Electric piano and pedal steel-caressed intimacy rules the day, keeping attendant preciousness almost, if not completely, at bay. [Aug 2004, p.99]

An open, emotionally congruent record that never tries to be clever and yet rarely seems dull. [Apr 2004, p.99]

This time [COF] have tempered their voluminous superfuzz with scenic bliss. [Oct 2004, p.101]

Kiss & Tell, although superbly polished and instrumentally powerful, suffers from a claustrophobic sheen. [Aug 2004, p.99]

lang's expansive delivery makes the album sound overblown in a few places. [Oct 2004, p.102]

Spread over a whole CD, there is some worryingly featureless stuff. [Apr 2004, p.102]

(I)NC's pop-punky take on early Deep Purple-ish blues-rock is elegantly streamlined by Rubin's lucid production. [Sep 2004, p.104]

Fathomlessly beautiful. [Aug 2004, p.110]

A razor sharp updating of previous themes. [Aug 2004, p.98]

The third choice record from McIntyre in as many years. [Aug 2004, p.99]

The surface mayhem actually masks an admirable craft. [Aug 2004, p.96]

If you can stick with its synthetic marionette oompah band designs, become immersed in its whirlwind momentum and flint-eyed wit, the chances are you'll fall in love with the album's deep miined reservoirs of charm and sheer eagerness to impress. [Sep 2004, p.90]

If it weren't all so damn happy this would be the most terrifying music in existence. [Aug 2004, p.98]

While they're hardly cutting-edge these days, The Orb's gently pleasing grooves... still work as aural enhancers for the cannabinoidally-incliined. [Jun 2004, p.114]

Sounding like lost transmissions from classic '70s AM radio, it's Stringfellow's best yet. [Dec 2004, p.116]

Nothing on The Spine drills into your cerebral cortex and demands to be whistled on public transport like earlier hits, but the tunes are agreeable enough. [Aug 2004, p.99]

Tightly packed with Eight Days A Week-style harmonies and immaculate, 12-string strumming. [Oct 2004, p.100]

This time, the division between uninspired, joyless Gang Starr pastiches like Don't Say Nuthin and the polymorphous likes of Stay Cool or Outro has never sounded so glaringly obvious. [Aug 2004, p.92]

Not as immediate as the previous two albums, this one takes time before its effortless flow, interweaving harmonies and low-key chords really sink in. [Aug 2004, p.102]

Such earnestness makes for a terrifically hard slog. [Aug 2004, p.93]

The recorded-live-by-candlelight performances documented herein aren't short on the kind of clamorous foreboding and twisted pop nous a fan of Disintegration or The Head On The Door might hope for. [Aug 2004, p.87]

Though the detail in these blurred vignettes sometimes upstages the foreground, the moments of magic make the odd longueur worth enduring. [Sep 2004, p.95]

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

Wide, sprawling, often anxious canvases that deliver the same rebel-hearted romanticism, promises of social insurrection, and weary stream-of-consciousness confessionals he's been turning out for years. [Aug 2004, p.89]

Stirring but sombre stuff. [Aug 2004, p.86]

Drifts somewhere between Mogwai's softest moments and Her Space Holiday's wry prettiness. [Aug 2004, p.101]

He puts down the rumour-mongers with an acid tongue. [Nov 2004, p.100]

Isn't an easy listen but those with an adventurous ear will be well rewarded. [Aug 2004, p.101]