The sound is simultaneously terse and expansive--moody and powerful, shot through with singer Chris Martin's grainy delivery. [#9, p.145]

30STM manage a high-minded space opera of epic scope befitting prog-rock prototypes Rush. [#9, p.142]

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

Lost in Space... pushes her in a new direction. [#9, p.152]

Sheik's sparklingly clear voice and subtly tricky guitar shifts transcend the pop-rock melodies. [#10, p.126]

Its surging orchestrations and and acoustic subtelties seem willfully out of step with current trends, taking time to reveal their unique, and very British, charms.

Merritt's lyrics are typically playful, and Claudia Gonson coos them with dreamy detachment. [#9, p.146]

They resemble a Seattle version of Iggy and the Stooges. [#9, p.152]

Case's own melodies aren't nearly as indelible as the country classics she's emulating. [#10, p.115]

The Mekons can do anything, because no one told them they couldn't, and they do it better than almost anyone else. [#9, p.152]

Liars are more about energy than solid songwriting, but these spastic, jagged grooves are powerful enough to inspire a sea of awkward punk-rock dances. [#9, p.150]

Superfine pop moments never stifle the underlying Jamaican flavor... even if Beenie sometimes sounds a bit like a guest on his own album. [#10, p.114]

Singer-songwriter Britt Daniel's gift for obtuse yet engaging melody is now where it ought to be: up front. [#9, p.155]

Bright Lights isn't a trudging soundtrack to depression; it's laced with upbeat, albeit bittersweet, songwriting. [#9, p.148]

His choked yelp and hootenanny backing suggest fun should be had. It isn't. [#10, p.116]

The album's fine pedigree might have worked in a more conservative era. [#9, p.144]

S-K swagger like they never have before, eschewing the filler that made their last few records drag. [#9, p.157]

The details on October Road are exquisite, especially his tricky singing and deft acoustic guitar. [#9, p.155]

It's in the quieter moments that Sparta truly shine. [#9, p.154]

A radiant collection of pure pop songs. [#10, p.125]

Her genius is not to let herself be trapped in yesterday. [#9, p.144]

If Dido had a thing for madrigals and a suite of neuroses, she might sound this interesting. [#9, p.146]

The Ritalin generation may have found its Bob Dylan. [#9, p.143]

Though Moorer's lyrics sometimes slide from smart to schmaltzy, her superb singing ensures that every tune on Miss Fortune is incandescent. [#10, p.122]

Any collection that encompasses A Guy Called Gerald's peerless dance anthem "Voodoo Ray" and Joy Division's exquisite "Atmosphere" is "double double good," as the Happy Mondays' drug-addled singer Shaun Ryder used to quip. [#9, p.158]

The parade of midtempo soul-pop snoozers and funk-lite fluff is no more memorable than Soul Asylum's last record. Which is to say, not very. [#9, p.153]

The sitar flourishes ini "Splitting Atoms" are muted by Learning's adult sheen, which lands this unusual record in an awkward middle ground between Bjork and, say, Oleta Adams. [#9, p.150]

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]