Beautiful in style and intent, The Myth Of The Happily Ever After has magic written into every note. [Nov 2021, p.70]

Despite the omission of radio sessions and later work, this is a blistering collection of songs by a band at their peak, and a fan-set by and large without compare (the live set alone being a fantastic time machine into a world where cool bands played Mekons covers and swore a lot).

At no points does the listener throw up their arms and shout, “My God! Let It Be is the greatest Beatles album ever made!” but this larger, panoramic overview does wonders for the record, giving us a bird’s-eye view of the sessions. Buy it and you’ll play it a lot. [Nov 2021, p.82]

Some space is wasted--the album would feel more concise without the ambient sonic interludes it's peppered with--but when they hit their stride, as on the magnificent Throw Me An Anchor, Baroness seem unstoppable. [Summer 2019, p.86]

Perhaps The River could have been even better had he used a couple of the outtakes--Restless Nights and Whitetown--in place of fillers such as Sherry Darling and Crush On You. But the two biggest decisions he got absolutely right. In the end, The River was more than big enough.

Thanks to some multitrack tapes of exceptional quality, mixed by Young and Stills, we get to hear what all the justified fuss was about. Divided between acoustic and electric sets, this is a joy from start to finish. [Dec 2024, p.85]

Not just euphoric but also important music, and another near-faultless Wolf Alice wonder. [Jul 2021, p.84]

It's an album outside its own time, designed to intrigue the dedicated few rather than service the content-consuming many, and if nothing else it's bringing the art of enigmatic charisma back to the world of rock. [Apr 2025, p.74]

A more polished and less primal prospect. ... Nichols' dusty acoustic fingerstyle and burnished voice shares little of Eric Bibb's barbed eloquence, and the album grows angrier as it unfolds. [Nov 2021, p.75]

It is an embarrassment of riches, not least the variety of exceptional live material. [Nov 2023, p.87]

Single My Mind IS A Mountain may open the record in brash fashion, but by lush centre points Souvenir and CXZ, Deftones feel both comfortably themselves and completely unpredictable. [Oct 2025, p.72]

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

Nathaniel Rateliff serves up a heavenly cloud of backing vocals on Beautiful Strangers. And while Eddie Hinton's Everybody Needs Love sounds a little trite written down, spiced by a Bonnie Raitt slide solo it's irresistible. [Jan 2026, p.79]

The whole show is masterfully orchestrated. The first 25 minutes is all bangers. [Summer 2022, p.78]

Blood On The Tracks is rightly considered to be one of Dylan's masterpieces, and this exhaustive collection shows why. [Jan 2019, p.95]

All told, this is a finely detailed and lovingly curated tribute to one of the true greats.

For fans of Big Star (particularly their third album) or Gram Parsons, this album offers a similar unadorned beauty. The Super Deluxe Edition of this reissue includes a bonus disc with 12 previously unreleased early renditions of the album tracks. .... Some of the acoustic versions are quite the equal of their finished counterparts.

The volcanic glass the album takes its title from is said to protect against negative energy, and here Paradise Lost pull the same trick by turning the bleakness in on itself to create something beautiful.

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]

All of his solo work is worth owning (These Foolish Things and The Bride Stripped Bare might be his best records), but this collection is a mighty big entry point (and there’s a great new track, Star). [Nov 2024, p.82]

Each of its five segments finds nascent chaos metamorphosing into funk-fuelled crescendo as if by inspired osmosis. [Jul 2021, p.93]

It's music to stop you in your tracks. [Summer 2024, p.75]

It is a wonderful life-affirming masterpiece. [Nov 2025, p.74]

These eclectic make-overs [on NEU! Tribute] are pleasingly irreverent and mostly excellent. ... Also worth a fresh listen is NEU! 86. [Oct 2022, p.83]

The biggest draw is the plethora of out-takes and demos. ... A 15-song love set show The Replacements at their ramshackle, off-kilter power pop best. [Oct 2019, p.96]

It's strange, and wonderful, to hear these now-cherished songs take their first teetering steps. [Jun 2018, p.90]

Decidedly queasy listening throughout. [Apr 2015, p.98]

The gold for hardcore fans still long-pocketed enough to remain completists 0 a 41-track Re:call segment corraling non-album alternatives, B-sides and soundtrack work. Of course, this is the only element proper Bowie fans truly want. But do they actually need it when it comes irrevocably bolted to eight CDS of stuff they've already got? .... The Rare stuff? All gravy. [Oct 2025, p.84]