C’mon You Know itself is a bit of a cracker, finding a ‘repentant’ Liam (‘I admit that I was angry for too long’ – choir-enhanced opener More Power) gleefully infuriating his usual detractors (with Diamonds In The Dark’s ‘Now I know how many holes it takes to…’ hook), delivering catnip ballads (Too Good For Giving Up), hitting all the right Liam Gallagher buttons (Don’t Go Halfway) and occasionally kicking hand-me-down Stonesy arse (Everything’s Electric).

If you want to know what Hendrix might have done beyond 27, listen to this. [Feb 2019, p.91]

An unlikely triumph. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Cantrell's voice remains as strong as ever, unwavering and carrying a portentous authority. similarly, Let It lie, with its pounding, doom-laden, Black Sabbath-influenced riff, is the punch in the nose none of us knew we needed. [Nov 2024, p.78]

This heart-melting exercise in widescreen evocative soul-baring brazenly sets the controls for greatness. [Mar 2019, p.89]

A charming history emerges from Young's immerse archive. [Apr 2025, p.70]

Alice In Chains fans should prepare to love this, but expect more echoes of Jar Of Flies than of Dirt.

Offering gems, misfires and revelations, Elton: Jewel Box is an absorbing opening of the vaults.

yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell will melt you right into your couch, will jelly your brain. [May 2026, p.78]

If this is a weird nightmare its one that no one will be in a rush to wake up from. [Jun 2026, p.71]

It might be ultimately pointless, but it works because Fogerty's voice is so extraordinarily intact and because the songs are still invincible. [Sep 2025, p.77]

Meliora is easily the sextet’s finest outing to date, a meticulously executed, artful collection of black-souled retro doom-pop, as heavy as Metallica, as melodically sophisticated as ABBA.

The album pushes an inspired blues-hued blend of their irreverent moonshine gospel romps--‘Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition’ sings Love on Exodus (Movement Of War People)--comedown confessionals (Nothing To Lose But Your Chains) and gutbucket reflection (Rattlesnake Woman), all crucially spiked with the blackest humour.

Ryder is at his best when riffing through the 70s piano-pop playbook. [Feb 2023, p.78]

The 2LP set sacrifices the live cuts, which, while so competent they're not exactly bristling with edge, possess a different air to the out-takes. [May 2023, p.87]

Ultimately, Airbourne play honest, no-nonsense, straight-down-the-line classic rock in a manner true to all the basic tenets of the genre.

The result is varied, strange and engaging. [May 2025, p.75]

Outtakes or no outtakes, this reissue manages to pull off the considerable trick of feeling like a complete whole – the first iteration of the classic line-up after Motörhead’s formation in 1975. [Summer 2025, p.85]

It’s smart: acerbic and politically charged in its bleakness.

California collects 14 hook-drenched punk-pop barnstormers that both reflect nostalgically on their youthful vigours (Bored To Death, Kings Of The Weekend, San Diego) and revisit them impressively (Teenage Satellites, No Future).

Their heaviest, most memorable and most wildly animalistic material to date. [Oct 2018, p.83]

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

Six albums in, The Horrors sound fresher than ever. [May 2025, p.75]

Quality levels are consistently high, with sublime finger-picked folk-pop reveries like I Woke Up nestled alongside sumptuous, harp-kissed, Bacharach-sized chansons like Rise Up Singing and Glimpse OF You. [Jul 2024, p.80]

The hooks go off like petrol bombs too. [Mar 2026, p.79]

Such Hot Blood sounds like a major label buff-up of their glowering, folk-flecked dusk-rock, the raw pomp of earlier albums given a national (anthem) gleam. [Nov 2013, p.89]

Unexpected diversions into country honk (Cold Hearted Woman, Hot On My Tail) and cinematic balladry (Weekend In Rome) may also raise eyebrows among diehards. But when the storm clouds clear, the band's innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever. [Apr 2025, p.76]

They've crafted their most focused, direct and unburdened collection yet. [May 2025, p.74]