Baker... somehow makes them sound more outrageous--and more convincing. [Dec 2005, p.148]

Her hits are underrepresented, more recent songs are overrepresented, and [Vince] Mendoza's overly ornate orchestrations are dull, self-absorbed affairs, frequently swamping the great songs and Mitchell's vocals. [#12, p.147]

A strange brew. [May 2004, p.128]

It's art music first and pop second. [Oct 2003, p.115]

Sets records for twee-ness. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.111]

Finding new targets for their thrashing contempt, Slipknot make ugliness sound just a little bit pretty.

You can find kids playing harder and faster in the cut-out bins at Hot Topic, but if you're lookin' for trouble, you came to the right place. [Apr 2005, p.119]

The album is crisper than the band’s early-’08 EP, thanks to Spoon producer Mike McCarthy, who let the fury bounce around every inch of a cinder-block space in Austin--where, appropriately, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" sound effects were recorded.

He's screaming louder than ever on his solo CD, but what's notable is how all the titanium riffs and loud-soft-loud dynamics now feel personalized, a little cozier and multihued than on SOAD record. [Nov 2007, p.157]

Pete Doherty remains the British tabloids' pinata of choice--but at least his music is looking up.

An excellent debut.... Derivative, but irresistibly infectious. [Sep 2003, p.129]

Filter adhere to the blueprint laid down by the breakthrough power ballad "Take a Picture"... with such anguished arena sing-alongs as "The Missing" and "The Only Way Is the Wrong Way." [#9, p.146]

They follow measured guitar burn with bone-rattling explosions, and roll mesmerizing tension into colossal release. [#14, p.138]

It presumably adds up to Something Important, but good luck deciphering what. [Jul 2006, p.103]

The melodies are well-shaped and the lyrics twist their knives elegantly. [Dec 2006, p.174]

Kweli expends most of his considerable lyrical talent touting his considerable lyrical talent. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.94]

With music that evokes cheesy early-’70s MOR and the modern Hollywood-hipster songbook invented by Beck, this is pop that gets out and moves, and has you rooting for the wallflower with the yawny voice to do the same.

On Tarantula, Mystikal futher refines his formula. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.114]

[The instrumentals are] a curious bonus for his fans, but not much more. [Feb/Mar 2002, p.113]

A strangely dispassionate exercise in record-collection rock. [#17, p.133]

And just as 1992's Connected served as an antidote to grunge in its day, Dirty hopes to deliver more nuanced dance music to its fans. Too little, too late, though. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.116]

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.

The sonics beneath Buck's deadpan rhymes are too often more subdued than the dense collages he started out in the late 90s, but jazz keyboards and conga poly-rhythms keep the backing from sinking into mere soundtrack. [Nov 2007, p.146]

Bare might impress someone who thinks there should be more Cutting Crew records. Others should beware. [#17, p.136]

His guitar reinvigorates age-old lines on neat and tidy arrangements, but he's even busier exploring the limited expressive range of his singing voice. [May 2004, p.119]

His most intimate recording yet. [#17, p.138]

Let It Be... Naked offers an experience its predecessor never could. [Dec 2003, p.154]

Face Control is a small triumph of intoxicating claustrophobia, full of crumbling, poignant melodies spurred along by thecold, unfeeling whip-crack of a cheap drum machine.