A risible attempt to recapture long-vanished glories. [Nov 2007, p.137]

It's a solid return. [Nov 2007, p.137]

The songs aren't quite up to the mark. You can't fault the performances though. [Dec 2007, p.121]

It's messy, it takes time to sink in, but it's worth it. [Sep 2007, p.100]

It's so alluring you have no choice but to follow. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Each of these tracks makes the case for Foo Fighters' horizons successfully expanding, in the way the acoustic side of "In Your Honor" didn't. [Oct 2007, p.87]

Like quicksand, it's subtle, surprising and utterly absorbing. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Intriguing though Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is, it remains unclear how he and his peculiar talent will thrive out there. [Oct 2007, p.104]

The result is a too quiet, curiously unfinished-sounding album with barely a moment to remember, let alone cherish. [Oct 2007, p.96]

Washington Square Serenade is prime Americana. [Nov 2007, p.137]

They are at their best when bandleader Torquil Campbell and muse Amy Millan share the mic. [Nov 2007, p.147]

It lacks the spark of greatness, although 'Cycling Trivialities' and 'Killing For Love' trundle along merrily. [Oct 2007, p.98]

While the limitations of their two-man line-up means that the music never takes flight in quite the same way, the austere likes of 'Fly Low Carrion Crow' still leaves an indelible mark. [Oct 2007, p.106]

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

The music is terribly dull, like a watered-down Weezer. [Dec 2007, p.125]

Invitation Songs treads a well-worn path through dusty Americana, but with aplomb. [Mar 2008, p.100]

It's a bedroom album, albeit an intelligent, challenging one. [Jan 2008, p.110]

The less devout should keep a pinch of salt on stand-by. [Oct 2007, p.100]

There's an Everyman appeal to Once Upon A Time... that suggests a band on the verge. [Oct 2007, p.88]

While there's nothing on Drastic Fantastic to spook the horses, neither is it an obvious rerun of its predecessor. [October 2007, p.90]

A fearsomely efficient follow-up to Back To Bedlam. [Oct 2007, p.92]

It takes 18 songs before the real Chamillionaire shows up. [Nov 2007, p.126]

The overall feel is Sonic Youth Unplugged. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Drew's little-boy-lost whine on the likes of 'Gangbang Suicide' occasionally grates, but the supreme soft-rock anthemics on 'Lucky Ones' more than compensates. [Oct 2007, p.94]

Asleep at Heaven’s Gate is still as polite and polished as the "edgy" mainstream dramas it will no doubt continue to soundtrack. [June 2008, p.146]

Their chart-friendly clothes fit them well. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Especially on the Thin Lizzy-esque 'What Do I Have To Do?' and the irresistible 'Wasted,' they sparkle. At other times, though--the unloveable 'Here For The Party' and childish 'Girl Talk'--these four 28-year-olds still think they're in high school. [Nov 2007, p.137]

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

At times it meanders, but their weirdness is quite wonderful. [Nov 2007, p.134]

It marks a huge leap forward, with much of their previous discordant awkwardness replaced with a more focused approach. [Nov 2007, p.141]

The primitive beauty of Matt Pike's dense riffs and Des Kensel's tribal rhythms should ensure that the Foo Fighters' frontman usn't the only one falling in love with the Oakland trio.

Slower tracks such as 'Just Say Yes' and 'Blush' veer too close to blandness, though the power chords of 'Sex Without Love' and humorous idolatry of 'What Would Jay-Z Do?' revitalise. [Nov 2007, p.141]

The Western Lands is a little like My Bloody Valentine with the sound down low. [Oct 2007, p.109]

The State Of Things confirms RATM will be following the Arctic Monkeys down the MI and onto the nation's radios for sometime yet. [Nov 2007, p.145]

There's a harder edge throughout their fourth album, making them sound a little like Starsailor at times, with electric guitars getting more of a look-in this time. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Strawberry Jam sounds as if it was a blast to make; happily, the fun doesn't stop there. [October 2007, p.94]

Graduation is mercifully skit-free, but it still feels insubstantial to West. [Oct 2007, p.95]

Even at just over 30 minutes, there's a feeling they're running short on new ideas. [Oct 2007, p.98]

They've delivered their weakest set of songs to date. [Oct 2007, p.98]

'Treshold Apprehension' features his best screaming since the Pixies' heyday, while 'Test Pilot Blues' and 'Your Mouth Into Mine' capture his imagination at its padded-cell best. [Oct 2007, p.94]

There is little else that stands out amid the polite noodling. [Mar 2008, p.104]

Dirty Projectors' David Longstreth deserves praise for the way he's reinterpreted "Damaged." [Dec 2007, p.116]

[A] palatable solo debut. [Oct 2007, p.101]

While hopes of stardom might have passed, there are a few minor gems in here. [June 2008, p.148]

Entertaining in the flesh maybe, but a considerably less engaging proposition on record. [Jan 2008, p.105]

Civilians is the most approachable and coherent of his recent offerings. [Oct 2007, p.98]

As ever, North Star Deserter doesn't pull many punches, with the bare-boned 'Warm' making the starkest of openers. [Oct 2007, p.94]

Any promise it shows [early on], howeever, soon gives way to yet another album of baroque rock and Beach Boys harmonies that strives towards being some lost Brian Wilson opus. [Feb 2008, p.95]

[In the UK], he's still something of a curiousity and likely to remain so, despite Tristeza Maleza's sweet, summery lilt and the Bob Marley-like festival anthem 'Politik Kills.'

Scialfa has surrendered and retreated into singer-songwriter orthodoxy, despite the appealing doo-wop backing vocals of 'Like Any Woman Would' and the lyrical twists of 'Black Ladder.' [Oct 2007, p.105]

They have turned in their most conventional set of songs yet. [Sep 2007. p.95]

Ian Bavitz delivers some typically extravagant wordplay. [Oct 2007, p.101]

His most impressive feat is that the whole thing never once descends into Kravitz-sytle pastiche. [Dec 2007, p.116]

There's a new post-punk, white-funk edge to their sound on the glorious 'Debbie' that surely comes from Bird's new locale, While 'Lazy (Lazy)' slinks along with Talking Heads-esque subtlety. [Sep 2007, p.88]

Everything here is a fantastic hybrid, M.I.A. and her platoon of producers thieving fashionable street sounds from Baltimore hip hop to Brazil's baile funk. [Sep 2007, p.89]

Challengers, their fourth album, sees the band and its three main songwriters at the top of their game. [Sep 2007, p.99]

On an album tat is filled with gems, Jenny Lewis is the crown jewel. [Sep 2007, p.85]

Articulate and thoughtful as Kweli's rhymrs are, few of the star producers he's invited along rise to the occasion. [Sep 2007, p.95]

Their fourth album is another collection of winning boy-girl-harmony-laden indie confections. [Jan 2008, p.106]

Too much of the rest--an urgent Mr. Lif aside--is seriously lacking in flavour. [Apr 2008, p.112]

Far out stuff indeed, but very listenable. [Oct 2007, p.101]

His fifth album is a triumph where his previous efforts have promised but fallen just short. [Oct 2007, p.105]

It is just that, a combination of converging influences, namely Evanescence and The Cranberries, their propensity for choral harmonies ratcheting up the twee factor exponentially. [Oct 2007, p.109]

Broder's lyrics are as evocative as ever. [Sep 2007, p.92]

Sheff's unorthodox, often beautiful songs blend folk and country with left-field rock influences.

The world will still ignore them, but mustering such firepower this late in the game is noble. [Oct 2007, p.105]

None of this would work, of course, if there wasn't pop-rock nous at the core of this band whose opening shot is relentlessly, exhilaratingly effective. [Dec 2008, p.123]

Those familiar with their late-'80s classics will be glad to hear them back on form, though it's hard to see this winning over many new fans. [Nov 2007, p.144]

Full of irresistible choruses and quirky surprises, it's the sound of a band fully deserving of star billing. [Sep 2007, p.90]

The California band's doomy gothic arias sound unsettling and bold once more. [Sep 2007, p.91]

Across Planet Earth’s brisk and varied 10 tracks, he is once again doing it pretty well, from cocky rock strut ('Guitar') to Chic-style, pumped-up funk ('Chelsea Rodgers') and knicker-loosening R&B beats ('Future Baby Mama').

Their fifth album is another step up the ladder. [Apr 2008, p.117]

His sixth album has a political slant, but the message is subtler than his controversial 2000 ditty, 'Bill Gates Must Die.'

Those seeking more of the same will not be disappointed. [Dec 2006, p.128]

A radio-friendly collection of feel-good summer pop alongside teen-angsty ballads. [Nov 2007, p.147]

There is no waste here. [Sep 2007, p.96]

It's the same sure-footed, Beatles-inspired pop that made them so popular in the early '90s. [Sep 2007, p.100]

The likes of 'Americans Abroad' and 'White People For Peace' pick up where Green Day's "American Idiot" left off, channelling righteous fury into a racket that's as vigorous as it's earnest. [Sep 2007, p.88]

Brilliantly bonkers. [Oct 2007, p.105]

It's business as usual for Bad Religion, the US punk rock stalwarts recently restored to full power with the return of guitarist Brett Gurewitz. [Sep 2007, p.100]

Clearly, motherhood has only improved her sense of fun. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Above all else, [it] once again underlines Dylan's singularly magnificent gifts as a songwriter. [Apr 2007, p.121]

The Aliens' album often has the wide-eyed beauty of Brian Wilson or Jonathan Richman. [Apr 2007, p.120]

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

It's very easy on the ear, but, as on the Jose Gonzalez collaboration Estrella De Dos Caras, it needs focus. [Sep 2007, p.99]

Their attempts at songwriting here are woeful. [Sep 2007, p.95]

At 14 tracks Versions is too long... At its best, though, it's a blast. [May 2007, p.124]

Over a strident indie-rock soundtrack, singer Kate Jackson comes across like a female Morrissey. [Dec 2006, p.138]

Pick of the bunch is 'March of the Camels,' which marries a doomy baseline with children's choir backing vocals, and exemplifies their gift for the surreal. [Apr 2008, p.117]

Strip away the Victorian undertaker drag, and Strange House is disappointingly insubstantial. [Apr 2007, p.116]

A positively unhinged record. [Dec 2006, p.133]

Yet, for all the dumbing down, they have much going for them. [May 2007, p.122]

Proof positive that you can post-rock and still have a smile on your face. [May 2007, p.124]

Mood music for goat-sacrificing pagan rituals. [May 2007, p.124]

Worth investigating. [Mar 2007, p.115]

On tracks such as single Weapon Of Choice, Berlin, 666 Conductor and Need Some Air, BRMC can show anyone a clean set of scuffed heels. [May 2007, p.123]

The spark that made initial albums such as Bug so special is still missing. [May 2007, p.123]

Surprisingly conventional. [May 2007, p.124]