It sounds like just another FFAF album. [Mar 2015, p.91]

It makes for a compelling listen. [Mar 2015, p.90]

A case of more darkness required. [Mar 2015, p.94]

As the soundtrack to the black mass ritual of their ardent followers, From the Very Depths more than delivers. [Mar 2015, p.89]

Father's Day [was] inspired by his recently departed dad and explaining this subtly insidious album's overall reflective mood. [Mar 2015, p.90]

It takes a few listens to hook in its claws, but when it does they're fixed forever. [Feb 2015, p.98]

The only problem is that the album is too long. [Feb 2015, p.96]

This is Rancid at their leanest. [Feb 2015, p.96]

It's not just the most svelte, direct and immediate Pumpkins album ever, it's the most misleadingly titled. [Feb 2015, p.94]

Super-smooth strings, bluesy stomps and immense righteousness are crammed into this varied, if oddly disparate selection. [Feb 2015, p.98]

That search for perfection, his own predilection, goes on, gorgeously lit by this. [Feb 2015, p.99]

It's highly agreeable background music for those who prefer to keep the curtains closed. [Nov 2014, p.91]

This is the first time she has really let go and experimented, and she's pulled it off with aplomb. [Jul 2014, p.97]

It charts its course with verve and accessibility, offering a masterclass in powerfully economic guitar rock. [Jul 2014, p.97]

They manage to skillfully maintain the the same semblance of being perennially on the verge of collapsing in a heap of broken guitar strings, trashed drum kit and feedback, while retaining the visceral gut-punch of the tightest, heaviest metal badasses. [Jul 2014, p.95]

Overall, time has not diminished Frame's evergreen gift for bittersweet, heart-twanging introspection. [Jul 2014, p.95]

Dan Auerbach's production is warmly intimate, LaMontangne's singing a quiet marvel. [Jul 2014, p.95]

Tunes like Autograph and Hometown Blues rush forward with purpose and verve. [Jul 2014, p.95]

For diehard fans and the inevitable new army of converts, however, this blue period is one to marvel at. [Jul 2014, p.94]

It's mainly chirpy, dance-floor stuff. [Jul 2014, p.92]

A little too shiny and over produced in places, but Life Journey is a trip worth taking. [Jul 2014, p.92]

A bold endeavour, for sure, but it often sounds too busy for its own good. [Jul 2014, p.92]

A worthy addition to one of alt.rock's greatest canons. [Jul 2014, p.92]

If You're a lapsed follower, this record will make you believe again. [Jul 2014, p.91]

It's an excellent reminder that a great band with a great back catalogue can be just as beautiful without make-up. [Summer 2014, p.99]

Five CDs is probably too much intensity for anyone to take, but Superunknown itself is a pitch-black delight. [Summer 2014, p.95]

Plenty here to admire--if you're in your most po-faced mood. [Summer 2014, p.95]

It has given a cerebral clarity and garage pop edge to tracks that would otherwise be buried in slaughterhouse riffs under inaudibly angry lyrics. [Summer 2014, p.93]

Straining a little too hard for intellectual depth and emotional intensity, The Hunting Party is ultimately let down by its lack of focus and poor quality control. [Summer 2014, p.93]

A fine punk album, but no more than that. [Summer 2014, p.92]

Boris are still finding new ways to discomfort, disorient, and discombobulate. [Summer 2014, p.92]

For their fans accustomed to the clattering joyride only Mastodon provide, this will suffice for now. [Summer 2014, p.92]

It's a perfect kind of insanity, and it gets the old adrenalin pumping nicely. [Summer 2014, p.91]

Their pain is very much our gain. [Summer 2014, p.91]

This might well be the finest example of the genre since My Bloody Valentine perforated their first eardrum. [Summer 2014, p.91]

Art, love, personal and political ideology--all of it is delved into with gloriously unpolished gusto. [Summer 2014, p.91]

Trent Reznor's past production has leaned Murphy towards an industrial sound, which Youth's turn as producer adds techno overdrive to. [Summer 2014, p.91]

Heal is a triumph of cathartic rock. [Summer 2014, p.90]

To Be Kind is evidence that they continue to grow and may not have reached their peak yet. It's superb for now, though. [Summer 2014, p.90]

IX showcases a band with little interest in repetition. [Summer 2014, p.90]

By making new albums like this, the band sidestep the entire revival punk circuit ethos and create something new, again. [Summer 2014, p.88]

She still knows how to hone a catchy melody. [Summer 2014, p.88]

An eclectic work, Lazaretto shows off White's multi-instrumental, seasoned-producer lineage with some charismatic flashes. As a complete exercise in songcraft, however, it's a little thin. [Summer 2014, p.88]

At 17 tracks, it becomes a bit of a repetitive slog towards the end, but it's good to see that this old dog has just as much bite as ever when he strays. [Aug 2014, p. 209]

The sound of a very classy singer, and her smokin' band, having a fabulous time. [Aug 2014, p. 209]

It's the spikes, barbs, caterwauls and tantrums that define The Muffs, set them apart, and make Whoop Dee Doo as essential an album as any you'll hear all year. [Aug 2014, p. 208]

A dilution of creativity has occurred, and it makes for dull listening. [Aug 2014, p. 208]

Volume X is not a dud album, just a little short on X Factor. [Aug 2014, p. 206]

Futurology isn't just the best album the Manic Street Preachers have made this century, it's arguably the best album of the year. [Aug 2014, p. 206]

Cool Planet is a messy indie sprawl for the patient faithful. [Aug 2014, p. 204]

Pe'ahi sounds like their strongest gallery of timeless anthems so far. [Aug 2014, p. 204]

Redeemer of Souls is irrefutable prof that Priest are still a force on the metal scene. [Aug 2014, p. 204]

Forty years on, these are still songs and performances few have equaled, let alone bettered. [Sep 2014, p.99]

Thirty years later, Documents And Eyewitness works best in the way its name describes: as an account of a moment when bands would do the wrong thing and do it brilliantly. [Sep 2014, p.98]

It never lags. [Sep 2014, p.95]

While it's infectious, it tends to miss as much as it hits. [Sep 2014, p.95]

COS is a lot darker and more claustrophobic than Thomas's press notes propose. [Sep 2014, p.94]

This Stray Cat's strut continues. [Sep 2014, p.94]

The songs aren't works of staggering compositional genius, or bursting with heartbreaking lyricism. But as air-grabbing alt.rock fun instilled with a charming honesty, there's an ocean of possibility yet for these fine young fellows. [Sep 2014, p.94]

To Turn You On and The Ghost In You sound uncannily like Nick Drake gone glam, but it works. [Sep 2014, p.94]

It's built to be savoured, not rushed. [Sep 2014, p.94]

The allure and immediacy of the songs is remarkable, the stuff that translates into an instant classic. [Sep 2014, p.94]

It's lush, grown-up, thoughtful, funny and very good. [Sep 2014, p.93]

The music is quirky, textured Americana. [Sep 2014, p.93]

Songs is a doozy. [Sep 2014, p.93]

Ultimately, there's little on offer to snare a neutral. For the zealot, however, new heights of melody and assurance await. [Sep 2014, p.93]

The Day's War is full to the brim with dramatic, radio-friendly anthems. [Sep 2014, p.93]

It's relaxed, and effective at that. [Sep 2014, p.92]

It's one in which Plant makes precious few concessions to what's expected of him, and it's all the richer for it. [Sep 2014, p.92]

Lowery's man-child playfulness feels overly mannered at times, but the album settles down in its latter half. [Sep 2014, p.91]

It won't change the world, but The No-Hit Wonder makes it a nicer place to live in. [Sep 2014, p.91]

Relish the result of an intelligent, engaging act taking a new stand. [Sep 2014, p.90]

An album true to his roots and his wrecked country, unwavering of vision. [Sep 2014, p.88]

It may not be as glorious as some would have had us believe first time round; it's still a great album, but here it's packaged with the extra components that could have made it a better one. [Oct 2014, p.101]

I Delete more than stands up on its own. [Jan 2015, p.123]

The songs are deceptive, displaying a rare sense of craft and erudition. [Oct 2014, p.94]

Somewhere Under Wonderland isn't a revolution, but it is assured, interesting and quietly experimental in its own way. [Oct 2014, p.94]

There's enough brittle punch to Blood & Lemonade to freshen even the stuffiest cliche. [Oct 2014, p.93]

The formula is nowhere near broke, so why fix it? Stirring stuff. [Oct 2014, p.91]

With a golden voice at work, this is luscious sunshine-filled Californian rock with storm clouds on the horizons. [Oct 2014, p.91]

They Want My Soul has a spiky, timeless quality, and frontman Britt Daniel's sharply wry lyrics add a nicely acidic edge to the sweetness of their melodies. [Oct 2014, p.91]

Vaselines fans will not be disappointed or surprised by these tunes. [Oct 2014, p.91]

She has made her masterpiece; remarkable at any age. [Oct 2014, p.91]

A little sluggish and generic in places, these churning incantations never quite combust like they should. [Oct 2014, p.90]

If you won and love other recent Bonamassa records you know what to expect and won't be disappointed. But for more casual listeners, the big-band approach may grow a bit overwrought and leave you hankering for those no-frills Rory Gallagher albums. [Oct 2014, p.90]

Wicked Nature is a fateful folly that might just bear fruit. [Oct 2014, p.89]

Commune may seem a little pat, a compendium of psychedelic, exotic and ethnic sounds, but it makes for a handy compilation. [Oct 2014, p.89]

Listening to all 17 tracks in one go feels like going 12 rounds with a heavyweight boxer, a championship belt on the line. [Oct 2014, p.88]

Viewed as a whole, this set cements Harrison's reputation, not as a huge 60s phenomenon but as a human. [Nov 2014, p.104]

A consistently sparkling Weezer album. [Nov 2014, p.97]

This baffling mixture of the anarchy and the ecstasy takes some pulling off but the quartet has perfected the alchemical reaction. [Nov 2014, p.96]

Space Invader has brilliant heavy rock tunes. [Nov 2014, p.96]

As a project and as a reminder of a hugely talented lyricist this is a treat. [Nov 2014, p.96]

This album is absurdly in the red with ear-loading fuzz as Oasis at their most cocaine-blitzed. [Nov 2014, p.96]

The concept of this album is about following a path that is eventually going to lead 20 years down the line and wonder where it will take you. [Nov 2014, p.94]

Accessibly challenging, this isn't Moore's very best day, but it's up there. [Nov 2014, p.95]

This is the best Exodus album since 1989's Fabulous Disaster. [Nov 2014, p.94]

Dense and demanding, Soused will not be topping the album charts. But it is the kind of obliteratingly intense, glamorously weird avant-metal epic that Lou Reed and Metallica never made. [Nov 2014, p.94]