'Society' suggests therr's always been a hippy survivialist under the grunge plaid. [Dec 2007, p.124]

They're onto something here. [May 2015, p.115]

At only 37 minutes long, it never outstays its welcome. [May 2013, p.99]

Some judicious pruning would have helped, but this is a promising first step forwards, even if it spends it s entire running time looking backwards. [May 2013, p.96]

Shocking, in the best sense. [May 2013, p.99]

It sounds clever, rather than engaging. [May 2012, p.98]

Cthulu has the melodrama, but not the bite, of Nine Inch Nails and So Blonde is pointless grunge landfill.... 100 Years achieves so much with just a delicate vocal, minimalist piano and lowing strings that the harder-edged songs seem like empty noise. [May 2014, p.109]

A sterling showcase for Nelson's bluesier side ?

There may be tears if he later goes elctric, but for now this falls just the right side of pastiche. [May 2010, p.127]

Arbez keeps things interesting by twisting the formula. [Jan 2013, p.113]

Their near-ambient sound abides. [May 2017, p.111]

While My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was anchored by Kanye's galactic ego, Big Boi often gets lost in the crowd. [Feb 2013, p.102]

Benga is still adept at lacing abrasive beats with airplay-ready soul, but the songwriting doesn't always measure up. [Jul 2013, p.99]

If not as catchy (or stroppy) as Avril Lavigne, she is never less than efficient. [Aug 2003, p.102]

Follows a smilar pattern to 2003's Monday At The Hug And Pint, fleshing out their deceptively simple songs with expanded arrangements and quicker tempos. [Dec 2005, p.148]

For a record that strives to sound disembodied, it has a powerful grip. [Jul 2012, p.105]

Despite this being their widest-ranging album, their lack of of a truly great song is ultimately frustrating. [Sep 2007, p.99]

The formula really sparks when the layers of sounds are given firm edges. [Dec 2013, p.103]

It might not add up to vintage Joni, but her artistic integrity and sheer class are never in doubt. [Nov 2007, p.140]

He's still no Jay-Z, but the roll-call of guests reflects his savvy, anything-goes approach. [Dec 2007, p.124]

A moody, low-key opening does them few favours, but there's no shortage of intensity once they hit their groove. [Apr 2016, p.105]

There are missteps, but consistency was never their selling point. [June 2008, p.138]

Not exactly immediate, definitely rewarding. [Oct 2013, p.109]

Revolt may not be the sonic revolution Tinley aspires to but reconfirms him as one of UK dance music originals. [Mar 2015, p.103]

His septuagenarian's enthusiasm is undeniably infectious. [Apr 2014, p.119]

Even if this album is only for a limited audience, it's the sound of a band pushing onwards and upwards into the blue. [May 2013, p.94]

The quality dips towards the album's close, but all told, this is a solid return to the fold. [Jul 2015, p.102]

Que Veux Tu and La Musique cannily mesh memorable pop hooks and dancefloor energy, but Budet's international aspirations may be offset by her brave, if commercially questionable, decision to sing entirely in French. [May 2011, p.127]

Though the structures are still experimental, there's enough gentle rhythm and memorable refrains here to keep it grounded and gorgeous. [Jul 2013, p.100]

There's no doubt that his fingers still know their way around the fretboard.

What is surprising is just how chief songwriter Oliver Ackermann shapes their face-melting shoegaze into something altogether more sophisticated. [Aug 2012, p.94]

The Last Hero won't make them any new friends, but those they have won't be disappointed. [Dec 2016, p.105]

Feel[s] like an album to be admired rather than enjoyed. [Jun 2006, p.115]

It's like being hit over the head by a giant hammer in a neverending Itchy & Scrathy episode. [Jan 2009, p.113]

Voice-over clips from the movie aside, you'd assume this was a middleweight urban angst flick rather than about a fistic comeback-too-far. No matter, a job well done. [May 2017, p.112]

Legrand and Scally have wisely not radically tinkered with their hypnotic formula. Everything is dreamily understated. [Mar 2008, p.100]

If the flavor is international, the beef is still all hers, her skyscraper of a voice dominating all around it. [Mar 2014, p.114]

While they are likely to appease their devotees with this solid, if unadventurous record, it seems that Death Cab For Cutie will continue preaching to the converted. [Apr 2015, p.110]

A long and winding and faithfully atmospheric cover of Pink Floyd's Echoes that closes the album is perhaps the main attraction here, but too much of what precedes it tends to waft away into the ether. [Jul 2019, p.114]

This debut shows his skills are undiminished, boasting some A-grade production. [Jun 2009, p.122]

This follow-up to 2006's clubland sleeper Disco Romance revealing a polished synthesis of Balearic beats and featherly harmonies. [Oct 2009, p.116]

The tunes are serviceable, if hardly Fast Car. [Dec 2002, p.102]

By definition, it's a water treader and there's nothing surprising. [May 2011, p.124]

A great concept, but there aren't enough ideas here to prevent it running out of steam. [Jul 2015, p.108]

It's a pleasant listen but never quite sparks. [Jul 2013, p.100]

Old and new reflect off each other, their currents and clashes creating an intriguing weather system that's Anno's alone. [Oct 2018, p.115]

This album [is] good fun. [Feb 2013, p.103]

Dicing with chaos throughout, it could easily induce headaches. But within there is substance and odd beauty. [Apr 2016, p.109]

The whole thing might be like travelling back to a nightclub in Leeds in 1983 but it's executed with a gloomy elan that allows you to forgive its occasional silliness. [May 2018, p.112]

The big indie-rock of Sleepy Hallow is beaten in the chirpy stakes only by the vaguely Afrobeat of This Little Sister while McIntyre's melancholy of old takes on Titanic proportions for the pleasing Why Do They Go So Soon. [May 2016, p.113]

Ambitious and heartfelt, Music For The People is the sound of a band caught between rock and a hard place. [May 2009, p.111]

An intriguing, if not quite essential, addition to the Maus canon. [Jul 2018, p.115]

His alt-country songs bristle with classic influences form Gram Parsons to John Fogerty to Steve Eerle. New dog, old tricks. [Jan 2010, p. 122]

Like Beck before he developed the Prince fixation, Fog's anti-puritanism makes this a constantly startling, wholly addictive joy.

While it's less draining than some of his earlier work, it still speaks the language of lamentation. [May 2012, p.99]

Boyle is still at his strongest when he opts to bring the noise. [Jul 2015, p.102]

The album's middle section is an exercise in restrained songcraft. [Mar 2003, p.114]

Despite it's title and Young's Ben Folds-esque vocals, All Things Bright and Beautiful keeps its beliefs at a distance for the most part. [July 2011, p. 117]

It's when the rappers stand down that it hits its stride. [Jun 2012, p.108]

This is aching ramshackle folk rock. [June 2002, p.124]

She has a fine technical voice but the emotional resonance of a car park. [Feb 2003, p.98]

Plenty of opportunities to put your hands in the air, but, ultimately, you may not care. [Nov 2016, p.108]

The ensemble take more risks with Gabriel's own songs, pulling them into bold new shapes. [Jul 2012, p.100]

Lytle's melodic warmth provides a protective layer against the heartbreak and horror. [Nov 2012, p.101]

This latest studio offering is equally tricky to categorise. The mood, though, never overwhelms. [Dec 2013, p.105]

Witty, gritty punchlines abound, maintaining the energy level even on those tracks where the beats are somewhat routine. [Feb 2013, p.103]

It's an odd concoction that manages to shift between Boards Of Canada-gone-baroque and unsettling white noise. [Dec 2013, p.99]

Joan Baez seems unshakeable on her 28th album. [Oct 2008, p.139]

The net result is an album that hangs suspended between Earth and the stars. [Jun 2019, p.116]

Old school, but somehow not old hat. [Feb 2009, p.113]

Some arena-pleasing riffs, a couple of polished acoustic numers and everyone goes home happy. [Apr 2002, p.114]

Gone are most of the Beck-ish hip hop stylings, back is the bespoke indiecraft of spidery guitars, loose drums and oblique lyricism. [Mar 2003, p.108]

Contains some potentially highly commercial music, were it not for the underwhelming production. [Sep 2004, p.118]

Functional yet uninspiring, Optica is pop as Ikea catalog. [Jun 2013, p.104]

Their pure pop rock is both uncomplicated and uninhibited. [June 2002, p.120]

The Archer Trilogy were exercises in electronic indie that were sparsely fragile (pt. 1, mostly) or verging on Europop (much of Pt. 2). The final installment manages to combine both and is all the better for it. [Jul 2013, p.101]

Music [that is] deeply evocative of sitting on a magic rug. [Jun 2012, p.99]

Concrete And Gold is a straightforward Foo Fighters album, albeit one that does occasionally fulfill its promise to deliver both aural lavishness and maximum heaviosity. [Oct 2017, p.102]

Not, perhaps, the best overview of their work, but bound to satisfy loyal fans. [Jan 2003, p.123]

Alongside the routinely powerful rocking there are tracks that might have similar impact to 2006 smash Chelsea Dagger. [Dec 2013, p.106]

Highly intriguing. [Oct 2013, p.97]

There's plenty to uncover within its slowly crashing waves of sound, but the main problem is that it all washes over you without leaving a lasting impression. Sumptuous, but forgettable. [Jul 2018, p.108]

A welcome return for a long-lost treasure. [Apr 2014, p.116]

For all its wit and occasional beauty, Passionoia lacks the killer anthem that would make the band genuine subversives rather than cult wags. [Mar 2003, p.102]

The tracks featuring Prince soundalike vocalist Harrison Crump are as fine as ever - dreamy, melodic, melancholy.... The trouble is, elsewhere, this ladies man seems convinced that a woman talking (especially in a European accent) is all the melody anyone could possibly need.

The fifth album from New Jersey's The Dillinger Escape Plan is another step back towards the math-metal that made their name. [Jul 2013, p.103]

Piano-led ballad rock songs tell their own story of heavy-duty emotional drag but Hansard's voice carries such weight you can forgive him. [Jul 2012, p.102]

It's unswervingly catchy stuff. [Aug 2010, p.116]

The rest of King Animal struggles to match "Been Away Too Long" for musical flair or raw energy. [Dec 2012, p.113]

While that may sound par for techno course, it's shot through with discordant sonics and a bubbling surface that makes even the most wildly different moments feel like part of the same voyage. [Dec 2013, p.107]

His humour counteracts the widely held assumption that Americans don't do irony. Folds does little else, and he never sounds less than terribly pleased with himself. [Oct 2008, p.142]

Warm acoustic folk is the dish of the day, with Reader occasionally dipping into chanson and Celtic tunes, never delivered in anything less than immaculate taste. [Mar 2014, p.119]

Vince Clarke's melodic electro-motifs and Andy Bell's dramatic voice may be in place, but laments for long romance and fake news alerts make for sombre listening. [Jul 2017, p.107]

Negotiate the idea that you're eavesdropping on a social anthropology seminar and ther are thrills to be had. [Nov 2009, p.110]

This album should seduce fans of Red House Painters or American Music Club. [Oct/Nov 2001, p.130]

When songs hit their mark, his latest incarnation squares up impressively to his Stateside heroes. [Dec 2002, p.97]

True, like an armful of regrettable tattoos it may have transitory allure, but its nasty, brutish and short appeal will do for now. [Jul 2015, p.104]

Spx's voice is a thing of wonder - rich, deep and stomach-tighteningly emotional. [Jun 2012, p.99]