Their music, while distinctive, is a rather rudimentary and static thing, with a limited melodic spectrum. [Mar 2013, p.96]

C91 is an overstuffed hit-and-miss banquet of bittersweet popstalgia, great in parts but far from definitive. [Feb 2022, p.86]

Tail-chasing indie adequacy. [Summer 2020, 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.

At 17 tracks, it becomes a bit of a repetitive slog towards the end, but it's good to see that this old dog has just as much bite as ever when he strays. [Aug 2014, p. 209]

Divorced from the visual spectacle--puppets, illusionists, avian transformations, ticker-tape poetry--and the thrill of watching actual Kate Bush actually singing, this audio recording is akin to John Lennon being resurrected to perform the Wedding Album--i.e. only mildly amazing.

An eclectic work, Lazaretto shows off White's multi-instrumental, seasoned-producer lineage with some charismatic flashes. As a complete exercise in songcraft, however, it's a little thin. [Summer 2014, p.88]

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]

If there’s a disappointment about Genexus it’s that it only really delivers to hardened FF fans, that it’s essentially more of the same winning formula.

Bela Lugosi's Dead was a happy accident. The rest of the material finds a band fumbling for direction, even touching on ska, before an eerie delay appeared to invent their sound for them. [Dec 2018, p.93]

The album was written on the hop, Newcombe spilling his brains right onto tape, and it shows – imperfections are made into a positive, the songs allowed to just naturally come into being.

Nobody's pretending that this album is a masterpiece, but it's convivial. [Dec 2019, p.85]

Trent Reznor's past production has leaned Murphy towards an industrial sound, which Youth's turn as producer adds techno overdrive to. [Summer 2014, p.91]

Long on delicately gauzy, seductively shoegazey atmospheric, but short on whup-ass. [Apr 2025, p.77]

Fallon’s preoccupation with emotive storytelling and heartland rock remains, occasionally flying a little too close to a musical rehashing than being the modern reinvention he’s aiming for.

Mostly it works. [Apr 2013, p.94]

The winners prove to be the moments where the participants hold back on the bombast to groove. ... Alas, Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground suffers from heavy-handedness, a fate that awaits I Just Want To Make Love To You. Not quite a harvest for the world but no spoilt crops either.

Bob Dylan regulars Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier pop up but this isn’t a star-studded exercise, more of a stylish platter aimed at grown-ups.

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

For their fans accustomed to the clattering joyride only Mastodon provide, this will suffice for now. [Summer 2014, p.92]

Vaselines fans will not be disappointed or surprised by these tunes. [Oct 2014, p.91]

While frontwoman Ritzy Bryan remains a force of nature, there’s a lack of eureka moments this time, leaving us with a slow-burner rather than an inferno.

Straining a little too hard for intellectual depth and emotional intensity, The Hunting Party is ultimately let down by its lack of focus and poor quality control. [Summer 2014, p.93]

It's not exactly in Rikki's nadir, but neither is it exactly rock. [Jul 2021, p.87]

It's elegiac, claustrophobic and contagiously disturbed. [Apr 2023, p.79]

Plenty here to admire--if you're in your most po-faced mood. [Summer 2014, p.95]

Marr’s first solo live collection is full of jingle-jangle virtuosity and timeless new wave zing. But it doesn’t take long before he bumps up against his limitations as a lead singer, and his over-fondness for straight, shouty, Noel Gallagher-endorsed bloke-rock.

If your bag is relentless hectoring from five angry, tune averse firebrands, feel free to have at it. Doubtlessly great live, though. [Apr 2026, p.81]