My Damnation is destined to become another album absorbed by the sonic wallpaper of bands copying a similar, well-worn blueprint. [Aug 2011, p.112]

The unpredictable edge that's helped made the series a standout is gone. [May 2004, p.108]

An album full of songs so lethargic, it sounds like it needs a nap halfway through. [Apr 2002, p.71]

Not much on Magnetophone's debut really distinguishes them from the legion of bedroom-based nerds playing with the same breakbeats and software as they do. [March 2001, p.83]

Finn employs an arrhythmic delivery... sounding like Jello Biafra covering Talking Head's "Once In A Lifetime," or a snake-oil huckster participating in a poetry slam. [May 2004, p.96]

[Dalley] repeatedly dilutes Leave Your Name with empty atmospheric exercises in barely-there vocals and shimmery keys. [Feb 2004, p.80]

An admirable effort, yet this feels like Gang Of Four taking six steps backwards into obscurity. [Mar 2015, p.93]

Clogging their previously supple grooves with banal guitar bluster and noxious singing, VHS Or Beta don't set the Night On Fire; they just dampen your spirits. [Oct 2004, p.148]

Sadly, one can hear decent tunes struggling to get out of this mess. [Nov 2001, p.78]

Whether Black Tide are going heavy or tender, every desperate attempt to conjure a moving moment fails. [Sep 2011, p.110]

Dominated by sparse instrumentation and lyrics that are merely good... relatively lifeless tunes. [12/2000, p.115]

While they are accomplished musicians and combine their growling, death-metal-influenced moments with a wealth of shiny hooks, they fail to do so in a way that counts. [Feb 2012, p.84]

There's little sign of life here, only gently unassuming arpeggios and blanketing softness. [Jan 2004, p.98]

Too many songs rely on sappy love-song cliches, bland arrangements or saccharine lyrics. [Mar 2007, p.135]

Blood is a disappointing step backward from a band that showed real greatness only two years ago. [Sep 2012, p.90]

Bland and undistinguished. [Aug 2005, p.178]

The Libertines just don't live up to the hype. [Jan 2005, p.113]

On Disco Volante, [David Gedge] sometimes becomes as tedious as a typical pick-up line. [Jan 2001, p.86]

For the wide-awake, it's a crashing bore. [Aug 2005, p.164]

The mood, talent, and energy are present, but the lack of lyrics is off-putting and relegates the band's seventh proper LP to B-team status. [Feb 2009, p.103]

Muddy, swamp rockabilly. [Jan 2004, p.108]

How many times can rock return in one year? [Jul 2003, p.122]

Ungrateful comes off as cluttered and confused. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Hypnotic Nights has the feeling of an album created by Venn diagram, with the outer edges of glam, psychedelia, garage rock and hard rock connecting to create "the ultimate rock album…you know, for kids!"

Even [Haines'] coos about war can't make Live feel urgent or save its slanted art-rock outbursts. [Dec 2005, p.214]

Amon Tobin and Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman have created some truly interesting sounds, but the end result is sadly just another trip-hop excursion with lame rapping over the top. [May 2009, p.123]

If vocal distortion is to indie rock what the vocoder is to commercial pop, then Pleasure Forever's Alter is Sub Pop's answer to Cher's "Believe." [Jun 2003, p.97]

Maybe if Keith had spent more time on his lyrics and less time watching reality TV, this would be a better album. [Dec 2008, p.152]