Minaj. [Jun 2012, p.84]

This is Terror at their very best. [May 2013, p.92]

The disappointing thing about New Moon is that it could have been better.

The most accomplished work of Grohl's post-Nirvana career. [Aug 2005, p.174]

The songs have the urgency and vitriol we've come to expect from the band, but there's one major problem: the spit shine production. [Jul 2004, p.128]

Disappointingly forgettable. [Nov 2005, p.218]

More proof that sophomore efforts don't have to be sleepy. [Oct 2006, p.212]

in•ter a•li•a isn’t about capturing a zeitgeist as much as it is about jumpstarting some urgency in a rock scene that desperately needs more wild abandon and psychic plasma.

Another Sound Is Dying, despite the title connotation, is indeed giving birth to a stirring new noise. [Apr 2008, p.156]

M83's latest flight into the synthesized stratosphere is so steeped in '80s influence, it;s as if teen filmmaker John Hughes was lurking behind the keyboards. [June 2008, p.137]

So the Furnances are up to their usual tricks, making unexpected mash-ups of their own ideas. [Nov. 2007, p.160]

There's lots of talent in this New York sextet, but it gets lost in all the unbridled exploration and layers.

Go Plastic fuses the insanely intricate beat programming of Feed Me Weird Things and Daddy with the abstruse experimentation of 1998's Music is Rotted One Note. It's the best of both worlds. [Aug 2001, p.98]

String arrangements--plus frontman Dan Eastop's expressive vocals--save songs like "SF" from falling into rehash hell. [Jul 2004, p.146]

Perfect major-label American alt-rock--slick, smart and serious enough without being somber to reach out to even the least emotionally confused people without scaring off the moody ones. [May 2002, p.94]

An acquired taste. [Sep 2004, p.124]

Singer Ricky Wilson holds it together with his charismatic personality, demanding you sit up and listen the second he opens his mouth to kick things off. [Dec 2008, p.146]