Though not as ambitious or original as the [White] Stripes at their best, the VB's indelible punk-rock blues parks a new car in the Motor City garage. [Apr 2004, p.136]

Wake Up... is the set of inspired anthems they needed to deliver in '96. [Oct/Nov 2001, p.103]

Tuneful, kinky and deeply rooted in groove--a combination that evokes the best of both Prince and Macy Gray. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.112]

Is Under Rug Swept as good as Jagged Little Pill? Ultimately, no. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.108]

Just as electrifying as before. [May 2003, p.125]

Ambitiously wide-ranging. [Aug 2004, p.133]

The 808 features just 16 sounds, but Kanye works wonders with this limited palette, turning lo-fi kick drums into an austere artistic statement.

While cliches abound... this huge music is delivered with panache. [#9, p.154]

Unashamed candor often spells dreary self-indulgence. In Germano's insightful hands, it's fascinating and strangely exhilarating. [May 2003, p.119]

Although a few tracks retain Felt Mountain's eerie beauty, Black Cherry's natural habitat is less supper club than strip club, and Goldfrapp sound right at home. [May 2003, p.119]

It's more consistent than Laundry Service, and maybe even more irresistible. [Jul 2005, p.120]

The riffs blast as if it's 1971 all over again. [Jun 2006, p.148]

Their most sure-footedly solemn performances to date. [Nov 2003, p.114]

Despite Wilson's wrecked voice, it's surprisingly grand and moving. [Nov 2004, p.146]

Bubbles with kooky sounds and melodic invention. [Apr 2005, p.112]

These are big songs, and Moore's voice fills them out spectacularly, without turning the enterprise into a retro stunt. [Nov 2003, p.117]

Her coy delivery suggests a seething everywoman concealing her rage under an ominously bright surface.

Tweedy whittles down the arrangements and drops in enough experimental nuances to make the whole thing sound refreshingly lo-fi. [Jun/Jul 2002, p.116]

They've got more sweet-and-bitter guitar muscle than ever. [#8, p.122]

His bleakness was never this naked or all-consuming. [Nov 2004, p.143]

This album stands on its own, with... an emphasis on beats rather than technical tricks. [#27, p.149]

Never before have these kings of experimental metal sustained such pulse-quickening energy, honing their tricks--cryptic lyrics, cliffhanging cries, spine-twisting rhythms--into a screaming arrow of sound.

This is the brightest, breeziest, giddiest record Fall Out Boy have ever made.

Young sounds fresher here than he has in nearly a decade. [Apr/May 2002, p.110]

The Clan's lyricists remain as aggressively word-drunk as ever, balancing the music's pop conciseness with oblique rhymes that compel repeated listening. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.116]

So Sum 41 have grown up... a little.... It's all relative, and, crucially, it still rocks. [#12, p.153]

Shimmers with a newfound sophistication. [Apr 2004, p.136]

She has deepened and darkened her sound without sacrificing her platinum-plated melodies. [#27, p.141]