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

Glistening, radio-friendly fare. [May 2003, p.108]

A further suite of touching vignettes, choice observations and killer lines. [Dec 2003, p.122]

Though couched in arrangements that sometimes camouflage their immediacy, the tunes are dependably strong. [Jul 2006, p.100]

His gifts remain undiminished. [Mar 2007, p.99]

The 'Lab's fondness for Latin exotica pushes the music well clear of egghead tedium.

Armstrong takes the Massive [Attack] approach to celebrity guests, utilising them in imaginative ways to avoid the pitfalls of self-parody. [May 2002, p.97]

The Strokes come across as a world-sized band that's tethering itself.... Nonetheless, this record is good. [Nov 2003, p.124]

The influences here are smart, the music smarter. [Feb 2007, p.100]

The perfect album for cool, sequestered evenings in scary cities. [Sep 2001, p.102]

[The] eight covers [are] all imaginatively and emotionally committed, six of them brilliantly so. [July 2002, p.96]

An oddly experimental record, prioritising texture over tune and betraying a river-deep confessioinal streak. [Apr 2004, p.103]

Wide, sprawling, often anxious canvases that deliver the same rebel-hearted romanticism, promises of social insurrection, and weary stream-of-consciousness confessionals he's been turning out for years. [Aug 2004, p.89]

This record easily beats its predecessor. [Feb 2007, p.105]

It's a little too long to sustain its fetid boudoir ambience; but that aside, this remains a deep red velvet swoon of an album. [Jan 2003, p.93]

Stamey makes the most of a limited vocal range. [Mar 2005, p.104]

Business as usual. [May 2006, p.104]

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]

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

Garishly attractive. [Oct 2005, p.98]

This is their best album in 65 years. [May 2005, p.94]

A disorienting work somewhere between Scott Walker, Joy Division and Matmos. [May 2004, p.105]

Faced with the Kings of Leon's musical savvy, however, it's easy to believe the hype. [Sep 2003, p.104]

This is a collection of melodic, quality pop songs that lean to the grown-up side of things. [Nov 2006, p.100]

Its sound remains as confrontational and as provocative as its content. [Aug 2006, p.103]

Adult. add unflinching aggression to the razor-sharp beats and vaguely sinister lyrics first mapped out on 2001's Resuscitation. [May 2003, p.104]

A charming glide of warm fuzz-pop that suffers only through their influences being worn perhaps too clearly upon their sleeves. [Oct 2004, p.101]

A rarefied exemplar of genteel bliss. [May 2005, p.108]