A rather predictable record. [May 2015, p.107]

Inspired song choices, delivered with real passion. [Mar 2026, p.78]

Big Mess is dense and discordant and wilfully ugly at times, but also a richly original and impressively ambitious musical response to a nightmarish pandemic. [Jul 2021, p.84]

Starcatcher feels like their most consistent and complete record yet. [Aug 2023, p.74]

If you fancy being barked at by a grizzled campaigner about pesticides and sea pollution over three-chord sludge and ragged-glorious guitars, then you’ll love what Young and co cook up here. If not, stick to Harvest.

It turns out these eternal survivors have gone out with neither a whimper nor a snarl. [Apr 2026, p.76]

There's a delicious, deliberate irony to this atheist band putting their own 100mph spin on carols. [Jan 2014, p.115]

It's short--11 tracks over in less than 39 minutes--but genuinely sweet. [Dec 2019, p.80]

This is a promising first step into a new era. [May 2018, p.91]

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

The songs are wrought elaborately enough.... Yet this album seems carefully calibrated not to disappoint the conservative fan.

A Brock-sung acoustic setting of We Took The Wrong Step Years Ago is a highlight, but the less said about how the massed saxes treat Down Through The Night the better. [Sep 2018, p.91]

Irresistible. [Nov 2020, p.87]

It's to Gill's credit that the band have retained their venom, spitting out terse rhythms and thick squirts of electronica. [Apr 2015, p.95]

A classy, slick, impeccably executed album of covers, but a disappointing successor to US No. 1 Before This World. [May 2020, p.83]

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

The title track about wanting to know more about your partner, is strong enough to rise above the clichés, but some others are not so fortunate. [Jun 2022, p.79]

Dependably solid. [Nov 2019, p.85]

Danzig mostly avoids the obvious greatest hits, favouring instead reverb-heavy lo-fi treatments that faithfully reference the originals without shooting for all-out mimicry. [Summer 2020, p.85]

There's a familiarity to much of the material which, while not quite formulaic, does sometimes hint at self-reference, brazenly so on Tears Don't Fall (Part 2). [Mar 2013, p.97]

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

Acoustic is a consistent collection that works best when the songs are strongest, and it’s movingly effective on the final track, a cover of Richard Hawley’s Long Black Train.

She can sound like Stevie Nicks lost at the Whitby goth weekender. Otherwise, as always, Stina's vexations are our pleasure. [Jul 2019, p.81]

The album tapers off towards the end, but this still a likeable - albeit slight - confection. [Oct 2024, p.77]

Fabulous, fun and irresistible. [May 2013, p.87]

If you've been yearning for the days when David Draiman shrieked like a nu-metal chimpanzee-cum-wolverine, then Divisive is the album for you. [Dec 2022, p.75]

Some of his catchiest tracks of recent years offset the records indulgences. [May 2026, p.79]

An assured piece of reach-for-the-stars hard rock, sure to thrive live.

This House Is Not For Sale is no masterpiece, and while the punchy title track sonically nods to their heyday, most of it is made up of by-numbers pop.

Redux is well thought out, and it works. [Nov 2023, p.76]

Sequel lacks any major melodic cornerstone in the vein of Kilimanjaro or Down In Abion but it's also without the dreary, narcotic ska rambles that made previous Babyshambles efforts only half-listenable. [Oct 2013, p.90]

An inspired madman's tribute. [Dec 2014, p.105]

F.E.A.R. is so overripe it's fermenting. [Mar 2015, p.91]

It's on those spiritual slowies that this crew rakes the biggest steps to creating the 21st-century southern masterpiece they are obviously capable of. [Mar 2015, p.94]

Overall, too much of The Endless River is suffocated by prog-normative dreariness and a high, conventional varnish. [Dec 2014, p.98]

Their most convincing album since 2000's sickness. [Nov 2018, p.80]

The Fall, in the same old, and very different hands, remain freshly formidable. [Dec 2014, p.99]

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

On 33 Crows he channels his inner Dylan, giving it lots of nasal drawl. Holy Flame brings things up to date, recalling Dandy Warhols. If you fancy some 60s-centric pop-rock, this might work.

Finely balance between rock and pop, Blood Red Roses showcases some of Stewart's best work in decades. [Oct 2018, p.82]

Clapton's guitar work [is] sizzling and defiant where elsewhere it merely simmers. [May 2013, p.88]

Citizens of Boomtown is a startling selection of classically punchy songs. [Apr 2020, p.87]

Cockily adventurous, By Default is a plasma grenade lobbed out of the blues rock trenches.

Only the plodding White Lightning and an unadventurous 20th century Boy drag, but they're easily outweighed by the new-wave buzz of Youth Quake and Parachute's godlike glam Beatles chorus. [May 2015, p.102]

The additional CDs redeem the era. Every B-side here is superior to half the record.

Hexed isn't a repetition of what's gone before, and sounds reasonably fresh. [Apr 2019, p.89]

Rise is long, sprawling, rather unfocused record that could have done with editing down to the strongest points, but when Hollywood Vampires are good they distil the spirit of classic rock as effortlessly as you’d hope from men of Cooper and Perry’s calibre.

Affecting rather than affected, Grinning Streak sees cerebral craftsmen who've always refused to take music too seriously drop the winking and discover the pleasure of passion. [Summer 2013, p.90]

When they play to their traditional strengths, most exhilaratingly on anthem-to-be Cryin’ In Your Beer and the breezy Caught By The Wind, they’re all walloping choruses and galloping guitars, but when they take chances things get really intriguing.

The Kingdom is Bush at their most confident. [Jul 2020, p.89]

His joy at being reacquainted with his music is obvious right from lively opener One More Time. [Dec 2021, p.74]

Double down on revitalising their music while finding new logs to throw on the philosophical fire. [Oct 2023, p.81]

His new album is also self-penned, with mixed results.

A competently executed, if indulgent. [Jul 2019, p.85]

Magnetic may veer close to Maroon-5-at-their-very-best territory, but let's not get sniffy. It's a life affirming, joyful record. [Jun 2013, p.91]

You'll find much to love on Global. [May 2015, p.102]

Admittedly, it still shines and chimes, the charming Yesterday Was Just A Dream is a highlight, as is the swaying Brand New Day, but the opening skiffle of You Belong To Me and the indifferent Go Down Rockin’ (as inspired as its title might imply), are Bryan Adams by numbers.

While it may not be the most musically involved album of his 50-year career, it’s persuasive evidence that Young still has a lot to offer.

While this album is unlikely to win them many new fans at this stage, there's plenty of the old charm twinkling away to get fans back on board their wonderfully strange little ship. [Oct 2013, p.89]

A haunted, husky-voiced cover of the Lennon/McCartney classic And I Love Her is another highlight, invoking the naked beauty of Nirvana’s 1993 Unplugged session. But these are rare meaty morsels in a musical slop bucket of scraps. At best, Montage Of Heck is an ideal Christmas present for the most undemanding of Cobain completists. At worst, a barrel-scraping cash-in that demeans his legacy.

The result is a fun, no-frills album, and what it lacks in surprises makes up for with visceral thrills. [Oct 2020, p.86]

The ultra-catchy pop-punk of old is there in spades, but they're taking a cold hard look at America on This Is Not Utopia. ... Not all gambles pay off. ... A fun romp with a serious undercurrent. [May 2021, p.91]

The histrionic power ballad title track is an undeniable hoot. It's just a shame that so little of the rest of the album makes any lasting impression. [May 2018, p.90]

There is skill on display, but the album is unlikely to progress beyond background music. [Jun 2015, p.93]

The band more than reinforce their status as modern metal heroes. [Summer 2018, p.89]

Inevitably they’re not reinventing the wheel, yet it’s still good to hear Ringo’s non-voice (heavily treated), and his drumming skills are undiminished.

Disturbed are back, and they’re on top form.

Ironically, these more daring forays emphasise the inoffensive blandness of some of the other tracks, but if the future holds more similarly brave experimentation then ZBB are on a fascinating career trajectory.

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

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

A slick, punchy production gives some pop momentum to Justin Sane's vocals, but it's when the songs are carried by his guitar that American Spring sounds ready to bloom. [Jun 2015, p.92]

The combination of Chuck D and B-Real’s wholly different vocal deliveries is a revelation throughout: the former’s commanding baritone and preacher’s power contrasting beautifully with the latter’s nasal sneer and street-smart menace. Similarly, the chemistry between Morello, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford has never been in doubt, and here, while generally less aggressive than they were in their youthful pomp, that effortless ensemble groove ensures that none of these tracks will fail to free minds and asses.

The album tells you everything about what the recently renamed Theory Of A Deadman represent, one thing being class. [Mar 2020, p.87

Anthem Of The Peaceful Army isn't quite the finished article. ... At the final count, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army is shaping up to be the finest debut album of both 2018 and 1972. [Nov 2018, p.80]

There's still a rich seam of experimentation, but with more palatable results than has often been the case. [Jul 2013, p.95]

Ringo has given us expertly produced and pensive meditations on the bigger pictures. [May 2021, p.87]

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

At its best, the results of this level of craftsmanship are thrilling.

If him being grumpy over excellent R&B riffs isn't too much of a shock for the listener, then this is an enjoyable album. [Jun 2021, p.78]

Accomplished but derivative.

You want depth, originality, surprises? Look elsewhere. But as the rock equivalent of comfort food, they don’t disappoint.

Their most self-important but least memorable, engaging or relevant album yet. [Apr 2013, p.98]

The Kids Are coming (To Take You Down) is the one highlight of the album, a thundering radio anthem redolent of Cheap Trick. Its carefree joy is notably absent pretty much everywhere else. [Nov 2019, p.81]

Characteristically dramatic readings of festive favourites. [Dec 2018, p.89]

Bush are far from the abomination of media repute, but Black And White Rainbows won’t convert the long-term haters, and seems too torpid to mobilise a fresh generation of fans.

Taken overall, it does gather moss, but that’s to be expected from a man of his vintage.

They’re aiming for a rockier sound--Walking The Wire has a guitar solo that could conceivably be influenced by U2 if you stick your head under a pillow before hitting play – but, as one listen to opener I Don’t Know Why amply demonstrates, it just comes off like Michael Bolton dad-dancing to Justin Timberlake at a family wedding. Pop deserves better. Rock deserves better. We all deserve better.

It would be exhausting to list all the crimes these two commit in the name of rock'n'roll on this record. ... Risible. [Sep 2022, p.75]

Musically, it's so tried and tested it's almost frictionless. [Jul 2013, p.92]

It begins promisingly, with weighty guitar and measured vocals, before losing the plot completely, descending into a kitchen sink of confusion and ending up sounding like an incomplete demo. [Jan 2014, p.112]

They’ve stripped away the guitars to the point where only trace elements remain. ... The whole thing makes Ed Sheeran sound like Extreme Noise Terror.

The lyrics are packed with so many trite clichés that you can’t help but wince, whether he’s wishing for world peace on Make Love Not War (which manages to make room for the Trump-supporting Love to thank the USA ‘and all the folks protecting us very day’), dredging up seafaring love metaphors on Too Cruel or fashioning sappy eco ballads like Only One Earth.

It's the culmination of four years during which Megadeth have continuously raised their game. [Jul 2013, p.92]

Ronnie Radke's lyrics are convincingly nasty. [Oct 2013, p.91]

It’s 1984 forever for the Scorpions, a return to slick, semi-hard rock and power ballads.

The humanity is palpable throughout his lyrics and delivery, and the album avoids preaching in favour of insightful storytelling, good humour and warmth. [Sep 2020, p.84]