The new songs are some of the best they've ever recorded, and just finishing this collection is a big testament to their staying power. [#10, p.89]

Enigmatically beautiful, yet stinging with bitter cold. [#10, p.90]

Not since Cornelius' Fantasma has the element of surprise manifested itself as fully as on this record. [#9, p.110]

A choice specimen of audio sophisitication. [#9, p.106]

Music for smoking and looking bored has rarely ever been this decisively brilliant. [#10, p.98]

It's passionate. It's thoughtful. It's catchy. It's their breakout moment, their best record, and... it will be one of the best albums of 2004.[#9, p.100]

It's hard to believe that a guy so apparently bombed out of his head... can concoct such well-crafted pop songs. [#11, p.98]

Drones with the grit of a band that means it this time. [#9, p.103]

A massive concept album that is so gluttonously huge-sounding that it makes The Wall sound like a Sebadoh record. [#10, p.94]

Misery doesn't step forward so much as expand outward; roughly half of the album... sounds as if it could've been lifted off of Melody. The other half is purely visceral. [#10, p.91]

The irony is that the closer Reed gets to his present material, the more alive it becomes. [#10, p.87]

The worst record [Homme's] name has ever graced. [#10, p.89]

With honeyed vocals and the tender touch of acoustic guitar, he is already showing signs of songcraft perfection on his second LP. [#9, p.109]

Sound[s] like a poppy hodgepodge of My Bloody Valentine, Elliott Smith and Sonic Youth. [#9, p.106]

The formula seems tired, or at least stretched too thin to be effective. [#9, p.101]

Raw, crunchy beats and ugly, monster flows delivered in a punk album format. [#9, p.110]

By not making sense as we know it, cLOUDDEAD creat music that is open to interpretation. [#10, p.96]

An unflinching major label debut, as well as a straight rock album that straddles confidently that tricky space between rawness and posturing. [#10, p.95]

Schizophrenic, stark, and even with its pretentious theatrics, this is an amazing record. [#9, p.104]

Lacks the robust, full-bodied sound of its predecessor and instead exercises a studied, stripped-down clinic on how to brood and remain upbeat. [#9, p.102]

Relentlessly sultry, with lush arrangements framed by slamming dance beats. [#9, p.102]

It’s hard to tell if the band wants us to revel along in their psychosis or throw up our hands with disgust.

Alternating from quietly meditative numbers to aggressive drum ‘n’ bass backdrops, Between Darkness And Wonder treads carefully between insight and superficiality, but ultimately ends up... closer to the former.

A double album slough of easy listening instrumentals. [combined review of both discs; #9, p.108]

Gone are the fun hooks of [Nixon], and the genre jumping majesty of 1999's What Another Man Spills. [combined review of both discs; #9, p.108]

Has a slick slutty electroclash vibe. [#9, p.102]

An album awash in evocative warmth. [#9, p.111]

Possesses a rare beauty and a singluar honesty. [#9, p.111]