Pretty road ruminations. [Jul 2015, p.96]

Their needling attack punctures fevered egos on There's No One Like You, and cooks up some pleasingly wonky acid-rock, but best of the bunch is the closing flourish When Do I Get To Sing "My Way." [Sep 2019, p.88]

While they're hardly cutting-edge these days, The Orb's gently pleasing grooves... still work as aural enhancers for the cannabinoidally-incliined. [Jun 2004, p.114]

Elaborate, sometimes sneakily poignant tunes. [Aug 2018, p.93]

Easy to be cynical about Miracle Focus's natural-high alternative to Showalter's lysergic past, perhaps, but spacey, transcendent opener More You finds him in a wonderous, enviably alive place. [Jul 2024, p.91]

Sure, Spend The Night's pile-up of head-nod riffs and fist-pumping chants gets a little repetitive, but the groove suits The Donnas so well, you can forgive them. [May 2003, p.106]

Her melodies are stirring but the headstrong album only works to a limited degree. [Dec 2003, p.122]

Loose feels less like an album than a clutch of singles plus accompanying extras. [Jul 2006, p.100]

FM! initially feels slighter, not least because of a brisk 22-minute duration. The breeziness is deceptive, though, as Staples and producer Kenny Beats construct a minimalist update of G-funk where the jams are always freighted with an awareness of potential violence. [Feb 2019, p;.84]

It's on those songs that strike a chord with Elliot personally that he's most convincing. [May 2009, p.103]

Cantrell's voice exudes greater purity than Wells's and she has some tricks up her sleeve, one being an original that gives the album its title, a song that namechecks Wells and other country icons such as Maybelle Carter and Martha Carson. [Jun 2011, p.105]

This guileless, wistfully romantic harmony pop suits them much better. [Jul 2015, p.96]

Although there are many acts occupying similar territory, the quality of Grey's songwriting and delivery elevates much of the material here. [Jul 2013, p.94]

While the rest of Sigur Ros make babies, their singer creates too. [May 2010, p. 96]

The resulting record never splashes too far out of the gene pool... but it creates a pleasing coherence along with a slightly sentimental glow. [Dec 2014, p.100]

Although Gibbs's lyrics rarely veer beyond their survivalist comfort zones, his innate ability to switch up styles allows him to scale the gaping chasm between Forever And A Day's moody confessions and the unreconstructed boasts of Cold Ass Nigga with ease. [Feb 2016, p.94]

In Another World cleaves to the telegraphed, lighter-aloft choruses that make Cleveland and other places rock, a palpable Beatles influence pervading Quit Waking Me Up and So It Goes. [May 2021, p.81]

Though Fry's take on affairs of the heart is more sedate, less conflicted than 1982's fraught quest for something authentic in a jungle of cheap representations, there are enough A1 tunes and ambitious lyrical conceits to satisfy fans of the original. [Jul 2016, p.95]

Immersive, but not entirely absorbing. [Aug 2017, p.91]

It isn't as urgent as Crazy rhythms, but follows from 1986's The Good Earth with a sparkling, rolling and guitar strum-driven understatement between third and fourth LP Velvets, a minimalist Neil Young and their cheerleaders R.E.M. [Jun 2011, p.105]

Terms Of Surrender presents a man sinking on the edges but bullishly so, not countenancing change. The effect is disquieting, uncomfortable, especially with Aaron Dessner's sumptuous production giving these songs a contrastingly romantic sheen. [Oct 2019, p.83]

Aqueous groove Up tackles mid-romance feelings of inadequacy, while coldwave-y Begging You Now infers a darker supplication. Ever-infectious, however, and rarely short of good fun, this one should substantially further the threesome's upward trajectory. [Sep 2023, p.91]

Palindrome Hunches is a record full of songs that whisper their entreaties. [Dec 2012, p.88]

A tentative return at best. [Dec 2014, p.89]

Sessions and collaborations abound, finally collected here. [Feb 2016, p. 104]

Their comeback is an even more demanding listen. [Dec 2012, p.87]

Chinese Democracy reveals itself to be an ambitious, brave and expansive offering. [Feb 2009, p.108]

Most of the songs are observations from an emotional distance. [Jun 2018, p.96]