Crow redeems herself somewhat with the useful chorus of the I-love-my-kids closer Waiting In The Wings, but only somewhat. Some good singles, as always, but unfortunately a long way from career highlights Sheryl Crow and The Globe Sessions. [May 2024, p.79]

Heaven is an adrenalin-charged barrage of intelligently crafted, hook-heavy material, enlivened with hairpin tempo twists, and impressively free of punk cliches. As Hell surges into action with Rise Up's thrusting fusion of shout-along punk chorus and metallic riffing, it's clear they're not playing their heavy side for laughs, using it instead to inject their characteristic sound with well-suited darker aspects on It's All Me and You Wanted War. [May 2024, p.79]

The energy and buoyancy never sacrifice Elbow's innate knack for emotional impact, as Garvey sings with poetic accuracy of the abyss, various hallelujahs and the meaning of love. [Apr 2024, p.82]

He enlists a pan-generational wish list and lets them shine. [Apr 2024, p.81]

It may have been a long wait, but The Mandrake Project is easily one of Bruce Dickinson’s boldest projects, and it goes to show there is almost nothing that this band frontman/fencer/pilot/author can’t turn his hand to. [Apr 2024, p.82]

Mesmerises with tales of sobriety and redemption (it says here) that sound more unapologetically stoned and out there than ever. [Apr 2024, p.83]

Marvellous album. .... A rock'n'roll record that's funkier than a tramp's kacks, more soulful than a gospel convention, warmer than a mother's love and groovier than the Grand Canyon. [Apr 2024, p.78]

Halford and the latest incarnation of Judas Priest are still rattling rafters with this new album of pristine and dauntingly powerful heavy metal. [Apr 2024, p.76]

This is Ministry’s best record since we were all young and good-looking. [Apr 2024, p.78]

The results rock with dynamic, dramatic vigour on Put It Right and Rubicon, while Soord’s ability to tug melodically at heart strings remains in emotive evidence when the storm clouds part on Now It’s Yours and To Forget. [Apr 2024, p.80]

Exposes his long-standing flaws: lyrics with the depth and insight of an astrology column, and songwriting that flashes on brilliance. .... Tracks are redeemed, though, by some spectacularly muscular riffing from guitarist Liam Tyson. [Apr 2023, p.83]

This is fine work indeed. [Apr 2024, p.80]

An iron-clad structural damage-inducing delight from start to finish. Early contender for punk album of the year. [Apr 2024, p.79]

Alkaline Trio temper napalm guitars with a keen sense of melody, placed front and centre on Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs by Hot For Preacher's dark, dramatic opening flourish, and continued with impressive consistency throughout its 11 tracks. [Apr 24, p.76]

The record ends with a burst of Velvets fuzz-rock titled Hey Lou Reid - but it's only fitting on a record that burnishes their legend with such sizzling acid. [Apr 2024, p.76]

There’s a freshness in both words and attitude that’s more than welcome in a world of heritage and excessive respect. So until the long-awaited collaboration between Noel Gallagher and Ian Brown emerges, feast your ears on this hugely enjoyable album. [May 2024, p.78]

Be Right Here retains the simple formula that has made the band such a success: songs, tons of songs.

Despite its subject matter, the Bristol tykes are still sonically and vocally as visceral as ever. [Mar 2024, p.81]

So engaging, you might even forget your phone for 40 minutes. [Mar 2024, p.83]

On a record full of sprawling, guitar solos, textural acoustics and steady drums, J Mascis's plaintive howl of a vocal tops off everything, adding one more layer of poignancy. [Mar 2024, p.81]

At points it's jazzy, then psychedelic, then with the sort of undulating groove that makes you wonder what it might have sounded like if Booker T jammed with the Average White Band. [Mar 2024, p.81]

Quality workmanship. [Mar 2024, p.82]

For the most part, though, Saviors is the sound of reassuring rebellion from the midst of the 21st Century breakdown. [Mar 2024, p.80]

There’s a charming vulnerability to it all, and although they still amp up the rock when necessary – a riff at the heart of Brambles is fittingly prickly – Dark Rainbows is a brooding, subtle, ballad-stuffed affair from a band that refuses to be hemmed in by their own history. [Apr 2024, p.76]

The singer and guitarist's seventh album is a sparkling gem in its own right. [Jan 2024, p.78]

This regular release offers reminder enough of just how special this band is when they're on form. [Jan 2024, p.86]

Disc one's the gold. [Jan 2024, p.87]

Where classic and post rock meet experimentalism, the brooding soundscapes portrayed by the theme of LA's dark underbelly is one of 2023's most inventive surprises. [Jan 2024, p.80]