On Dark Light Daybreak... Now It's Overhead cuts back on its former haze to graze in cleaner pastures. [#73, p.103]

Like a good deal of Hendrix’s posthumous material, whether you dig this or not depends largely upon your expectations. [No. 129, p.54]

He dips into that well [roots/Americana] again on The Westerner, with producers Howe Gelb and Dave Way opening up the sound with layers of guitar effects that create a dark, spacey atmosphere. [No. 131, p.55]

Sure, the stories are worn and the whiskey is cut-rate, but the feeling is real. [#71, p.113]

Largely thanks to more robust production and instrumentation than was afforded last year's Pajo, 1968 proves that it isn't so much what you say, but how sweet you can make it sound. [#73, p.103]

Gangster Star features a much stronger single (the idyllic "Shine A Light"), while Jealous Machines waders a bit further into the narrative forest. [No. 144, p.59]

The problem with Answers is the grooves are slathered in all that useless skill. [#60, p.119]

While Poison Ivy's impressive design become shtick after a while, it's nevertheless adorable. [Fall 2007, p.105]

Its songs rest at the tipping point between melodic and atonal without seeming like middle-of-the-post-punk-road accords struck between dissenting intraband camps. [#68, p.106]

It isn't very clear what the Rev is trying to get across, if anything at all. But it's a lovely listen all the same. [#51, p.100]

There's no mistaking this unpredictable, lovingly tended aural scenery for anything else. [No. 144, p.53]

Despite certain songs dragging on longer than need be, Night combines classical and flighty pop quite masterfully. [#82, p.53]

Detour is a great showcase for Lauper's vocal range and prowess, but the freak factor is dishearteningly low. [No. 131, p.59]

This is a decidedly more rocking Placebo. [#50, p.102]

ProVISIONS tells a less reassuring truth than "’Sno Angel Like You," but one that’s just as true; you just never know.

The arresting gorgeous title tune here destroys everything else, of course. But the rest have a loose, jammy feel that wouldn't have been tolerable in any phase of the DP's career other than the pop one. [No. 94, p.53]

It proves quickly to be a break for the better, though, forging its unique identity on account of Tatum’s ability to turn a tune in many more ways than one. [No. 129, p.61]

The touch is lighter, with more interest in groove and atmosphere than climax. [No. 131, p.59]

Overwhelmingly desolate. [#69, p.112]

While another updating of Bloodrock/Blue Cheer/proto-metal is exactly what the world doesn't need, it's a different story when Electric Wizard puts such source material in the crosshairs to show the saturated margins how it's done. [No. 149, p.55]

It's unclear whether even Kotche really knows what's happening half of the time, but it's a delightfully puzzling ride nevertheless. [No. 108, p.55]

[Four has] the density that made Bloc's angular edge so full, rich and round in the first place. [No.90, p.54]

His latest EP pushes his glossy pop inclinations even further; the five tracks are quick and sweet, gussied up with quirky instrumentation. [#82, p.57]

Their ideal is to make a good album every year, and this, their third offering, meets that goal. This is teen pop with crystalline harmonies and heart-tugging lyrics, but they have a maturity that belies their years. [No. 129, p.57]

Though Calvi hardly ever breaks from her aesthetic on One Breath, she owns it so well that you'd be hard-pressed to complain. [No. 105, p.53]

The Pack A.D. hews closer to the grunge side of the equation, playing with the slow-boiling fury of the geographical touchstones of the Pacific Northwest while never forgetting the history its forged. [No. 106, p.57]

Ledges seems effortless in its creation. [No. 106, p.55]

Bejar's fans will clearly identify his unique musical fingerprint, and may have no clearer understanding of these songs than anything else in Destroyer's incomprehensively wonderful pop oeuvre in the King's English. [No. 105, p.54]