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

If the wordplay occasionally misses the mark, the music (which includes calypso, funk, '40s jazz, and chamber pop) invariably carries the day. [Aug 2001, p.76]

Bubblegum electronica with enough experimentation to keep things interesting. [Oct 2001, p.86]

A meticulous, flashy electronic-rock opus that doesn't come close to meeting its rock-star aspirations. [Sep 2001, p.76]

Comfort Eagle is infinitely smarter, smarmier and catchier than Weezer's Green Album. [Oct 2001, p.79]

Other old rockers sound old. Iggy sounds brutal, harsher than last time, louder than ever, a pummeling self-production pocked with magnificent metal dumbness... [Sep 2001, p.88]

Farrell's silvery adenoidal baritone scissors through bass-heavy raggamuffin beats, dreamy swells of keyboard-fueled atmosphere and ticklish breakbeats -- and the slapdash aesthetic somehow coheres. [Aug 2001, p.79]

Hot Shots II recalls the repetitive excellence of 1998's The Three E.P.'s, with still more chant-like repetition and scarcely a change... [Aug 2001, p.76]

Geller's keyboard-fueled squiggles and quirky effects are effervescent but never cloying, thanks to the seriousness in Dykes' aloof, melancholy voice. [Oct 2001, p.84]

The 13 tracks here are improbably edgeless, all love-me-do/love-me-don't plaints that evaporate on impact. [Sep 2001, p.91]

With Ancient Melodies, Built To Spill are concentrating more on developing a single idea rather than worrying about the patchworking of the past. This fails to play to Built To Spill's strength: their firm handle on alt-guitar dynamics. [Aug 2001, p.78]

This is as meandering and shoegazing as Sub Pop indie folk gets. [Sep 2001, p.92]

Occasional missteps keep X.O. Experience from being a bottle of the top-drawer stuff, though it'll still leave you with a good buzz. [Aug 2001, p.91]

Lacking the hyperbole of, say, Chemical Brothers or the musicality of more band-like fare like Crystal Method, he finds a middle ground of giving-and-taking frequencies between his twos and fours, as if mixing it live. [Sep 2001, p.104]

But while the swanky compositions on Love can fade into the background like velvet-shrouded ambience, this same passion also makes these songs mesmerizing, allowing them to remain in the gently muted spotlight just as easily. [Aug 2001, p.104]

The only twang on the record is the sound of strings breaking as Jack attacks his guitar. [Sep 2001, p.104]

A feel-good collection of (mostly) poppy songcraft. [Aug 2001, p.103]

Eschewing the DJ-friendly club format they perfected on 1999's Remedy, the Jaxx are now writing R&B-flavored pop songs... But their success is hit-and-miss... [Jul 2001, p.60]

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]

Boasts a sort of steady, creeping beauty, like a slower, groggier Failure without the loud arena bombast. [Nov 2001, p.97]

Whereas the Beckster tends to wriggle cheekily along to his funk, and Badly Drawn Boy does his own thing in spite of it, Gorillaz don't give a rat's ass about acting funky; they just are. [July 2001, p.68]

The Invisible Band has more layers, more moods than ever before, and more tunes as well. [July 2001, p.88]

But under the ill-fitting vocals, Deep Down & Dirty has some dubby, dark tracks that work if only because they don't try so hard to be "Connected" sequels. [Jul 2001, p.85]

Although ever so slightly more modern in feel than his critically adored 1998 self-titled debut, Poses is still built upon Wainwright's mastery of highly composed, early-20th-century popular-song styles. [July 2001, p.86]

More often than not, Amnesiac finds a balance between twiddling and transcendence. [Jul 2001, p.79]

Double Figure forms a mysterious narrative filled with enough breaks and builds to keep the most jaded beathead more than satisfied. [Aug 2001, p.96]

The good news is that in their quest not to make fly-away pop, Air have unearthed a bizarre and dark sense of humor that allows them to subvert and celebrate their new gloomier chops. [Jul 2001, p.59]

While the album is rooted in chiming and growling guitar licks, the dense layers of each song are revealed only through multiple listens. [Jul 2001, p.66]