Keep On Your Mean Side suffers from the same-samey quicksand tha bogs down the overhyped Yeah Yeah Yeahs. [#58, p.95]

Kind of like the Cocteau Twins if Don Ho produced their albums. [#64, p.86]

The previously skimpy instrumental backing has been beefed up at times with synthetic horn parts: a good idea. [#61, p.102]

The members of The Cave Singers seem intent on scraping away their previous bands' noise and bluster to find a music that's no less nervy and riveting. [Fall 2007, p.92]

He seeks to boldly chase his pop-music idols, which hits the mark only about half the time. But when he doesn't, at least it's a glorious miss. [No. 95, p.56]

Like many arch songwriters, the band tends to drop images and melodies from its favorite tunes into its work, phrases that add little sparks of frission to the Brothers' already strong melodic structure. [No. 110, p.54]

Their new album A Thousand Thoughts, featuring mostly unreleased tracks of music from 14 countries, does suggest that in this expanded universe Kronos have come to resemble sentimental tourists rather then intrepid explorers. [May 2014, p.65]

A gorgeous, seductive album. [No. 114, p.56]

Knopfler inhabits his tunes with an earnest intensity, a slight melancholy and an age-old wisdom. [No. 118, p.57]

This laudable open-mindedness [to try anything] may have finally backfired. [No. 122, p.55]

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]

Felt delivers in established structural ways while giving the songs frequent jolts to the system--either overall or in precision-chosen moments. [No. 150, p.55]

It's hard to keep this album from simply asking why over and over again. [No.99, p.59]

The Bunnymen haven't sounded this vital since 1987's "Lips Like Sugar," and some of Flowers' standout cuts rank among the band's best. [#50, p.87]

More of the same, yes, but good enough to make longtime fans crank the volume on the way to their divorce hearings while younger converts learn that the rock wasn't born last year. [#55, p.83]

A wonderful album, with Coomes and Weiss at their very best. [#51, p.107]

Anachronism never sounded so good. [#53, p.72]

The Ghost in the Daylight is a thing of great beauty... [yet] sounds dull - perfect, of course, with every note in the right place, but perfectly predictable too, with 10 songs that blend into one long, brooding whole. [No.87 p.55]

Not Stars’ best, and far from their worst, but an album’s worth of the usual string-laden drama-pop seems a thin substitute for what today’s kids are seeking.

Even at their most obvious, the Buzzcocks can smoke the young guns. [#58, p.83]

This sophomore set--which largely sidelines the folkier aspects of their 2013 debut in favor of a sharper, fuller, occasionally aggressive big-pop approach--offers plenty of grand, gut-busting hooks. [No. 129, p.57]

The reanimated sludgefest is no mere quaint time capsule; music this brutally elemental is as eternal as the stars and as fresh as the debuts of Black Sabbath and the Beastie Boys. [No. 130, p.59]

As potent and timely as anything it released during the Reagan era. [#64, p.83]

Ultimately, it's a delightful indulgence--you're never quite convinced that Turner's about to quit his day job--but a hugely enjoyable one, and Arctic Monkeys fans, in particular, will devour this. [No. 130, p.59]

It's easy to get caught up in TEEN's dreams without completely falling asleep, a tough act to follow with so many similar acts just simply getting lost. [#90, p.61]

[Lee delivers] some of the most impassioned performances he's ever recorded. [No. 104, p.58]

When this band surprises... it provides moments indie rock could use more of. [#70, p.102]

Third Eye Centre is a wonderful addendum to the band's prolific and enchanting catalog. [No. 102, p.53]