Incredible Machine, however, is mostly just Nettles having a bawl. [Mar 2011, p.108]

'Welcome To The Third World' is a likeable pastiche of post-Chic funk, but tiresome country skits and Musee D'Nougart's 15 minutes of ambient fart-around are less welcome. [Oct 2008, p.110]

Characterised by both an ill-advised flirtation with cutting-edge electronics and an overabundance of rather washed-out reggae. [Jun 2003, p.98]

The ultimate sugar hit: an occassional buzz but ultimately unsatisfying. [June 2008, p.103]

Man On the Rocks is better when he dials down the mawkish choruses and over-emoting vocals. [Apr 2014, p.97]

This misfires more than its hits home. [June 2008, p.108]

There's a Prince influence, but little real passion. [Nov 2013, p.94]

Soul is only as good as its rhythm section and Drive-By Truckers are just not up to the job, obliterating subtle originals and OutKast and Tom Waits covers with bashing, crashing drums and plodding bass. A missed opportunity. [May 2009, p.97]

The package as a whole doesn't invite repeated listens. [Jan 2017, p.102]

A Hundred Million Suns sounds like a holding pattern for Snow Patrol. [Nov 2008, p.104]

His solos still dazzle and the riff to Notches could move mountains, but too much of Time Clocks suggests Bonamassa by numbers. [Dec 2021, p.91]

[An] underwhelming collection of moderately sweeping, mildly elegant arena pop. [Jun 2006, p.108]

Toriphiles will be delighted to find a generous 76 minutes of songstuff here but the less committed might never get past the veritable encyclopedia of tortured vocal affections that blight the stodgy opening track. [Jun 2009, p.102]

It's all tawdrily familiar. [Oct 2009, p.102]

The former Vincent Frank has filled his debut with a hard-to-stomach collection of shiny pop tunes floating between Alphabeat's sing-along-a-showtunes and Mika's falsetto muggging. [Aug 2009, p.96]

Laurent-Marke's facility for pleasant minor-key ruminations remain her strong suit, but the "stillness" of which she speaks all too often sounds like a stifling lack of urgency. [May 2013, p.85]

Amid the psychedelic soft rock and esoteric twiddling, three tracks stand out. [Sep 2012, p.94]

Capable, often catchy, but the Shaker fail to truly stir. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Unsurprisingly for a 2D project, it's all a little flat. [Dec 2007, p.121]

The Aislers don't always hit their mark, perhaps because the disparate interests at work also contribute to some unengaging instrumental, noise and nearly spoken word pieces. [Apr 2003, p.103]

Alas, it's largely diminishing returns. [Jun 2017, p.87]

Strong, tub-thumping songwriters fall prey to Nashville cliche. [Dec 2018, p.94]

It's a shame Drastic Fantastic disappoints. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Much of Better Living recalls that time when the ugly end of post-Crass anarcho punk segued into the metallic sounds of grindcore... when melody seemed bourgeois and energy was the most valued commodity. [May 2012, p.92]

[Korn] sound both out of focus and curiously out of date. [Feb 2004, p.95]

Where 2008's 2 was frazzled and powerful, this one feels soporific, moderate, even a little slight. [Sep 2010 p.94]

Elsewhere, Lamontange's vocals slip back into mope mode, but his tour band's firm playing and decent string arrangemebts add an aura of depth and substance. [Dec 2008, p.110]

Jackson Browne's return after six years feels dutifully dragged out of some deep somnolence, maybe exhaustion. [Nov 2014, p.90]