Certainly no nostalgic fad celebration, this epic collection is more like a stellar overview of the last century’s more vibrant and often overlooked darker-hued rock, cast among a hell-spawned panoply of lesser-known pranksters.

From storming opener Die By The Sword to rabble-rousing anthem Analog Man, will tear your face clean off.

The highlight is a live DVD, Live And Loud.... When we get down to the demos--which are largely free of vocals--the sound of a barrel being scraped starts to overpower the music. [Nov 2013, p.101]

Finley applies versatile pipes and stinging licks to extraordinary songs of broad experience. [Dec 2023, p.79]

When it's good, it's very good. [Jun 2015, p.91]

A compulsive half-hour montage of dynamic Metric buzz-pop, Garage tech-rock, drivetime soundtrack sounds and pummelling grit metal. [Nov 2024, p.79]

Death By Rock And Roll is their first attempt to claw back what they had. Fortunately it’s brilliant.

Here Hiatt's palette tends a little towards country, but the best cuts still fall to the blues. [Summer 2021, p.83]

Their strength is in their inclusivity--yes, they’re from a punk background, but this is melodic hardcore with killer choruses to stir the hardest of hearts, bursting with a positive energy that channels your adrenaline until passive listening becomes all but impossible.

Blue Oyster Cult continue to do whatever the hell they want. But the good, and perhaps surprising, news, given how long it’s been since we’ve last heard new music from them, is that it’s all good, and in places great.

Weird, but adorable. [Nov 2024, p.79]

For Raincoats fans this is the most similar to their underrated third album Moving, for its fluent, danceable, off-kilter rhythms. For everyone else it's a marvel waiting to be discovered. [Apr 2023, p.76]

At last, a Mew album as essential as it is deeply odd. [Jun 2015, p.97]

One of Voivod’s finest works, Synchro Anarchy stands as proof that a band can please the crowd and themselves at the same time.

The star of this set is Michael Karoli, whose freak-out guitar solos are the epitome of what 1977 claimed to be killing off. 1977 failed, but Can in 1977 were, in their own little big world, on fire. [Dec 2024, p.86]

The most motley of crews manage to bring out the best in McCaughey's songs and he's on peak form here. [Summer 2025, p.72]

Overall, this is their most eclectic album yet and, despite a couple of lightweight generic tracks, their most end-to-end enjoyable too.

A rewarding journey that delights in a celebration of friendship, inclusivity and 'this crazy dream of our utopia'. [Apr 2023, p.79]

As determinedly quirky as its title, The Girl is Crying In Her Latte is a very strong collection of vintage Sparks moods, plus a few new left-field twists. [Jul 2023, p.84]

A debut rich in raw potential.[Summer 2021, p.87]

This fourth album from them is special. [Apr 2026, p.79]

Road-toughened beyond their identi-Emo origins to attain a formidably muscular grunge-tinged melodic fury. [Jun 2020, p.89]

Garwood sounds like he's found whatever he's been blindly searching for. [Apr 2015, p.99]

An album of depth and impact that merits luxuriant poring over. [Feb 2019, p.88]

Deft arrangements, vintage heaviness, classic power. [Jun 2020, p.89]

One Deep River is one of Knopfler's best. These are gorgeous songs, sung in a voice that sounds like it's lived a life that's full. [May 2024, p.74]

It's a very New York record, It's an energetic record, and while the older listener would enjoy some guitar playing frm Gordon - that sort of thing seems to be supplied by Raisen and engineer Anthony Paul Lopez - it's her attitude. not the glitchy beats, that really give The Collective its aggression and fun. [Jun 2024, p.74]

Stunning. [Jun 2020, p.89]