Most of these concise, super-catchy tunes are as unself-consciously traditional, and fun, as an undiscovered cache of British Invasion rock. [#14, p.143]

Oye's single-minded thematic focus and velveteen baritone hold everything together. [#14, p.142]

Piano ballads and muscular thrash that hearken back to his days with proto-goth ghoulfathers the Birthday Party. [#13, p.91]

Even at their most nihilistic, these 16 songs resonate melodically, like Eminem's most haunting material. [#15, p.118]

The only standout is "Down On The Corner," built around the ear-pricking chords and lithe grace that stamp Marr's best work. [#14, p.139]

This wistful, road-trip nostalgia-pop is the sound of alt-rock after the gold rush. [#14, p.141]

Loose Fur is fun, even if it is exactly the sum of its parts. [#14, p.139]

Calla's tension-filled deliberations are similar to the calibrated push-and-pull of SIgur Ros, but not nearly as pristine. [#14, p.133]

Showcases the melodramatic but never overstated croon of a showman who, in another era, might've been a Las Vegas legend. [#14, p.135]

As Zwan create a louder and less obviously pop eclat than the Pumpkins, they also turn more minimal. Their first record has one theme: the electric guitar. [#14, p.140]

The format is so rambling and fragmented that is serves neither Poe the storyteller noor Reed the songwriter. [#13, p.97]

Recalls the Beta Band with the "wacky" knob mercifully turned down, and the wild musical eclecticism tempered by an endearing warmth and a wealth of gorgeous melodies. [#11, p.126]

Malin convincingly wraps his tortured warble around the dust-caked tunes. [#14, p.139]

There's an intensity here that's hard to resist. [#14, p.142]

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

A fizzling delight, jettisoning previous jazzy inclinations in favor of a gorgeous electronic pitter-patter that sets off Prekop's velvety, mourning vocals. [#14, p.143]

Similar inventiveness [to that on debut album 'Vertigo'] has been markedly absent from the London duo's subsequent work, and sadly, Lovebox continues the trend. [#14, p.136]

Nas, it seems, wants his crown back. [#13, p.95]

Its attempts at a more ethereal sound crash up against Common's cumbersome intellectualizing. [#13, p.91]

For most of Charmbracelet, she sticks to a gauzy, breathy, phone-sex coo, muzzling her inner diva until the final verse or a few ultrasonic high notes in the fade-out. [#13, p.92]

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

Not since his debut has the Doggfather been any higher. [#12, p.155]

Phrenology is a celebration of self-determination, a nonstop joyride through some very complicated brains. [#12, p.149]

[McGraw's] best album. [#12, p.147]

There are moments when this third album is blissfully gorgeous--just not enough of them to make his song of himself interesting to others. [#11, p.125]

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

What's most impressive is that music of this caliber got left off their albums. [#13, p.100]

Brainwashed suggests that Harrison's last years were largely comfortable, slow-paced and unaffected by any worries about his relevance. [#12, p.144]