Its utilitarian arrangements only highlight how difficult it is to create a worthy cover. [Aug 2015, p.94]

Sweet, but not quite satisfying. [Oct 2014, p.90]

A strand of misanthropy and musical bloody-mindedness makes for an uneven listen and feels like a band in transition. [Nov 2014, p.98]

Nine of its 10 songs are around the three-minute mark and as solid and straightahead as the tank behind whose wheel they might've been written. [May 2009, p.98]

Upbeat and jubilant... a showcase for Wyclef the songwriter. [Dec 2003, p.107]

Strikes a perfect balance. [Sep 2006, p.96]

He indulges in too many mudane romantic/spiritual invocations and vague geopolitical maunderings. [June 2008, p.112]

Six years on from his last, with a white beard grown, Browne delivers elegantly considered weight and truth. [Nov 2008, p.119]

The Rifles perservered, and if originality is not a strong point, their skill for crafting simple but immediate pop choruses makes uo foir it. [Nov 2008, p.109]

Like island life itself, it's quietly focused and won't be rushed. [Apr 2011, p.104]

This stuff is not only good, it's (mostly) weirdly good. [May 2011, p.106]

Fans will love the touching, piano-led title track, replete with the great man's Jack Russell terrier Gizmo barking at the end, while Stand Amazed finds Martyn at his rural front door, marveling at "the panoply of beauty" before him. [Jun 2011, p.103]

To some, Hurts lugubrious, gruff delivery might jar with the LP, but it's entirely intentional--they cast the beauty and simplicity of the melodies into even sharper relief. [Oct 2011, p.96]

Together they've grafted that rare commodity: Grown man dance music with dignity intact. [Nov 2011, p.103]

Pleasant and forgettable. [May 2012, p.84]

Throughout a refreshing spirit of old-school sonic exploration pervades. [Nov 2012, p.87]

He's strong instrumentally, but maudlin content like Separate Ways and One Thought holds him back. [Dec 2012, p.90]

Pleasant enough, but you may feel you've heard this conversation before. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Freeforms about football, his old tunes and beyond, to variably potent digi-dub backings. [Aug 2013, p.98]

Pretty but lightweight. [Sep 2013, p.96]

Edmunds has always delivered, whatever the age and circumstances. And this batch of originals and covers, recorded in full do-it-himself mode, doesn't change that. [Feb 2014, p.91]

There's still precious little here that's not been said before with more originality. [Oct 2014, p.93]

Three songs clearly outstrip the others. [Aug 2015, p.89]

Classic Quadrophenia, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and TV-friendly tenor Alfie Boa, works, but only sometimes. [Aug 2015, p.91]

This collection suffers slightly from inconsistency--possibly because it's cut from several different shows. [Jan 2016, p.90]

The trio's most accessible. song-based effort to date. Thankfully, it's not at the expense of the rattling rhythms and freeform stylings of previous work. [Dec 2016, p.93]

One listen, maybe two, will be enough for most. [Sep 2016, p.93]

Soft Error's background in film and TV composition is the foundation for the opulent, operatic electronica on Mechanism. [Feb 2017, p.95]