Even dislocated from the TV show, Sonic Highways remains among the most concise and powerful Foo albums yet. [Dec 2014, p.102]

For the most part, Def Leppard is the sound of a band who have rediscovered their sense of purposes after a wobbly 25 years.

An album preoccupied lyrically with past, present and future is matched by music that is sleek, chromium-plated, retro-futurist. [May 2025, p.73]

In a different musical climate, the driving No Love Lost, the U2-aping Dance The Night and the beautiful Birds Of Paradise would all be hit singles, but even if The Cult’s commercial heyday is firmly in their rear-view mirror, album number ten is a reminder that they’re gracefully assuming ‘national treasure’ status.

He might be a slippery customer, but his music couldn’t be more reliable.

The band's greatest strength has always been that combination of voices, and when Avett brothers Scott and Seth swirl around each other, any shortcomings are quickly forgotten. [Aug 2024, p.70]

It may not have the immediacy of Crowded House at their peak, but there are nonetheless defiant pop sensibilities seeping through the cracks of more experimental left-field soundscapes that form the spine of the likes Of Ghosts and We Know What It Means. [Sep 2018, p.86]

A Violent Femmes album is always a treat; witty, lucid, self-deprecating, beat-up but ever-reliable. ... Hotel Last Resort is all of that. [Aug 2019, p.95]

It’s all a bit glazed over, grungeless, too well finished, lacking the sense of suppurating wounds.

This is classic, turn-of-the-century-style emo for those old enough to remember the scene before the eyeliner an hairspray brigade came along and spoiled it all for everyone. [Mar 2013, p.98]

A hilarious throwback to the days when bands didn't take themselves too seriously. [Dec 2018, p.89]

A bona fide, big, stadium-pleasing epic. [Mar 2013, p.95]

The overall result is both sparse yet overflowing, in a fashion in keeping with the band’s reputation.

The ballad Love Grow Cold has a hazy, 80s sheen and the rest of the album has its feet planted firmly in the 70s, but this is nevertheless a slick and timeless collection of songs.

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

Her heart is laid bare in a manner that just manages to avoid becoming cloying.

From the manically undistinguished soloing of The Tempter Push to the leaden progressions of Walk Alone, it is uniquely generic, extraordinarily ordinary.

There's a DIY feel and bouts of slacker tomfoolery to Varshons 2. [Mar 2019, p.88]

Sprightly mid-life Americana. [Jun 2019, p.89]

While nobody would mistake it for the work of a man who's trying too hard, it's not without its charms. [Sep 2020, p.87]

It's a little naive in its presentation and denotations of homely American Stereotypes, perhaps, but all the more powerful for that. ... Crazy Horse are in fine fettle. [Jan 2021, p.84]

The energy levels let up only on the disappointingly crowd-pleasing ballad leave On. Vocalist Jacoby Shaddix's sweat-soaked urgency feels right for these times. [May 2022, p.86]

Channel[s] the nagging ingenuity of classic post-punk(pop) to sparkling effect. [Jul 2022, p.83]

There are no new tricks, but there’s plenty of life in these old dogs yet. [Nov 2024, p.72]

Stronger melodies, more powerful performances, now an emphatic lead [Maiah Wynne], it's as if she's finally decided to step out of her famed compatriots' shadow and taken centre stage. The band have expanded musically, too. [May 2025, p.74]

This is certainly a dead weird album; it may improve with time.

Vocals are minimal, though less processed and more prominent than usual.

They’re on rollicking form here, mainman Lips playing several face-melting solos (Gun Control being typically OTT) and tackling zombies and runaway trains, alongside the more thoughtful Forgive Don’t Forget and Lemmy tribute It’s Your Move.