Typically minimal and monochrome but beyond the dirge-like pace of tracks like 'Say Valley Maker' lies an unlikely optimism. [28 May 2005, p.64]

There's certainly nothing here that'll match 'Wonderwall' or 'Live Forever' for pub karaoke ubiquity, but with this record Oasis are at least tentatively stretching themselves in new directions. [28 May 2005, p.61]

Hebden has recalibrated his sound to something darker and more rhythmic, without losing a note of melody. [21 May 2005, p.66]

Energetic and cleverly crafted.

Dead-eyed, malevolent and alluring. [9 Oct 2004, p.57]

Before you even consider the sonic and melodic innovation paraded through the album there’s so much crammed into each of these fifteen songs (without any one of them sounding overproduced or cluttered) that repeated listening is a must.

Undoubtedly the one Sleater-Kinney album that everyone should have. [21 May 2005, p.66]

On the one hand it's easy to knock; on the other it's difficult to dismiss. [4 Jun 2005, p.58]

Does a new generation of music lovers really need a third solo album from [Malkmus] which includes songs that house guitar wig-outs and last up to eight minutes? Not really. [28 May 2005, p.64]

It's a delight to hear. [18 Jun 2005, p.64]

Gives hope to a hip-hop stuck in a mire of mediocrity. [18 Jun 2005, p.64]

If you want to know about the Glasgow scene which spawned Franz Ferdinand, 'Push Barman To Open Old Wounds' is pretty much essential. [21 May 2005, p.66]

If there's a problem, it's that... it all sounds rather familiar and comfortable. [22 Jan 2005, p.51]

If you want it to be, it's brilliant. It's also a record so ambitious, so angry, and so mad-as-a-goose that there are otherwise intelligent people who will hear it once and straight away deem it an interminable racket. [30 Apr 2005, p.61]

The problem for Athlete is that Coldplay are returning in a matter of weeks to show how it's really done. [29 Jan 2005, p.59]

Electrelane could do with tightening their concentration spans, but everything else is just fine and dandy thank you. [7 May 2005, p.66]

Far from the unpredictable genius of old, it seems that Rivers Cuomo has returned lacking both edge and sparkle.

The results are undeniably lush, yet slightly lacking in soul. [16 Apr 2005, p.50]

The production is too breezy in places and at 19 songs, it is at least half a dozen too long. Not the classic Adams fans demand, but he’s moving his ducks into a row.

A perfect slice of bedroom psychedelia. [9 Apr 2005, p.58]

It is, shudder to think, Nine Inch Nails' pop album. Or, at least, Reznor is returning to the more song-orientated territory of 'Pretty Hate Machine'. [23 Apr 2005, p.49]

Psychedelic craziness. [30 Apr 2005, p.64]

Just as their previous fetish for deep distortion and a limited set of chords did, pink-hued noir here can prove to be something of an acquired taste. However, it never sinks into unintentional parody, earning it the acclaim of sounding like nothing else currently out there.

They blend chiming, Television-style guitars and swooning miserabilism. [4 Jun 2005, p.58]

About as funny as pouring weedkiller on your genitals and then setting fire to them. [7 May 2005, p.66]

Touted as half 'Get Ready', half 'Technique', it lives up to every predictable stylistic retread that entails, to the point of self-parody.... Thank Christ, then, that the songs are so good. [26 Mar 2005, p.49]

The generous would suggest this is the album Oasis should be trying to make; the cynical that it's a collection the Inspiral Carpets did make over a decade ago. [7 May 2005, p.66]