They sound a bit tired. [Sep 2004, p.98]

Their songs aren't as good as their playing. [Apr 2003, p.98]

An explicitly shambling and weedy breed of music rendered with slavish precision, even muscularity... Decent tunes. [Dec 2011, p.100]

Drum-heavy powerpop is more comfortable in bleached denim and white trainers, about three decades too late for assured heavy rotation on MTV.

System Of A Down frontman is caught trying too hard. Again. [Oct. 2010, p. 101]

This second album owes nothing to Kevin Shields and just about everything to the Smashing Pumpkins. [May 2009, p.69]

The somnambulant nihilism of his one-trick flow and the risible machismo of choruses quickly wear out SpaceGhostPurrp's welcome. [Aug 2012, p.87]

Clapton's guitar still sings, howls and weeps, but this is for the staunchest God-heads only. [Jan 2019, p.90]

The North feels like a shuffle back into soft focus. [Jan 2013, p.98]

The lyrics have become downright soppy and the melodies turned trite. [Feb 2004, p.92]

The Coopers are adept with lyrics, big on attitude, but often lack that X-factor. [Nov 2003, p.131]

She seems to have a sound that needs more sophisticated compositions. [Nov 2004, p.95]

It's surprising how straight down the line this album is. [Jul 2009, p.94]

You try to remember a single melody or hook from the record and you're found wanting. [Apr 2009, p.99]

Heyes has polished the band into tedium, with live guitars and drums drowned out by high sheen studio gloss and painfully dated loops. [Sep 2004, p.104]

Frontman Brendan Urie has a knack for jaunty pop but Pretty Odd is too clinical and calculated for one so young. [May 2008, p.102]

While Harvieu's voice shows she's got potential, the material tends towards the bland and boring. [May 2012, p.84]

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

Kravitz's stylistic schizophrenia remains on Raise Vibration, whether in the early-80s electro-beats of Who Really Are The Monsters? or the What's Going On moves of It's enough. [Oct 2018, p.87]

It's disappointing that only 12 tracks have been handpicked for this release. [Jan 2007, p.124]

Soft Hair's hypnagogic funk and soft-pop mystery is perverse and baffling. [Dec 2016, p.94]

A missed opportunity, but there's still plenty of time to get back on track. [Sep 2010, p.92]

Sadly this well-meaning rewroking doesn't [hold up]. [Nov 2014, p.93]

Underpowered covers... confirm the impression of a high-octane artist tired out and running on empty. [Dec 2005, p.105]

[It] lacks conceptual cohesion. [Nov 2006, p.112]

For all the frenetic energy, lush orchestration and earnest vocals, however, It's Never Been Like That has the feel of the work of a hollow band. [Jun 2006, p.110]

There's no hallmark of originality or pushing envelopes, nor any sense of collaboration between two distinct talents creating more than a sum of their parts. [Apr 2012, p.94]

It is an unconvincing record as a whole, and parts of it are profoundly dull. [Oct 2001, p.124]