It's the sound of a New Yorker coming home for a breath of country air. [Nov 2005, p.130]

The gorgeous arrangements are still firmly in place, and the wavery vocals more earnest than ever. [#9, p.143]

A surprising return to form. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.114]

The group aims for a mix of artistry and cred, a la N.E.R.D. or the Beastie Boys, but their music is rarely as catchy. [Aug 2004, p.130]

What’s revealed is...well, what we’re used to. Beyonce is still a beauty-shop feminist, quick with the smack-downs, and she still describes the rattling rush of love with preternatural poise.

Her signature sound -- voice snarling through a tangle of massed guitars -- is here, but so is a softer, more vulnerable tone. The melodies, while radio-ready, have a stomping insistence.

Most of the album, like the single 'Tick Tock Boom,' sticks to formula. [Nov 2007, p.150]

[They] emerge from the Chemical Brothers' shadow without ever threatening to break new ground. [#13, p.93]

While the lyrics are strictly study-hall (“I’m no gentleman/I can be a prick” = poetry!), TAI… separate from the emo wolf pack by cribbing furiously from ’70s rock.

Best enjoyed in the privacy of home. [Apr 2008, p.76]

A growth statement even diehard fans of its debut couldn't have expected. [#8, p.122]

Here, they simply sound jittery, putting romantic complaints to studio-worked music that's oddly brisk and busy, with a dissonance that drowns out the emotion. [Nov 2008, p.73]

What could have been an awful mess is instead a glorious mess. [#12, p.151]

The result is more than nostalgia: Carrabba imbues all 12 tracks with welcome new tricks--layers of cascading harmonies, a startling falsetto and even a dash of subtlety.

Sweet, spooky harmonies, partly inspired by the death of a close relative, given a naked acoustic production. [May 2003, p.125]

Grohl's every intense metal rave-up quickly passes into a sweet, breezy melody that makes it hard to take most of the songs all that seriously. [#11, p.137]

In fleshing out the contours of a sound once slavishly indebted to early-'80s titans like JD and the Smiths, they've nuanced the moods Banks moons over. Awesome for him. Only so-so for us. [August 2007, p.114]

The West Coast stalwart's ninth album doesn't entirely make good on 'Seduction''s wacky promise. [Apr 2008, p.82]

It's hard to shake the feeling that this is a collection of dope beats in search of some rhymes. [Aug 2004, p.134]

Faith in the Future is built with recycled beats and borrowed sounds, relying on castoff samples and guest contributions... [Aug/Sep 2001, p.132]

No, it ain't rocket science. But when they're headlining arenas, it's gonna look fairly brilliant. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.98]

The results can sometimes get bland; unlike its predecessor, which was moody and aimless, Drops is so polished that there are no ragged edges left to hang on to. [May 2006, p.109]

Certified would be pretty great if it weren't for one huge mistake: his suite of god-awful sex jams. [Nov 2005, p.131]

[Moss'] raw, husky delivery [is] able to turn even throwaway lines like "I swam to the bottom of the sea for you/I climbed to the top of the trees for you" into high drama. [Apr 2006, p.111]

Some are endearingly autistic... And some are sublimely idiculous. [Mar 2008, p.97]

There isn't a song on her debut that doesn't paint in huge strokes. [Sep 2004, p.143]

Crimson features enough syrupy string swells, maudlin piano filigrees and layers of production sparkle... to choke an army of purists. But these credibility-destroying effects only enhance the pure pop kick. [Jul 2005, p.114]

Sadly, Sneak Attack also reflects the influence of Professor One's recent ubiquity on the college-lecture circuit; windy speechifying interludes take up a third of the record. Too bad -- when he does rap, he shows twice the gusto of many rappers half his age. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.112]