A record of jarring juxtapositions, a bunch of cool tunes that could[n't] care less about how they fit together. [Apr 2006, p.86]

As with everything Morrissey does, ROTT's resonance will elude those not hitherto fascinated by its master's voice. A shame, for in terms of pure musicality, ROTT is possibly his most ecumenical solo album, his most welcoming and loveable. [Apr 2006, p.89]

A third of these songs can rightly be claimed as classic Placebo pop. [Apr 2006, p.106]

While it's the Oldham-penned title track... which will rightly grab all the headlines, Staton's mastery of more traditional material is no less imposing. [Apr 2006, p.88]

It's a set packed with ideas and enthusiasm. [May 2006, p.105]

It's far from disappointing. [Apr 2006, p.106]

Delivers a top-grade high. [Jun 2006, p.104]

Sadly, if you possess any of Embrace's four other albums, you'll have heard it all before. [May 2006, p.98]

Guitars, sounding like synths, soar into the stratosphere, and intense crescendos linger over delicate, breathy passages. [Aug 2005, p.94]

Very focused and quietly anthemic. [Feb 2006, p.92]

A clumsily executed, ghoulishly self-regarding mess. [Mar 2006, p.94]

The trio's chanting, loops and metal-bashing framework is now fleshed out by some beautiful ambient-noise balladry. [Mar 2006, p.106]

It's remarkable how organic and right (as opposed to gimmicky) the church voices sound on these 14 melodic folk, spare soul and various-tempo blues songs. [Apr 2006, p.98]

[CD1's] uproar casts most of CD2's over-delicate maunderings in a wan light. [Apr 2006, p.102]

A more than enjoyable stopgap. [May 2006, p.104]

Josh conjures a light, affectless mood which quietly promises happiness without ever sliding into schmaltz. [May 2006, p.100]

A worthy, determined salvo. [Jul 2006, p.102]

It's difficult to judge on one listen. [May 2006, p.104]

A stripped-back stroll through the summer of the '80s. [Jun 2004, p.106]

The joy of Steely Dan's early albums was that their superior playing, production and craftsmanship was vibrantly energetic, spiced with rollercoaster twists and turns, and deeply sardonic lyrics... Fagen now lacks those vital extra elements, leaving just craftsmanship with no spark. [Apr 2006, p.104]

A steely-eyed desperation to succeed is transparent all through Hard-Fi's debut. [Aug 2005, p.112]

Like Weimar cabaret Gilbert & Sullivan. [Apr 2006, p.104]

It's all funny, sardonic, heartfelt and loveable. [Apr 2006, p.106]

You sense they need a couple of pure pop gems that the Mary Chain had submerged within the noise to perfect the classic sound they aspire to. [Jun 2005, p.95]

There is no great leap into the unknown here, but rather a fusion of the band's previous two records. [16 Jul 2005, p.50]

Formula, for sure, but it's the Buzzcocks' own: the original and best. [Apr 2006, p.88]

A hugely sensual work. [Apr 2006, p.88]

Their unique pop panache saves the proceedings from simple retread. [May 2006, p.102]

Compare this latest instalment of vivid, left-wing existentialist pop with past triumphs like Mars Audiac Quintet and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and it's every bit as good. [Apr 2006, p.102]

With its indelible songs and bug-eyed intensity, this album makes you wish that more bands could be so irreverent. [Apr 2006, p.100]

Delivers on the melodic promise of 2001's Rock Action, teetering between art-bruised fragility during its slower, gentler moments and flashes of stereo-buckling metal. [Mar 2006, p.93]

A gentle triumph. [Jan 2006, p.130]

Feels as old as a cracked-leather Bible that's lasted generations and witnessed many secrets. [Apr 2006, p.98]

For a studio album it sounds remarkably like a live one. [Mar 2006, p.90]

Mostly loose and warm more than heart-stopping. [Apr 2006, p.104]

His own three songs blend in nicely. [Apr 2006, p.90]

McBean remains a fascinating prospect. [Apr 2006, p.100]

The repetitive refrains and orchestral interventions of Lil' Beethoven are developed with the judicious use of rock guitar into something bigger, yet just as beguiling. [Feb 2006, p.90]

An imposing, sometimes melodramatic affair. [Mar 2006, p.94]

Expands Casiotone For The Painfully Alone's frighteningly austere template to an almost symphonic level of opulence. [Jul 2006, p.102]

Occasionally self-indulgence threatens, but no matter; there is an undeniable musical hunger and pioneering spirit at work here. [Apr 2006, p.101]

A mixture of old-school smarts and mellifluous modernism. [Apr 2006, p.103]

An exercise in monolithic heaviness. [May 2006, p.98]

A specialist release, perhaps, but one that is ambitious, accessible and beautifully played. [May 2006, p.112]

Shows just how focused their rock'n'roll attack has become. [May 2006, p.105]

There are a couple of songs hidden away in the backwaters of their patchy debut which hint at something much better. [Apr 2006, p.88]

Rocks and then rocks harder, launching wave after wave of vicious punk hooks. [Jul 2005, p.106]

[They] stand apart, wedding guitar-free sounds to refreshingly vulnerable sentiment. [Mar 2006, p.102]

[A] deft combination of emotional intimacy and musical ambition. [Oct 2005, p.108]

This is thrilling, incontrovertible evidence of a major new talent in our midst. [Mar 2006, p.102]

Theirs remains a gallows wit. [Nov 2005, p.112]

One of the most vital and imaginative records that [Coldcut has] ever made. [Jan 2006, p.120]

At moments Other People's Lives sounds weird and forced, but it's never less than fascinating and it's frequently sublime. [Feb 2006, p.93]

All this ambitioin coagulates into an irresistible, tumbling, tune-filled whole. [Dec 2006, p.118]

A frustrating listen. [Jan 2006, p.119]

A solo album with not enough of the soloist. [Jun 2006, p.102]

This is fine singer-songwriter Americana, particularly good on the ballads. [May 2006, p.100]

Vibrant, vividly colourful and high spirited. [Jan 2006, p.146]

Pleasing as Trevor Horn's simpatico production on 2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress was, Tony Hoffer has picked up the baton and ran with it, capitalising on the band's increased musical confidence while preserving vital hints of indie scuzz. [Feb 2006, p.92]

What Orton has sacrificed in terms of post-clubbing appeal she has replaced with grit and poignancy seldom heard since the LA canyons were in their pomp. [Mar 2006, p.96]

When the jokes stop... the relentless cantering pace and slightly predictable pedal steel accoutrements that characterise the bulk of the material here can struggle to hold your attention. [Mar 2006, p.92]

Herren never lets his music become too easy-going or the listener too settled. [Mar 2006, p.108]

2006's album of the year may have arrived early. [Mar 2006, p.104]

Swearing At Motorists are drunk'n'roll successors to The Replacements and Guided By Voices. [Mar 2006, p.102]

His supersonic flow frequently dazzles, yet he remains intelligible and intelligent throughout. [Mar 2006, p.106]

He's at his best when making compulsive, synthetic house anthems. [Mar 2006, p.106]

Well before David Essex provides a gruff guest turn on Relocate, you are entirely won over by this record, brimming with music from a postcode synonymous with class. [Jul 2005, p.106]

For every shot that hits the target, however, another flies into the blue. [Sep 2005, p.92]

By putting some warm flesh on her musical bones, Chan Marshall is punching her considerable songwriting weight. [Jan 2006, p.116]

The band's most persuasive album. [Feb 2006, p.92]

Pretty, but pointless. [Feb 2006, p.95]

More than a curiosity. [Jan 2006, p.131]

His sheer enthusiasm and peerless pop nous are enough to carry things along. [Jan 2006, p.124]

Simply played, gently sung, graceful, literate, folk rock. [Apr 2006, p.98]

Sheer liquid mayhem. [Dec 2005, p.98]

A tear-stained, yet tasteful, requiem. [Feb 2006, p.93]

Unfortunately, the disc highlights a new hole: storytelling. [Feb 2006, p.92]

Pure gonzo blues-rock boogie. [Mar 2006, p.94]

Innovative it ain't. [Jan 2006, p.132]

There are some great moments. [Nov 2006, p.101]

Their strictly modal, contemplative soundscapes have rarely sounded more compelling. [Mar 2006, p.93]

If her murmurous slurring defies full comprehension, her gentle sadness, hesitant beats and melancholic piano settings match the odd clear phrase. [Mar 2004, p.102]

At the heart of this overgrown squall of a record, there's a sense that The Strokes feel they have something to prove. If only they'd been able to decide upon what that is with greater clarity. [Feb 2006, p.88]

Patchier than Jacksonville. [Mar 2006, p.92]

Reveals a still intense and enthralling grittiness to her performances. [Feb 2006, p.93]

They're a group that believes in a thing called love. Happily, however, they don't believe in a thing called restraint. [Dec 2005, p.98]

A surprisingly consistent listen, albeit one that's akin to gorging on Christmas cake. [Feb 2006, p.102]

A bijou flashback to a place of quiet nirvana. [Feb 2006, p.107]

There's a beguiling musicality at play that puts pleasing melody at the centre of even the most outre detour. [Dec 2005, p.102]

Finds an uncommonly energised Oldham ranging across his capacious back catalogue, his palpable enthusiasm manifesting in unlikely between-song whoops of joy. [Dec 2005, p.116]

As each track segues into the next, this is a breathless listen, but the overall scheme works. [Dec 2005, p.99]

A worthy snapshot of a band at its peak. [Dec 2005, p.104]

Motion Sickness won't convert the uninitiated, but offers subtle craftsmanship and deft musicianship. [Feb 2006, p.95]

Heady, bodily, beautiful stuff. [Jan 2006, p.126]

Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. [Dec 2005, p.96]

It's not flawless, though it's damn good, and consistently engrossing. [Feb 2006, p.94]

Best savoured as a whole, a magical mystery of Pollard's pop-obsessed, haphazardly-filed subconscious. [Feb 2006, p.107]

Slick mediocrity. [Dec 2005, p.98]