It's all as subtle as a flurry of punches in the face, but utterly uplifting. [Dec 2016, p.92]

In merging the intimate with the majestic, The Kissaway Trail have achieved a rare, and subtle, balance. [Apr 2010, p.92]

While Wu's trademark kung-fu film samples can't help but sound dated some 18 years after their breathtaking debut similar charges crumble to dust against the renewed evangelism of Ghostface Killah. [Oct 2011, p.104]

It doesn't help that the album features a glut of dull mid-tempos. [Nov 2012, p.95]

Material which says something, but feels nothing real. [Nov 2004, p.95]

Unfashionable and intensely melodic. [June 2002, p.110]

Morcheeba's lightly shaken, hardly stirring sounds will doubtless satisfy fans, band and record company. [Aug 2002, p.104]

Polished mid-paced throbbers, alive with feedback, thumping drums and troubled lyrics. [Oct 2013, p.98]

The opening tunes are strong, but in the later half mannered singing and pretentiousness bring back memories of the Thompson Twins. [Mar 2009, p.110]

They lack a style or personality of their own. [Jul 2005, p.106]

Rather than sounding like an '80s soft-rock rehash, they have worked with up-to-the-minute beat merchants Timbaland and Nate 'Danja' Hills to create a dramtic, contemporary pop concoction. [Dec 2007, p.98]

It's confirmation that the old boy's still got a few tricks in him. [May 2015, p.90]

There's nothing here that elevates the Goodies above the level of the ordinary. [Aug 2004, p.96]

The orb's Dr. Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann conduct themselves as if overawed by their hero. They allow Perry to prattle away unchecked. [Sep 2012, p.88]

By track two... he has slipped back into the familiarity of sinuous guitar lines, fidgety beats and the cheesy language of international disco. [Jul 2005, p.110]

With six producers and 10 guest stars, Malice N Wonderland sees the ageing gangsta casting an eye over modern hip hop in all its forms, including Pronto's nod to the AutoTune phenomenon featuring the manipulated vocals of singing robot Soulja Boy. [Jan 2010, p. 90]

Laurie is best on standards such as St James Infirmary and Buddy Bolden's Blues, playing piano on them with strength and sensitivity. [Jun 2011, p.104]

The covers format doesn't facilitate too much untamed Scabies (sadly), but Brian himself poignantly appears on The Last Time. [Mar 2026, p.81]

Taken all together these songs pack a powerful punch and make for a much better record than we might have expected. [Dec 2002, p.108]

Mostly A New Tide is high on big tunes and low on character. [May 2009, p.108]

There's a pleasing, Bowie-ish swagger to Elfman's vocals and a steam-punk thrust to Big Mess's heavy, junkyard percussion, the album's caustic, chaotic arrangements utterly fearless throughout 18 rather exhausting songs. [Aug 2021, p.86]

Fate Of The faithful is ostensibly No Quarter, Meeting The Master is Thank You, and The Falling Sky cribs a Robert Plant-style harp solo so perfectly that GVF can likely taste his spit. Be in no doubt, however, that frontman Josh Kiszka's Olympian wail can part the waves of cynicism and make the scales fall from your eyes. [Sep 2023, p.88]

His bellowed cadences are as timeless and elemental as the blues. [Nov 2005, p.98]

These 15 songs justify their status as outtakes. [Sep 2012, p.96]

The air of gentle rustic drama is enhanced by discreet flourishes of trumpet, vibraphone, bowed banjo, amplified kalimba and quartz singing bowl. [Mar 2008, p.113]

There's just enough twisted wit among the non sequiturs to redeem this controversial release. [Oct 2006, p.100]

Finally, Embrace deliver a poignant and prolonged rush of blood to the head. [Oct 2004, p.116]

Their raucous, raw live show transfers effortlessly to record, justifying all three of those exclamation marks. [Jun 2004, p.116]