A more perfectly askew album will be hard to find this year. [#15, p.99]

Imagine if !!! were to trim down the intense jams and adopt light vocal harmonies a la the Shins. [#15, p.95]

Berninger sounds smart and witty; but above all else, he sounds like he really went for it this time. [#15, p.105]

Open Season opts for simplicity, its plainest moments being its most transcendent, and for the most part, it carries you along. [#15, p.92]

Odyssey doesn't suck. Imagine! [#15, p.94]

While you may see Hot Hot Heat as you want to see them--a one trick pony who turned their backs on their noise roots--we see them as a band more than capable of evolution and growth and mature songwriting. [#15, p.92]

Finds [Beck] consolidating his considerable talent by combining all his disparate influences into one coherent collection of songs. [#15, p.90]

Explode[s] with musical vitality. [#15, p.97]

Hip-shakingly good. [#14, p.98]

The tunes are almost more like short stage scenes than mere songs about people, but the band does well to prevent them from coming off as cheesy allegories so that even the illiterate boors out there can enjoy their downright pretty moments. [#15, p.101]

14 tracks that go from anthemic to soothing and sleepy, while never once crossing any kind of line--or even looking at one. [#15, p.94]

Track-for-track, Herren's stuttering production and Technicolor glitch madness turns the whole thing into some insane dance party. [#15, p.93]

Taken on its own, any one of these songs is pretty good--and some are really good--but Lullabies to Paralyze is held prostrate by an overall lack of variety not made up for by kitsch or vigor. [#14, p.94]

Despite all of the concentrated production, these mellow, easy-going songs still sound completely effortless. [#15, p.97]

This is like the heavy, spaced, de-fanged psychedelic pop that the Doves excel at and what Oasis probably thinks that they excel at. [#15, p.97]

This stunning third full-length does an incredible job of riding the highest of highs. [#14, p.101]

Proves that Prekop really is one of the few musicians who can allude to the '70s, soul, jazz and fun--yet still sound sincere. [#14, p.99]

Floating where they once soared... Doves safely straddle anthemic familiarity and hipster erudition. [#15, p.104]

Frances the Mute documents the Mars Volta as a passionate and explosive band that has grown capable of taking the music in a hundred different directions. [#14, p.96]

Doesn't offer enough lyrical depth to ensure the album's ultimate longevity. [#14, p.104]

The entire disc is marked by diversity and ingenuity. [#13, p.96]

Yet another collection of crafty, drunken stories of manhood devouring youth. [#14, p.101]

Simple without being simplistic. [#14, p.98]

The rare album that works smoking alone, engaged in a postprandial conversation, or sharing a cigarette and scotch with a friend. [#14, p.101]

Feathers isn't a bad album, just one without a discernable look--or hook. [#14, p.99]

Their most realized album yet. [#15, p.101]

Francis... [is] a complex, fantastically literate and genuine wordsmith and poet. [#14, p.99]

Her tragic musings finally receive the perfect accompaniment. [#14, p.105]