In all, a gloriously imperfect storm. [Aug 2025, p.79]

Black's chops and tunes suggest he won't stay underground. [Aug 2009, p.99]

Gloriously nonsensical and beautifully out there, this is a joyful triumph. [Oct 2009, p.107]

Like the band's best '80s output, Lilac6 is the work of a bona fide songsmith. [Nov 2001, p.108]

This is music of compelling intensity. [Jun 2015, p.92]

Live Rain is a concert album like they used to be: prime Howlin Rain, only longer, louder and more full-blooded. [Jun 2014, p.92]

An extended groove workout, akin to Erykah Badu's Worldwide Underground EP. [Jan 2004, p.102]

Almost exclusively orchestral, this soundtrack works brilliantly as a half-hour suite. [Sep 2016, p.90]

Hawley continues to enchant. [Jul 2024, p.85]

This is the band at their melodious best. [Jun 2004, p.112]

[Painted From Memory is] a beauty. ... [Taken From Life is] a treasure trove within a set that defines how well collaborations can work. [Apr 2023, p.94]

It’s this ease and connection that gives When I’m Called its cumulative power. [Aug 2024, p.86]

The Last Hero captures them approaching the peak of their powers. [Nov 2016, p.94]

BASIC speak their own language, but it’s not long before their signs and signals unfold into a fascinating new conversation. [Oct 2024, p.82]

His gritty voice and folk-art lyricism ensure that these stylistic curveballs carry real emotional resonance. [Sep 2005, p.90]

A riotous union of scabrous '60s punk, resonant surf licks and grimy, narcotic song-craft. [Oct 2014, p.94]

Fallon tempers the rancour with expertly crafted tunes. [Oct 2011, p.97]

Thanks to the vision of singer/songwriter Traceyanne Campbell, this is a killer record, rather than just a pretty one.[Jul 2006, p.102]

Another great, mind-bending, soul-baring, melodically rich album to his name: a singer tap dancing on the very edge. [Jan 2025, p.80]

It's an album of soothing '80s-style motorik synth-pop given just enough bite from contemporary dance music to avoid becoming pastiche. [Mar 2015, p.97]

It's a slow burner that catches fire. [Feb 2025, p.82]

The Night Has a Thousand Screams dresses the oily synth ripples and murky bass lines of Hill's previous Umberto releases From The Grave... and Prophecy Of The Black Widow with glistening descant textures and rich analogue pulses, bringing a new shimmering elegance and profound foreboding to both his sound and, in the great tradition, the base source material. [Jan 2013, p.98]

Filled with tearful ballads and ragged-trousered country, the Avetts' playing may not be the most technically accomplished but the feel they bring to Never Been Alive and Another Is Waiting is alone worth wading through their previously misfiring albums. [Jan 2014, p.96]

Though there isn't a dud in Apple's back-catalogue, she has never sounded quite so liberated and artistically sure-footed as this. [Jul 2020, p.86]

Chuck sets an example for everyone else to follow. [Jul 2017, p.94]

The best solo album of her career. [May 2003, p.90]

Has more to do with Primal Scream's Evil heat than any arched-eyebrow electro-clashers. [Dec 2002, p.113]

A charm offensive, rewarding casual observer with a supreme precis of Pollard's genius: the bombastic rock anthem rationalised into naive-pop jewellery. [Sep 2020, p.92]