Simply a great record. [#14, p.95]

The Chemical Brothers have always been kings of collaboration, and this album is no anomaly. [#14, p.96]

In both theme and effect, DiFranco's latest is about the reassurance in chronicling minutiae. [#14, p.100]

The true surprise, then, is not the feedback and guitar solos... it's the more pop-oriented structure and melodies. [#14, p.104]

Part romantic, starry-eyed shoegaze pop and part paranoid explosions of sound. [#14, p.96]

The vocals veer a bit too far into tunelessness at times, but the music is gorgeously majestic, yet deceptively simple and stark. [#14, p.100]

One is a kinder, gentler record and I mean that in the worst possible way. [#14, p.98]

So here we have another U2 album that's just as good as the last one. In fact, it's really good. [#13, p.88]

A pretty downright awesome collection of hip-hop songs... that push the boundaries of just what exactly a hip-hop song can be. [#13, p.104]

The collection is over too soon, but not without a perfect conclusion. [#14, p.103]

Their funk-electro-industrial-art-pop-noise is so tight, you might forget that they began life as a Munich art school project. [#13, p.97]

Dear Heather, while slow and deep like all of Cohen's albums, carries its own rich surprises. [#13, p.95]

This is not Cave's best work by any means, but these songs do showcase his impressive range as a lyricist, performer and musician. [#12, p.100]

Never, Never Land doesn't have a single track that comes close to Fiction's epochal "Lonely Soul" or the eerie "Rabbit In Your Headlights," but overall it works more as an album of equal bombast and grandeur. [#13, p.94]

There's... an unexpected intimacy in their nonchalance. [#13, p.92]

The urgency of the music and the quality vocal and guitar hooks make this one of the best rock albums of the year. [#13, p.98]

While [Von] doesn't possess the astonishing complexity of what was to follow, it does evince the same sort of raw, visceral honesty and passion for perception-jarring experimentation. [#14, p.103]

Has everything we've come to expect from Leo: it's clever, earnest, wry and literate, all delivered with his trademark falsetto flourishes. [#13, p.100]

When Welcome To The North is at its biggest, it's also at its best. Unfortunately, that means that the record's better half comprises the last two tribal minutes of each track and a couple of exceptional highlights. [#13, p.100]

Large and epic, but tense and claustrophobic as well, and gratefully, it's as close to Elliott as we've ever been. [#12, p.92]

The album's lyrics feature mostly throwaway new-age drivel... and gut-wrenching despondency reduced to bored balladeering. Or just plain silliness. [#13, p.102]

These dozen lushly orchestrated songs will give further ammunition for those shouting his praises off their rooftops. [#13, p.97]

The New Danger's pulse doesn't always support Mos' growing manhood. [#13, p.89]

Pinback is particularly good at harnessing a laid-back vibe that ultimately soothes much more than it disappoints. [#12, p.101]

An astoundingly complex, deeply evocative pop record. [#13, p.98]

[His] roughhewn compositions shuffle along with a shambolic charm, giving the collection an earthy appeal and conversational warmth. [#16, p.96]

The last few numbers droop, and as a whole, the record sinks a little from the weight of all that goddamn goodwill. [#12, p.98]

Weak poetry set to any music sucks, let alone this plodding folk-lite. [#13, p.90]