An album rich in kaleidoscopic colour to contrast the diluted greys of its sleeve, marked with the expert touch of true masters of their art. [April 2012, p.96]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth is audacious in a genre that prizes hat size over innovation, a concept album about parenting and childhood intended for consumption in one continuous sitting like a short story. [Jul 2016, p.114]

While it lacks the sheer otherworldliness of his heyday, it is still a startling successful marriage of old and new. [Aug 2020, p.102]

What it lacks in orginality, it makes up for in sky-filling exhilaration. [Oct 2009, p.107]

Wicked Grin is a bona fide revelation.... A rambunctious joy from beginning to end.

It makes you feel like you've stepped into a funhouse built by Picasso out of neon light and awesomeness. [Jun 2012, p.106]

He has rediscovered the knack of making Beach Boys records again. And make no mistake, in sound if not personnel, this is a Beach Boys record. [Aug 2004, p.119]

The results are excellent. [Oct 2015, p.110]

As with the Beatles, the outtakes and rarities are the best place to appreciate the abundance of songwriting chops and interpersonal chemistry Blur had at their disposal. [Sep 2012, p.118]

Playland is better than its predecessor in pretty much every respect. The songs are better, the palette broader and there's a genuine sense of Marr hitting his stride as a solo artist. [Nov 2014, p.103]

If the original Bat Out Of Hell was Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run as scored by Richard Wagner, this is even more theatrical. [Nov 2006, p.140]

Complex, yet approachable rhythmic sketches. [Mar 2020, p.117]

A record that embodies a whole world of vulnerability, confusion and unsteadiness without losing shape. [Mar 2018, p.102]

Mostly the pace unfolds with the urgency of a melting icicle, couching expressions of fear, hope and love amid forlorn synth arcs and just enough fuzz to keep things frisky. [May 2018, p.105]

Tellingly, there isn't a weak song here, just 13 slices of original Pirate material. [Mar 2008, p.108]

New Path has an almost cinematic drama that makes its propulsive dancefloor rhythms thunderously exhilarating. [May 2018, p.108]

An album of subtle, but nonetheless wonderful ear-worms. [Jun 2018, p.110]

MBV isn't perfect; sometimes the songs do drag, but the brilliant moments are so brilliant, and the exciting moments so exciting that you'll forgive them. [Apr 2013, p.108]

A brooding collection. [May 2004, p.108]

Both mysterious and inviting, Helplessness Blues retains and expands what made the debut so special. It's an open door to a private world. [Jun 2011, p.108]

Previous albums threatened to impress but always came with bits missing. This is the finished article. [Dec 2003, p.130]

A more thoroughly radical-sounding album than even Ray Of Light...

The voice and their lyrics sit differently, somehow, against Knopf's arrangements, which can be by turns delicate, mischievous and furious. [Nov 2015, p.105]

This compilation of that [debut] album, Apple, plus preceding EP Shine, show what all the fuss was about. [Jan 2017, p.117]

It's only on lightweight tracks Army and Devotions that Delirium drags. [Jan 2016, p.107]

Razor-sharp songs that do valiant justice to the desperate optimism of gutter-bound dreamers. [Mar 2007, p.115]

Serotonin finds them back in more familiar territory, delivering screwball pop gems under the guidance of veteran knob twiddler Chris Thomas. [Aug 2010, p.123]

While it doesn't always hit its mark, people after some cartoon-rock fun with great tunes will find this their most consistently satisfying set of songs since 2009's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. [Jun 2017, p.100]

A musical vigil primed to cut a path from bedside to festival stage. [Dec 2009, p. 111]

Lilac6 is as effortlessly subtle and debonair as 1999's reformation album.

The resultant upgrade sounds like a ZX Spectrum wired to a jack hammer. Add the occasional pause for breath--as on the glacial "The Erskine Bridge"-- and Come Down With Me is a thrilling invitation. [Mar 2100, p.101]

New Order have made better records than this, but not many with such an emotional charge and the expansive noise to carry it off.... Get Ready is the sound of a great band breaking free of their past before your ears. Who’d have thought it?

His most intricately affecting music yet. [Nov 2016, p.100]

It's clear The Architect has elevated her to a whole new level. [Jan 2018, p.109]

This beautiful, open-hearted album explores every one of its title's implications, wrapping both the blessed and the lost in its generous embrace. [Nov 2014, p.105]

There's nothing fancy about her songs... but there is magic in the way she sings them. [Apr 2006, p.112]

The result is as dreamy and captivating as anything Nicolas Godin has ever done. [Mar 2020, p.117]

A bluesy, guitar-heavy record just like they used to make, then. What's not to llike? [Aug 2010, p.124]

If an album's ever demanded the description "plangent" or "mellifluous", it's here. [Dec. 2011 p. 128]

Dan Mangan here serves up the welcome alternative [to other alt-folkies.] [Jan 2012, p.123]

In a career already dotted with peaks, this is definitely another. [Jun 2018, p.113]

Entrancing. [Mar 2012, p.102]

While the more traditional sounding songs that remain are unquestionably excellent, it does seem odd to leave such a good idea only half explored. [Apr 2013, p.108]

Comedown Machine is their best album since they hit perfection with their debut. [Apr 2013, p.102]

All The Time is cool and compelling dance-pop. [Aug 2020, p.108]

With much here that could match the chart success of fellow travellers La nd Little Boots, it;s an accomplished first offering. [Feb 2010]

Their debut bears the hallmarks of carefully assembled, widescreen pop-rock.

The main impression is of a unique voice still raging. [Oct 2015, p.113]

Ape In Pink Marble shows that underneath the mannered eccentricities, Banhart's chief talent has always been to write endearing songs. [Nov 2016, p.103]

[Her] final LP gives as much pleasure as her 2002 breakthrough. [Jan 2018, p.110]

Before The Dawn snubs modern-day convention and is a throwback to live albums from the last century. [Jan 2017, p.110]

Halcyon casts a formidable spell. [Nov 2012, p.96]

They haven't just picked up where they left off last time; they've recreated the sound of their debut wholesale, then tossed on a couple of extra layers of flamboyance for good measure. [Sep 2006, p.104]

This triumphant Brixton Academy show, though, proves that it didn't harm the ascent of their stirring mix of electornic rock and vintage voice samples. [Feb 2017, p.116]

If you've skipped some of their more recent efforts, you'll be shocked by just how innovative and impressive they've become. [Feb 2016, p.119]

Fans of early Beck, Spacemen 3 and Galaxie 50 will love it. [Apr 2013, p.109]

It's a patchwork, with many edges left untrimmed, but Idehen's word's are always worth leaning in for. [Summer 2018, p.106]

Showcas[es] [Shields'] typically speaker-buckling white noise. [Nov 2003, p.126]

It's difficult to hear what was wrong with most of the never-before heard material. [Nov 2000, p.101]

The melting-pot approach, amplified by Toure's raw, yearning vocals, is what makes these 10 tracks so tantalising and evocative. [Jul 2015, p.119]

It's Krell's gift, for immersive electronica, like the quivering Burning Up, which keeps him in a class all his own. [Nov 2016, p.108]

A ferocious declaration of independence. [Jan 2005, p.124]

Charming, dexterous and completely compelling. [Oct 2012, p.108]

The sisters harmonise like sisters should, the tunes soar as both country and Bright Eyes should and First Aid Kit is contending like contenders should. [Feb 2012, p. 104]

Lush and lyrical, Jones makes 2013 a year to remember. [Apr 2016, p.108]

Producer Rick Rubin has made Metallica sound like Metallica again. [Nov 2008, p.116]

A dazzling listen. [Mar 2012, p. 105]

It is a precious reminder of Wagner's quietly incisive gifts. [Mar 2012, p.105]

The results are highly satisfying. [Aug 2017, p.110]

This exemplary boxset tells the whole, rather sorry saga of how a band who seemingly had everything going for them ended up with precisely nothing. [Oct 2009, p.122]

A startling collection of heart-bruising ballads reminiscent of Nick Cave at his most maudlin. [Aug 2003, p.115]

Both melancholic and gleeful, down-home yet artful. [Mar 2005, p.104]

Mogis finds a spectrum of hues in their previously monochrome sound. [Apr 2006, p.113]

II is propelled by Segall's forceful energy. [Jan 2016, p.111]

The intimacy of John Bramwell's writing is carefully preserved and the trio's abundant charm still lies in a simple melodic grace and spiky romanticisms of lines. [Aug 2010, p.120]

Anyone bored by the kitchen sink will find much to love here. [Feb 2008, p.97]

Well worth the wait. [Jun 2020, p.105]

It seems that Ferry's singular blend of elegance and dissolution still hasn't gone out of style. [Dec. 2010, p. 111]

It's not perfect but there's enough invention here for that not to matter. [Mar 2012, p.106]

The major surprise is just how on top of their game they sound on this orgy of melody. [Apr 2009, p.110]

DMA's aspirations here are elite-class: Life Is A Game Of Changing channels New Order circa Republic, while Silver evokes peak-period Verve's reassuringly expensive shuffle. [Aug 2020, p.107]

Three Demons finds Guadalupe Plata fully charged and on devilishly good form. [Summer 2019, p.111]

A Bath Full of Ecstasy feels like a glorious concentration of Hot Chip's skills. [Summer 2019, p.111]

Scarecrow's sense of defeat actually makes it a better record. [Jan 2002, p.96]

This is music that exerts as much effortless cool as young pups The Strokes. [Oct 2001, p.118]

Anderson's anger, defiance and pride are all here, but what comes out is peculiarly beautiful and affecting. [Aug 2014, p.108]

What makes Head Carrier work is that the Pixies see, to have rediscovered what they're great at. [Nov 2016, p.109]

Timeless and effortless, it's unmistakably them. C'est Chic. [Nov 2018, p.112]

Dark subjects [apocalypse], perhaps, but surprisingly enjoyable all the same. [Oct 2012, p.97]

Stands as an apt reminder that she is the finest soul talent of her generation. [Dec 2005, p.152]

A true craftman's album. [Jan 2016, p.111]

Hardcore aficionados might doggedly stick to the original but for new fans, it's a treat. [Mar 2018, p.107]

Richer and more rewarding than their Mercury-nominated breakthrough, Isla still has jazz running through it's veins, based as it is largely around sax and double bass, but the London band have broader ambitions. [Nov 2009, p.111]

The lesson: it's us who change, not AC/DC, nor indeed rock itself. Our mistake. Rave on, Malcolm. [Jan 2015, p.120]

Her directness about the experience of falling in and out of love with women is both refreshing and literal. [Apr 2019, p.113]

Fusion of nerdiness and fun. [Summer 2018, p.109]

Angles fits 10 songs into a brisk 34 minutes and doesn't waste time gunning for gravitas. [Apr 2011, p.92]

Ash have turned in a bullish and cocksure fifth studio album to delight the faithful. [Jun 2004, p.95]