It's a shame that there's so little of note on Free, because Gil Norton's production is fantastic as usual. But bless his heart, it's ultimately a wasted effort.

Noel Gallagher's songwriting is more derivative than ever. [Aug 2002, p.78]

This record sounds like Story Of The Year if they weree from the UK--energetic pop-hardcore that's ultimately a bit on the fogettable side. [Jul 2009, p.122]

These 14 songs find the band raging as hard as they ever have. [Jun 2015, p.97]

Between the bloated song lengths and repetitive arrangements, What Angels & Airwaves really need for LP3 is an editor. [Dec 2007, p.184]

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]

Lonely Road thrusts RJA away from being categorizeed as a "scene band," instead jouneying deep into the realm of radio-oriented modern rock. [Mar 2009, p.110]

III features the type of effortless electro-pop which made the act's 2006 debut, We Are Pilots, so irresistible. [Nov 2012, p.94]

What keeps Bitchin' from being more fun than Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson's sex tape is Jay Ruston's production job. [Nov 2007, p.170]

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

The reason it works is that the songs themselves are consistently interesting without recognizable samples or gimmicks, often boasting melodies you'll walk away humming. [Oct 2012, p.88]

The Brazilian party inciters still diversify deftly on their fourth full-length, Planta. [Jul 2013, p.100]

Good Charlotte have obviously put a lot of effort and imagination into Chronicles, and if it comes off as slightly awkward in parts, well, isn't that part of growing up? [Nov 2004, p.135]

If Ian Curtis had stuck around for Zoloft and Hot Hot Heat, Joy Division's Closer might've sounded a lot like this album. [Dec 2004, p.158]

Young has a good chance at becoming a worthy replacement for the Postal Service; he just needs to monitor the ratio of sugar to substance on subsequent efforts. [Oct 2009, p.111]

James Walsh does have a beautiful voice, but unfortunately, it's not enough to illuminate Starsailor from the shadow of British bands like Travis and Coldplay. [Feb 2004, p.90]

Longtime fans will be comforted by Nightbird, even if it comes off like the fluff Giorgio Moroder might've rejected after a coke bender. [Mar 2005, p.138]

Whisper encompasses everything a rock band should be in 2006. [Jul 2006, p.202]

Overall, the Beeps still seem like a work in progress. [Nov 2004, p.140]

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

Offers yet more fun funk/blues-rock mashups for unpretentious gatherings of all sorts. [Nov 2004, p.156]

Compromise is usually a dirty word in music, but here's one that really works. [Jan 2012, P.98]

One shudders to think how wack the rejects are. [Nov 2004, p.156]

It's quite a bit slicker and sonically feels as if it could fill an arena--but lacks personality. [Oct 2007, p.172]

The problem: Semi-masked in the Healers, he's short an originality chromosone. [Feb 2003, p.70]

Almost half of the album is bolstered by huge beats and pulsating bass. Even so, the disc's bet tracks are the ones that don't employ this formula. [Sep 2012, p.92]

While not everything is successful on Boxes--for example, the midtempo, electronic-burnished "Lucky One" tries too hard to sound modern--every song has seamless arrangements and a distinctive approach.

Disappointing--and worse yet, faceless. [Apr 2012, p.99]