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]