American Slang isn't a record to change the world. But if Brian Fallon is yet to take on the Springsteen mantle of seeing and articulating that world way beyond his own neighborhood, it will surely bringh im closer still to The Boss' heartland audience.

It's not a perfect album--some songs feel too fast, almost manic in their desire to exist--but its message is clear. Kesha is surviving, yes, but thriving too. [Sep 2017, p.108]

The shimmering versions of past highlights and the exhilarating title track offer a fascinating glimpse of where Coltrane was headed next. [Nov 2019, p.119]

The two parts of Everything Not Saved Will be Lost aren't quite the work of radical genius that Foals probably think they are, but they're bolder and more adventurous than a lot of those million other bands could manage. [Nov 2019, p.106]

Over time, a soulful, joyous record reveals itself. [Sep 2014, p.103]

It makes a dignified final addition to the American Recordings series. [Aug 2006, p.109]

Impressive. ... The gravitational pull of easy-going '70s jazz-funk is felt throughout. [Feb 2018, p.112]

His abiding fascination with conceptual work is mirrored in the mischievous spirit at play on Pure Beauty. [Apr 2018, p.113]

All told, it's a mighty tasty spread. [Apr 2016, p.117]

There are so many ideas battling it out here it takes numerous listens to make sense of it, but persevere and this is perhaps their strongest set to date. [Apr 2012, p.101]

This is ambitious, outward-looking pop unafraid to play by its own rules. [Aug 2016, p.102]

The a capella tracks remain their USP, but when they stretch out into the acoustic guitar balladry of the Joanna Newsom-sih Fish, they shine even brighter. [Oct 2018, p.115]

This time around Petty's Heartbreakers have brought out the very best in the man himself. [Sep 2014, p.102]

Offering a clear connection with his melodically sophisticated, emotive songwriting of yore, it combines light an d shade while touching on such universal notions as the ineffable mystery of existence, how love is eternal and the waning of earthly powers. [Nov 2013, p.114]

This world music/indie rock mix is countered by the affecting melancholy of their quieter moments. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

Time Flies... is the memorial to the greatest rock'n'roll cartoon of them all, one which, re-formation dreams aside, ends here now. [Jul 2010, p.144]

Adele's songs possess an ageless classification. [Mar 2008, p.105]

An often-inspired collection of eccentric pop songs and unexpected proggy workouts. [July 2002, p.108]

With Multi-Love, Nielson has concocted an intoxicating brew. [Jun 2015, p.113]

It's both a delight and a retro-soul how-to. [Jul 2015, p.112]

For all their generic tendencies, these are fertile minds. [Sep 2003, p.106]

Most of the record is a vivid splurge of new wave, glam-rock and showtunes, armed with lyrics as punchy and memorable as their melodies. [Oct 2012, p.108]

The Voyager finds Jenny Lewis--earthbound for these past few years--readying herself for lift-off. [Sep 2014, p.104]

The Gypsy Faerie Queen, co-written and performed with Cave, and the Lanegan-scored They Come At Night, addressing the attack on the Bataclan, are among the LP's finest moments, but it's Born To Live, a tribute to the late Anita Pallenberg, that proves its most stirring. [Dec 2018, p.107]

On Power they fully engage their inner Depeche Mode and LCD Soundsystem. ... Ordinarily this could point to an identity crisis, but it works. [Mar 2020, p.122]

All told, this is a mind-blowing and powerfully emotional album, however you (or she) want to label it. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

They make all the right moves on this brilliant debut. [Jun 2017, p.106]

[The glitchy beats and samples] gives them a whole new playground but even the most synthesized moments here sound natural and unforced. [May 2013, p.109]

Shadows, their eighth album, piles the instrumental layers back on without sacrificing any of the Scots' traditional strengths. [July 2010, p. 140]

A debut album of rare potency. [Sep 2019, p.115]

The results are beautifully muted yet murkily enticing, evoking Robert Wyatt's pastoral-prog reverie Rock Bottom. [Jul 2013, p.111]

Their pitch-perfect nods to Badfinger, Jimi Hendrix and Big Star come with a timeless quality. [Sep 2015, p.112]

While Booker plays with a certain fury on this self-titled debut, he sings with a leisurely cool. [Sep 2014, p.105]

The result is uniformly deft, sumptuous and moving. [Apr 2018, p.110]

As he switches from the blues shuffle of Repo Man to pedal steel laments, country rock, and even lovelorn soul, you can't help but marvel at the knack Ray LaMontagne has for really inhabiting his songs. [Oct 2020, p.111]

These are fine story-songs for any age, era or metal disposition. [Jun 2017, p.107]

The Terror is dark and experimental, full of synths and loops that owe more to Krautrock than guitar bands. [May 2013, p.101]

Crowell co-writes the majority of these 11 new songs, covering all the bases from nostalgic regert to downright weepie, highway anthem to cajun-flavoured rug-cutter. [Jun 2015, p.107]

This is living, breathing music that avoids the trap of comfy nostalgia. [Jun 2013, p.94]

The poppier bits like Jupiter Rising don't always work, but the darkly gritty Time In Babylon, in particular, shows just how far Harris has pushed the traditional country sound. [Oct 2003, p.104]

A beautifully unsettling album. [Oct 2017, p.111]

Their voices lock in dense, close harmonies on the likes of Listen, while We Know What It Means is as gorgeous as songs about 3am baby feeding can get. [Sep 2018, p.113]

A soul-baring album it may be, but The Weather Statio's forecast is still bright and breezy. [Dec 2017, p.113]

This is Elton's best album since, well, Captain Fantastic. [Oct 2006, p.118]

Occasional voyages into proggy oddness (Future Crimes)bring some esoteric intrigue to their indie insouciance, but, ultimately, this band wants you to have as much fun as they so clearly are. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

Band Of Joy is a good place for him to stay a little longer. [Oct 2010, p.114]

It seemed as if they'd perfected the balance of 2002's glowing "Neon Golden," but here manage to continue the evolution. [July 2008, p.108]

The deeper emotions being stirred this time around fans out to several other highlights. [Mar 2013, p.106]

In short, Beck Hansen has properly re-acquired his mojo. [Mar 2014, p.106]

Before stardom, they stopped off to reinvent guitar rock. [Aug. 2011, p. 128]

Zach Condon's troupe emerge from indie safe house on triumphant third. [Sept. 2011, p. 109]

He creates rich, oddly visual soundscapes while he murmurs lucid dreams of his younger self. [Sep 2013, p.105]

It's intoxicating listening that demands repeated attention. [Oct 2012, p.102]

A new rock force was born. [Jan 2018, p.117]

On the rich and dazzling Malibu, Anderson.Paak has truly found his voice. [Apr 2016, p.116]

There's might in their minimalism. [Mar 2016, p.111]

Startling, shape-shifting music by a band reaching the peak of their powers. [Mar 2013, p.108]

AM continues a pattern, then: every couple of years, the Monkeys make a great album, sounding tighter and more telepathic with each release. [Oct 2013, p.97]

This fourth solo album is daring and hugely composed. [Mar 2014, p.115]

With Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective have refined their distinctive vision, once again proving they are ahead of the pack. [Feb 2009, p.1114]

Jannis Noya Makrigiannis clearly has his own agenda allowing his haunting songs to develop at leisure. [Apr 2012, p.106]

Even if there's a sense of darkness descending, in his best solo album yet, Gruff Rhys paints with bright and uplifting colours. [Jul 2018, p.109]

For his eighth album, he has returned to renowned metal producer Ed Stasium, who delivers both high-impact guitar and sufficient clarity for enjoyment of Heat's droll way with words. [Apr 2002, p.120]

A black-metal-inspired collection of songs equally beautiful, if largely less accessible to the casual listener. [Jul 2015, p.112]

It is their way with a collaborator, though, that sets them apart. [Feb 2003, p.97]

Sleep Well Beast is undoubtedly richly textured, but it still demands the listener lean in. [Oct 2017, p.109]

A debut that should be enjoyed in sweaty, late-night dance caverns. [Aug 2018, p.116]

A thrilling journey of self-rediscovery. [Oct 2012, p.95]

Where Cold Roses was dense, narcotic rock... this is a country album in the tradition of Neil Young's Harvest and, notably, Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons. [Nov 2005, p.122]

It still occupies dark territory but this time excellent songs like Hidden Knives are defined by urgency, as well as venom. [Feb 2017, p.111]

Things perk up on the lovely Where There Are Pixels and the choired-up I Must be Jesus but it's one for the fierce-hearted and, as such, highly recommended. [Dec 2012, p.111]

There are enough twists and delights such as lugubrious free-jazz saxophone and the keenness of his lyrics to make this record sublime. [Apr 2018, p.108]

As homeopathic remedies for heartache and life's unkindness, these reflective songs are persuasive and when the group decide to fly with the moment-seizing, easy-psych These Days Are Mine, it's doubly invigorating. [Feb 2013, p.105]

Hitchcock is a genre of his own, and he's giving it a good name. [Jun 2017, p.109]

The work of a richly creative entity still in the ascendant, those with a mind to will drink deep. [Mar 2014, p.116]

It once again showcases just how satisfying a Talking Heads obsession coupled with an ability to craft uncommonly graceful ballads can be. [Apr 2009, p.97]

A Victim Of Stars is the ideal primer to an almost three-decade solo career, with the bait of one impeccable new track. [Mar 2012, p.117]

Dre and Big Boi (alias Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton) fill their technicolour vision with the ghosts of Sly Stone, James Brown and, most notably, Funkadelic-era George Clinton. Factor in some distinctly unorthodox production and you've rap at its risk-taking best...

Sixty minutes long -- the album's subtitle is "A Musical Curriculum" -- this is pure, hip-hop-based sampledelica and anything but po-faced.

Caracal proves a more stealthy beast than its predecessor.... It's indeed the songs, though, which really shine. [Oct 2015, p.105]

LGC seem set to bring a winning edginess to drive time. [Sep 2013, p.106]

It's a brilliant record, without question their best to date. [Sep 2014, p.107]

A joy throughout. [Dec 2017, p.105]

Their second LP is an aged-in-the-wood delight of fiddle, mandolin, accordion, guitars and keyboards texturing swinging rock'n'roll. [Feb 2016, p.117]

This doesn't disappoint, adding emotional depth to his complex rhyming and heft to the productions. [Mar 2008, p.103]

Dig In deep seamlessly follows 2012's Slipstream in personnel and style. [Apr 2016, p.113]

Fizzing with memorable melodies, irrepressible energy and Matthew Caw's heartfelt vocals, this 38-minute set doesn't have a wasted moment on it. [Feb. 2012, p.108]

There could be no finer tribute to a departed friend. [May 2008, p.135]

Tracks such as the blistering hardcore of Cathouse and Cafeteria Food are the sort of exhilarating rock'n'roll songs that could kick start your year. [Mar 2013, p.108]

[Olsen treats] heavy weather with an impressive lightness of touch. [Mar 2014, p.117]

This follow-up takes on a conventional band set-up, but it's as impressive, offering a crisply original take on the classic singer-songwriter approach. [May 2013, p.109]

Even when Energy takes a ruminative turn towards the end, there's not an ounce of fat. [Sep 2020, p.108]

Unhinged but snow-cool. [Apr 2004, p.114]

There's a substance and sense of space in these meditative moments that makes for a satisfying, deep listening experience. [Jul 2013, p.113]

This lush 36-track comp traces Richter's influences,meandering from vintage to post-rock to contemporary and is twinkling, Sunday-morning music in excelsis. [Aug 2017, p.115]

Deep is the word here. [Jul 2013, p.109]

Dark nights of the soul rarely come with soundtracks this compelling. [Oct 2015, p.103]

Where The May Queen plugs into a strain of joyous psychedelic folk that owes much to the 1660s as the 1960s, the stark desert blues of the title track showcases Plant's love of North African music, not to mention a voice that's been beautifully weathered by the elements. Who needs a Zeppelin reunion anyway? [Dec 2017, p.112]