Throughout, Splinter's sound is powerful and dense, with The Offspring weaving and surging within it like the experts they've become. [Dec 2003, p.109]

There are glimpses of Curt's former shambling genius; I Quit and Pieces Of Me are both mournfully melodic, while Tarantula has the nimble bluegrass pickings of Up On The Sun-era Meats, but elsewhere rap-metal stupidity (Hercules) and over-polished rock plodding (Batwing) sour the beans.

Peace & Love continues this new mature streak with her most musically stripped down but lyrically most strident and complex collection yet. [Feb 2010, p. 102]

Toweringly camp singles like the slinky Perfect World and an album to enjoy on shuffle. [Jun 2012, p.92]

File under deserving of proper attention. [Feb 2013, p.92]

[They] stand apart, wedding guitar-free sounds to refreshingly vulnerable sentiment. [Mar 2006, p.102]

Ringo makses a good fist of his production debut. [Apr 2010, p.98]

Amid all its big, primal energy there are enough ideas to suggest the fans' early faith is justified. [Jul 2016, p.94]

It doesn't all gel, but the hits-to-duds ratio is high. [Jan 2015, p.94]

He keeps the core of material such as The Nearness Of You and My Blue Heaven spare and the tone intimate. [Mar 2020, p.94]

Sheer vastness occasionally swamps the pained intimacy of Young's vocals and open-heart songs of regret, nostalgia and reflection. [Dec 2014, p.88]

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

Symphonica is decidedly upmarket, but more picks in keeping with its ballsy take on the Newley & Bricusse standard Feeling Good wouldn't have hurt. [Apr 2014, p.90]

An experimental, sensual collection of songs harking back to the days of the first Gorky's EPs. [Mar 2006, p.104]

Her tendency to over-infuse them with the weepies neuters what otherwise be gleaming moments. [Sep 2012, p.94]

The tracklisting may be a bit route one, but the music is far from it. [May 2023, p.86]

Sheezus makes for the slightest of returns rather than a glorious resurrection. [Jun 2014, p.93]

This debut captures their explosive energy and thunder; this is a band, that when it's found its own voice, will definitely go the distance. [Mar 2012, p.921]

While Foreign Light trades some of his past eclecticism for a super-soulful hook-up with singer-songwriter Andrea martin, his acute ear for sasquatch basslines and simpatico collaborators remains undimmed. [Sep 2017, p.91]

You could muse on the dignity of 40 year olds having a rave revival but when the 303 synth squelch kicks in on soulful closer 'Stand Up,' it's all more pukka than moody. [Mar 2009, p.105]

While there's some decent garage-punk dirt in 'Roughshod,' and lengthier tracks like 'Free Kitten on the Mountain' and Monster Eye' both briefly echo the menancing screwl of Magik Markers and early Sonic Youth, there's little here that really pushes the envelope much beyond an awkward and mildly abrasive collection of indie rock off-cuts. [July 2008, p.102]

They all bed down with perfunctory efficiency as the voaclly gifted, lyrically vague Mraz holds court with a nylon-string guitar. [Feb 2009, p.112]

Sometimes there's a danger that comes with being too damn clever, namely that the melodies at the heart of songs can suffer or a feeling of too much fiddling around. [Apr 2008, p.104]

If there's little of the duelling gamesmanship that made their 1993 debut so remarkable, this is still a joyful comeback, brimming with big screen music. [Feb 2015, p.91]

The odd saccharine lyrics loses them a fourth star. [Jan 2013, p.102]

More spontaneity might have tempered this chill wind. [Oct 2014, p.87]

The possibilities of "first ideas" is fatally undermined by a lack of ideas. [May 2011, p.110]

Seduces with a mixture of whimsical beauty and compelling mystery. [Jun 2007, p.101]