The dozen tracks crackle with the energy of post-millennial British rock and the hook-lined swoon of the late-'80s British post-wave. [Sep 2011, p.120]

Highly Suspect successfully avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.

A cluttered, derivative mess. [Dec 2006, p.200]

Channels the spirits of no wave via clinks and clanks, doomy vocal chants, ominous tribal thumps, abstract guitar scraping and jarring haunted-forrest samples. [Mar 2004, p.110]

Don't Believe The Truth strips away the layered excess of albums like 1997's Be Here Now to revisit the streamlined pomposity of the group's earliest discs. [Jul 2005, p.182]

Herren manages to deliver another dense, cinematic electronic record without repeating himself or--worse--the competition. [Dec 2007, p.187]

The chops are there, the gimmck is there, and hopefully, the fanbase will be there, too. [Apr 2009, p.135]

The Red Album is a wonderful jumping-off point for their second wind. [July 2008, p.145]

N.A.S.A.'s dope beats and wet-dream collaborations make Apollo an absolute must-have. [Jun 2009, p.111]

Nearly everything that made Fitz And The Tantrums interesting has been thrown out the window for More Than A Dream. Fitzpatrick has run out of anything interesting to say, instead relying on awful cliches. [Jun 2013, p.96]

There’s a good deal of filler on In A Warzone, to be sure, but fortunately there are still some rewards awaiting those who stick it out.

Building on the same base that made his early material brilliant (a love for both odd sounds and cheesy pop), Warren has painted himself into a musical corner: knowing its hard to get any listener to swallow the same thing repeatedly outside the mainstream market, but also wanting to indulge his muse. [#151, p.78]

The humor practiced by Black and cohort Kyle Gass hasn't evolved much since [2008's "Pick Of Destiny"]; Fenix is loaded with classic-rock-aping material which simultaneously admires and lampoons everything from Star Wars ("Deth Starr") to organized religion ("Throwdown").

The overall ambition is commendable, but perhaps a better plan of action would have been to strip the story completely, cull together the album’s best songs and instead close the EP trilogy with a stronger, shorter release.

As a collective work, Pacific Daydream is ultimately a step below the resurgent greatness of the White Album, but it still soundly ranks in the upper tier of Weezer’s new-millennium output. It’s peppered with some of the band’s best songs in recent memory.

Despite its pristine arrangements, Colonia turns into sonic NyQuil about halfway through, and ends up a low-day--albeit impeccable-sounding-listen. [Jun 2009, p.102]

Even songs in White Lies' comfort zone--namely the brooding ballad "Change," which wears its Joy Division influences proudly--feels more confident. Only the cringe-inducing "First Time Caller," whose lyrics riff on the tired "first-time caller/long-time listener" radio phrase, truly drags down Big TV. [Sep 2013, p.94]

Jaill's pacing and musical phrasing feels noticeably lethargic. [Jul 2012, p.94]

The album sounds, not surprisingly, overproduced, lacking even a hint of the earthy quality of 'I Do Not Want...' and leaving little space for O'Connor to stretch out vocally. [#146, p.96]

In simplest terms, this is emotional catharsis put to pop music. And it sounds fucking great. [Jun 2006, p.174]

There's very little here to grab the listener. [Nov 2007, p.162]

Seattle's Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band make a dramatic leap forward on this meditative follow-up to their eponymous 2009 debut. [Sep 2010, p.112]

Fire's beauty often feels distant and untouchable. [Sep 2005, p.164]

Some Loud Thunder isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures. [Feb 2007, p.114]

You'll probably get annoyed after about 30 seconds. [May 2005, p.138]

Other than the booming, Devo-ish vocal effects on "Spacetime," these songs aren't pushing the envelope--but you should still tear it open and look inside. [Aug 2011, p.114]

RJD2 has taken a lot of different paths in the past, but here he's found a way to make his diverse tastes blend into one cohesive effort. [Feb 2010, p.97]

As singer-songwriters go, Barlow's not worthy to make a Starbucks run for Conor Oberst, Jim White, Joseph Arthur or Chris Carrabba. [Mar 2005, p.122]