There are a couple of marvellous moments – namely the shapeshifting Mezzanine and the agonising regret of Finalist – but often Spiral In A Straight Line settles into itself too much.

For all its spells when it's thick with vitality and feeling, it rarely breaks free of being anything more than a good record, never an exceptional one. [24 Sep 2016. p.50]

A sensory overload that doesn't let up. [28 Mar 2020, p.51]

BUMMER is an album where cleopatrick excel more than they struggle. Their sound could do with a little streamlining, but for a debut LP, this is a bold and at times very enjoyable effort.

An album which initially goes in hard on horrorcore lyrics, before broadening out into social reportage and geo-political comment. Along the way, there are guests galore and one piece quite unlike anything else the band have put their name to.

This is a decent redneck honk that could earn them some new friends while they're away. [23 Jan 2016, p.53]

A record packed with starry-eyed guitars, almost as if they were being beamed back down from the International Space Station. [24 Sep 2016, p.53]

Machine Gun Kelly’s detractors will likely have you believe Mainstream Sellout is terrible. It isn’t, but nor is the fire burning as bright as it once was. There’s some fun to be had here, but ultimately, this is the weakest record of MGK’s rock era so far.

Silver Age is a fun ride, then, but it won't warrant racing back for any tine soon. [6 Oct 2012, p.53]

The Verge is the sound of a band trying far too hard to hit the mark--and falling short as a direct result of that. [2 Jul 2011, p.52]

When it works, it's brilliantly dumb fun. But when it doesn't, you end up with stuff like DD's. [4 May 2013, p.53]

In the end the feeling is that Scorpion Child are playing slightly-above-par Saturday night pub rock, and that's all. [20 Jul 2013, p.53]

Too many other songs fall victim to the eternal curse of the remix album: either going too far or not far enough. [26 Oct 2013, p.52]

Black Tide possess a thrash influence; they've suppressed it to make something they consider commercial metal. The result are neither, though do give rise to a new genre: boy-metal. [13 Aug 2011, p.51]

A mostly sluggish record. [8 Oct 2016, p.52]

You're Welcome stumbles through grating doldrums on garage-rock autopilot, with junkyard fuzz that's more crap-nasty than good-nasty. [3 Jun 2017, p.52]

They're suspended in an airy updraft of synths and clean guitar lines that are so '70s prog-rock they should be wearing a Rick Wakeman from Yes-styled cape. [27 Jun 2015, p.52]

Basically a single with extra padding, Recorrupted is nothing more than a forgettable stopgap release. [19 Nov 2011, p.51]

It plays out like a sulking child trapped in the seat of a supermarket trolley. [18 Jul 2015, p.52]

Impeccably executed as it all is, though, the songs lack genuine distinction and the whole thing plays out in a series of weary cliches. [13 Aug 2011, p.52]

Occasionally its brilliant--as on the thumpy disco electronics of V.I.T.R.O.L. and the sweetly memorable Hold Your Fire. Sadly, an equal amount of it flounders in a haze of boring shoegaze. [11 Jun 2016, p.53]

The main selling points of this album are a sleek production job and the technical performance of vocalist Conor Mason, who once again proves himself to be in possession of some serious lungs. The problem, however, is that despite the surface sheen, too many of Moral Panic’s songs fail to really go anywhere.

Aside from brief moments in songs such as Satellites and Why Can't We Do It Again, the best thing about The Trigger Complex is its title. [11 Feb 2017, p.52]

The Oracle sounds like it was written on autopilot, with the band ticking off the ingredients that made previous albums sell with out injecting any fire or imagination. [3 Jul 2010, p.51]

On tracks like Can't Knock The Hustle, Piece Of Cake and High As A Kite, the smartness and deceptive simplicity is lost under a wash of electronic beats and un-catchy melodies. ... They sound boring. [23 Feb 2019, p.54]

You can hear where he's heading with ideas, but, for the most part, these are more sketches than fully-formed songs. [16 Jan 2016, p.52]

In the larger context of the lack of musical progression and creative imagination, the inertia that is Off!'s modus operandi is nothing less than depressing. [5 May 3012, p.53]

The album is one long ambient jam and precisely as exciting as that sounds. [16 Jan 2016, p.53]

Volbeat still sound like a band desperately searching for an identity to call their own. [3 Aug 2019, p.59]

America is an odd album, one that requires patience to unlock. [7 Apr 2018, p.54]

He goes from pretty ditties to outright tedium as songs drag on interminably and eventually, unlistenably. [10 Nov 2012, p.53]

With Vice & Virtues Panic At The Disco sound like the kind of people your grandparents would like. That doesn't mean that they are people who make bad music, but it does mean that they are creators of an album that does not rock. [26 Mar 2011, p.50]

For its first half, Life, Love & Hope plays to Boston's strengths.... Sadly, from the insipid If You Were In Love onwards, the album loses its way catastrophically. [7 Dec 2013, p.53]

8 isn't terrible, but it is boring, which is much worse. [13 May 2017, p.51]

Sadly, Sum 41 spread the good stuff far too thin over an ambitious but not always successful 15 songs, and, to paraphrase an old title of theirs, there's too much filler and not enough killer material to truly convince. [26 Mar 2011, p.52]

Despite only clocking in at 42 minutes it feels like it drags on for ages. And the copious use of samples to remind you it’s an industrial record gets tiring.

New singer Jasen Moreno has an adequate bark, but the songs themselves are the problem. [30 Mar 2013, p.54]

Atreyu’s act of streamlining has sanded many of their edges clean off, leading to moments that sound like they’ve been made by anyone but the actual authors.

Most of Super Collider feels half-hearted and rushed. [1 Jun 2013, p53]

The rest of these songs weren't good enough to make it onto 2005's Make believe or 2008's Weezer (The Red Album), which says it all really. [6 Nov 2010, p.51]

Command The Weather quickly becomes boring through repetition. [9 Jul 2016, p.52]

If you want hits, there's already a better Best Of available--1997's A-Sides--while if you want a rarities album, this isn't it. [2 Oct 2010, p.51]

It feels like there's not much tread left on the tyres, although the speaker-thumping production of Hexed make it a cut above 2015's I Worship Chaos. [9 Mar 2019, p.55]

Boys Like Girls have crafted a record simple and effective enough for mainstream ears. It's just a shame that absolutely no punk 101 is required. [8 Dec 2012, p.52]

Flat, uninspired riffs dressed up in pointless electronics and presided by the watery wailing of Darroh Sudderth. [30 Jul 2011, p.51]

The instrumental epics remain compelling, but, as a complete work, this is too enveloped in its diverse attempts to please everyone to truly wow anybody from start to finish. [21 Aug 2010 ,p.51]

There are points at which this all feels a little hollow. [6 Dec 2014, p.52]

Frontman Tyler Connolly spends a little less time moping than previously, and throws in subjects such as domestic violence, racism and politics, but when the musical backing is this over-polished and ultimately mundane, it’s hard to care what he’s singing about.

If all you're after is a pit-bothering lurch 'n' grind then My Damnation has it in spades, but if you're looking for anything more memorable, you'd best be looking elsewhere. [30 Jul 2011, p.52]

A record that is surprisingly flat and unremarkable. [21 Jul 2018, p.55]

There's a certain dumb fun attached to the gonzo country rock of Drinking Beer With Dad, but, in truth, we'd be lion to you if we said First Kiss was good. [14 Feb 2015, p.53]

Siren Charms is decent enough, but it's so by-the-numbers it could have been written on a calculator. [6 Sep 2014, p.54]

The opener The Silver String is somewhat plodding and predictable isn't the best start, and unfortunately these are two words that can be applied with far too much frequency. [21 May 2016, p.52]

It seems Punk Goes Pop has finally run its course. [22 Nov 2014, p.51]

Slave To The Game shows that they've made no attempt to advance from the tedious, well-worn and weary chug, breakdown and death growl routine. [14 Apr 2012, p.54]

Too often, each song's relentless march toward the kind of chorus you can imagine providing the soundtrack for a bevy of beautiful, suburban cheerleaders is too much to take. [4 Feb 2017, p.52]

While they're not without their spark and charm in places, PTH still frustrates as a band who struggle under the weight of their own ideas. [2 Apr 2011, p.52]

There are also songs that will undoubtedly kick it live, but it's not enough to prevent this from sounding merely ...nice. [10 Jun 2017, p.52]

It's a pleasant enough record, but not one that will rouse or inspire beyond Dallas' already charmed following. [12 Oct 2019, p.55]

The bad news for Disturbed fans, and unsurprising news for their detractors, is that Divisive is an average record. Hearing the first three tracks – opening single Hey You, the leaden Bad Man, and the forgettable title-track – one hopes they’re mere aberrations and that the quality high-octane arena fodder will arrive imminently. Alas, it never does.

At his worst it feels more like a parody than a tribute. [29 Oct 2011, p.51]

It all moves along at a slow-burning pace, rather than the usual cocky swagger. [20 May 2016, p.52]

As far as comebacks go, sadly, this is not a good one. [29 Oct 2011, p.52]

It's all formula though, and fresh ingredients are few and far between. [3 Oct 2015, p.52]

In truth this is pale goth rock crap. [5 Nov 2011, p.52]

Weird! is a collection of good moments disappointingly hidden under an avalanche of sugar.

These inoffensive songs will take up almost none of your mind's capacity for thought or pleasure. [12 Mar 2016, p.53]

A largely drab album. [10 Feb 2018, p.51]

Scattershot. [20 Jan 2018, p.53]

Blood Incantation have definitely achieved what they set out to accomplish and it’s by no means executed poorly, it’s just lacking the instantaneous spark that their previous two releases encompassed.

Every tracks leaves you wanting more (and not in a good way), and while Mates of State don't do anything wrong, they don't do much right, either. [6 Jun 2015, p.52]

Too many songs utilise the same plodding, mid-paced grooves and simple, one-line refrains. [5 Oct 2013, p.54]

It can be boring and not much fun. [19 Nov 2011, p.50]

The production is big on bluster and stadium-sized punch, but, sadly all of the passion's also been squeezed out here. [19 Feb 2012, p.51]

With its obvious choruses and routine abrasive sections,, the more discerning ear will recognize that this band wield far more force than they do finesse. [29 Oct 2011, p.52]

There is nothing incendiary here. [27 Aug 2011, p.51]

A Beatles-inspired quirkiness cannot save this collection of acoustic jingles, almost all of which are limp enough to make All Time Low sound like Slayer. [20 Nov 2010, p.52]

They're actually just listless, ambling nonsense. [30 Aug 2014, p.52]

The songs blurring together in a collision of lurching, down-tuned juddering riffs and electronics. ... Tedious. [6 Jul 2019, p.55]

The album sounds like Liturgy tried to make a mathcore record, put two and two together and got three. [7 May 2011, p.52]

If Not Now, When? is the work of a group who in their attempts to sound all grown-up come across as being worn-down and played out. [16 Jul 2011, p.50]

This is more Beige Flag--and would have been more aptly titled Why... [30 Nov 2013, p.54]

Woeful radio-rock mess. ... On-point production work prevents Screamer from being an unmitigated disaster, but songwise it's as deep as a puddle. [19 Oct 2019, p.55]

The result is a collection of undignified Pierce The Veil-lite songs that are fitted with all the bells and whistles, but absolutely none of the quality that makes that band successful. [8 Jul 2017, p.52]

This glossy but bland procession is likely to be a weakening experience. [14 Jul 2012, p.53]

This Means War and Bottoms Up are such generic rock "anthems" that they could have been releases in any decade since the '80s. The lyrics, meanwhile, seem to date from the '70s, possibly the 1870s. [3 Dec 2011, p.51]

Th songs are reductive, redundant, unimaginative, and dull. [26 May 2012, p.54]