A sleek collision of burbling basslines, adversarial vocals and downtuned brutality. [Mar 2006, p.109]

Contains far too many bland ballads. [Feb 2006, p.105]

Frontman Krayg Burton's voice is a desperately weak instrument, his whispered snatches of melody never quite coalescing into memorable tunes. [Feb 2006, p.102]

There's a seductive, deliberately synthesized feel that's part Scissor Sisters, part Hall & Oates. [Feb 2006, p.103]

A very respectable pop-punk debut. [Oct 2005, p.121]

Dido should keep checking over her shoulder. [Feb 2004, p.105]

If there is a sense that this is The Strokes' last chance to carve an enduring career for themselves, then it's a challenge they've decided to tackle without any reinvention of their trademark sound. [Feb 2006, p.96]

This is Adams at his most concise and focused. [Jan 2006, p.122]

The voice that set such a spark to West's Gold Digger should be capable of more than this exaggerated comedy sex routine. [May 2006, p.126]

Guerolito's songs dissolve in an anonymous stream of chugging electro and dub effects. [Feb 2006, p.101]

Fusing strange, arresting rhythms with gothic atmospheres, these surprisingly modern-sounding soundscapes should earn Korn a deserved second wind. [Jan 2006, p.127]

The same album, only more so. [Dec 2005, p.146]

A force of nature is with us. [Mar 2006, p.110]

System Of A Down remains the one metal band non-metalheads can enjoy. [Dec 2005, p.156]

Lekman is an intriguing bedsit poet whose whispered ramblings can sometimes melt the heart. [Mar 2006, p.108]

Previously hushed, hymnal recordings are twisted into warming rock'n'roll. [Dec 2005, p.149]

Up there with her best. [Dec 2005, p.144]

The abundance of weird instrumentals and scattershot doodles suggest that quality control remains an alien concept. [Mar 2006, p.108]

Live albums rarely come equipped with such a strong pulse. [Jan 2006, p.124]

Those familiar with Oberst's method... will find much to admire in the direct ranting on display. [Jan 2006, p.127]

It's a place where sweet harmony vocals and extreme rock meet, like Crosby, Stills & Nash through an art-punk shredder. [Dec 2005, p.148]

You could lose yourself for days here. [Dec 2005, p.142]

It may well be his strongest ever collection. [Feb 2006, p.98]

Although none of the newcomers quite supply the killer touch, the flow of soft-rock shimmies and cowbell-driven R&B lives up to the guestlist's promise. [Dec 2005, p.156]

Bizarre, but not without appeal. [Feb 2006, p.104]

A work of baroque detail, crossing between Mercury Rev's psychedelic Americana and The Beta Band's bucolic electronica. [Aug 2004, p.110]

The results are perhaps closest in spirit to Rough Trade-period Scritti Politti, all controlled experimentation and unexpected musical shapes thrown to enhance the songs, rather than indulge musical whims. [May 2005, p.112]

It pushes many of the same buttons as DFA/LCD Soundsystem, but with a sensuous Gallic cool missing from the more angular Anglo-Americans. [Jul 2005, p.112]

There's still something truly magical in the wistful clarity of her voice. [Nov 2005, p.131]

The twosome's sincere kitchen-sink music and lyrical pathos mean the tales of Chicago life unravel like a good Paul Auster novel. [Dec 2005, p.150]

For all its rosy glow of nostalgia, it's essentially just another Robbie Williams album--occasionally spectacular, more frequently merely solid. [Nov 2005, p.116]

It's a very strange album indeed. Happily, it's also a very good one. [Nov 2005, p.131]

Radiates good feeling and warmth. [Nov 2005, p.131]

Sounds so sure and committed that it could be the work of a new band. [Nov 2005, p.127]

Harvey's voice is not worthy of heavyweight songwriting. Still, when the songs are lighter, he succeeds. [Oct 2005, p.117]

Sadly, this follow-up shows signs of premature ageing. [Mar 2006, p.109]

Yet for all the nostalgia, the lurching strut of tracks such as Boom Ditty and Breaktime remains undeniably potent and contemporary. [Dec 2005, p.156]

The noisy blackAcetate is the work of a man who is not going to go quietly. [Nov 2005, p.123]

Comes on like an in-your-face Avalanches, with elements of Pavement-style art-rock and a punk attitude thrown in for good measure. [Nov 2005, p.127]

Entertaining in the same way as an episode of Joey: pretty dumb, fairly funny, and you're glad it's over in under half an hour. [Feb 2006, p.100]

With repeated listens, [Geometry] grows in stature, full of intriguing neo-psychedelia. [Oct 2005, p.121]

Instead of intense rock, it's a more atmospheric piece of work. [Nov 2005, p.123]

Doom's bizarre raps prove a good match for Danger Mouse's eclectic approach. [Nov 2005, p.123]

Contains more than its fair share of exquisite melancholy and careering abandon. [Nov 2005, p.123]

It shows a band building a new outpost atop the summit of their achievements. [Nov 2005, p.124]

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

His finest collection of material for 10 years (at least). [Nov 2005, p.118]

If you can forgive them their fondness for epic arrangements, theirs is a debut to transport you to a gentler place. [Jul 2005, p.122]

With its prowling, piano-led menace and barely contained fury, Extraordinary Machine offers ample confirmation that Apple is far darker than your average singer-songwriter. [Jan 2006, p.126]

What on paper might sound like a recipe for disaster in fact turns into a triumph. [Jan 2006, p.125]

You Could Have... doesn't take you on the journey of highs and lows that the very greatest albums do. Its Greatest Hits feel is both its major strength and its major weakness. [Oct 2005, p.108]

A curious third outing. [Oct 2005, p.117]

Z proves they have not lost the magical intimacy that touched 2001's At Dawn and '03's It Still Moves. [Nov 2005, p.127]

You can't fault the songs, the playing or the voice, but these versions contribute little to the originals. [Oct 2005, p.117]

[Smith's] curiously magical songwriting skills... remain undimmed by time and drink. [Nov 2005, p.124]

Like the rock equivalent of an SUV, All The Right Reasons is huge, polished and ultimately pointless. [Dec 2005, p.155]

Judgement Days is no disgrace, but nor is it cause to anoint Dynamite as a major talent. [Oct 2005, p.112]

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's a loose affair, typical of Chilton's slapdash attitude towards heritage curation. [Oct 2005, p.114]

A breath of fresh air. [Nov 2005, p.122]

There are moments of genuine heartbreak amid the musty gloom. [Oct 2005, p.115]

Tracks such as Florida and Pull The Curtains... add a Pixies-ish aggression to their signature bleepy country rock. [Nov 2005, p.124]

Should go down well with listeners who like their singers to take break-ups badly. [Nov 2005, p.125]

They have toughened up. [Jun 2005, p.113]

While the depth of the band's musicianship and production skills continues to impress, Road To Rouen feels emotionally blank. [Sep 2005, p.111]

One to watch. [Jan 2006, p.128]

Prairie Wind finds Neil Young on fine creative form and all too aware of the limited time he may have left to enjoy it. [Nov 2005, p.118]

Collisions marks Calla as an enchanting secret. [Mar 2006, p.106]

A collection of irresistible pop-rock anthems. [Nov 2005, p.125]

Monotonous riffs are churned out at a snail's pace. [Oct 2005, p.114]

You want to like Broadcast. But they don't make it easy. [Oct 2005, p.115]

A rich seam of quality courses through the 11 tracks. [Oct 2005, p.116]

Taut, and wired with determination. [Jul 2005, p.119]

Banner's rasped raps are as direct and filthy as ever. [Jan 2006, p.124]

Insane, but in a good way. [Nov 2005, p.123]

In the comparatively safe musical surrounds of 2005, he stands out as a compelling and utterly unique artist. [Oct 2005, p.119]

Lunacy has seldom sounded more exhilarating. [Aug 2005, p.126]

In many ways Chapman just sings the same song over and over. [Oct 2005, p.115]

There's nothing here that's conventional-sounding enough to take... CocoRosie beyond cult status, just shard after shard of fractured melody that burrows deep into the subconscious. [Oct 2005, p.121]

Mostly, the sound of The Dandy Warhols spreading their wings suits them. [Oct 2005, p.115]

Musically and lyrically, Life In Slow Motion is his strongest collection of songs to date. [Sep 2005, p.108]

Clocks in at less than 30 minutes, but you still feel you've been somewhere when it finishes. [Oct 2005, p.115]

He's found some endearing and unexpectedly affecting songs. [Oct 2005, p.120]

Takk... [is] a thing of... supple, muscular beauty, throwing off the stultifying air of reverence that has sometimes surrounded them. [Oct 2005, p.116]

Good, but should have been better. [Mar 2006, p.109]

While there's no doubt that listening to the Super Furries' seventh album is mostly a pleasure, there are moments when it feels like a little less relaxation might have paid off. [Sep 2005, p.116]

Sadly, bland harmonies and bloodless production blunt the impact. [Oct 2005, p.117]

As lovelorn and jaded as it is unshakeable. [Apr 2006, p.116]

Too much... is just art for art's sake. [Oct 2005, p.121]

Work every bit as lush as that which recently propelled Rufus Wainwright to stardom. [Sep 2005, p.119]

It blows hot and cold. [Oct 2005, p.110]

A disappointment.... While the voice still burns, the lacklustre songs cannot bear his weight. [Apr 2006, p.113]

The least adventurous and most disappointing Coral album to date. [Jun 2005, p.106]

This fifth album doesn't differ radically from the previous four.... Newcomers, however, should start with 2003's more cohesive Transatlanticism. [Oct 2005, p.115]

When he desists from inserting solos in the middle of otherwise palatable songs, his work can be engaging, even moving. [Oct 2005, p.115]

They've neglected to write anything catchy enough to score them a hit. [Apr 2006, p.118]

Practically every track on Late Registration is a glorious pop song. [Aug 2005, p.120]

While the bulk of Johnny Bramwell's songwriting attempts to match the gothic fairground swirl of their new sound, the best tracks... remain the most straightforward and acoustic. [May 2005, p.112]