Wolfmother 2.0 are as retro as before, at least there's a refreshing variety to the bludgeoning. [Nov 2009, p.115]

Speed Of Darkness dishes up more of the same. [July 2011, p. 120]

Too often, though, his eagerness to please sees him tumbling down to earth. [Oct 2012, p.93]

On Word Of Mouth he's finally built a viable path between those old and new worlds. [Mar 2014, p.115]

Best Of Times lacks the spark of the melodically blessed and, even though there are regular nods to Krautrock, there's a cloying wimpishness that too often derails them. [Apr 2014, p.115]

Powerful, atmospheric, but not for the fainthearted. [April 2012, p.94]

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').

Regrettably, Williams fourth album continues her "progression" from convincing acoustic confessional to mild, gutless rocking with sessioneers who lack inspiration. [Nov 2001, p.130]

Many tracks are meaningless in isolation.[#184, p.146]

Plain Rap lacks the talents of Fatlip and Slimkid and it shows. The smart, polished Pharcyde backings - rich in jazz and rare groove - are still in evidence, but it's easy to miss the gawky verbals of all four rappers.

Nothing here is revolutionary, although the quality of workmanship is undeniable. [July 2002, p.112]

At their worst The Stratford 4... are as far out as a Chapterhouse B-side. When they hit their freaked-out stride, however... they shake off the enervation and kick up some genuine rock'n'rool aggro. [Oct 2003, p.114]

In fact Gahan, whose ill health hampered the making of Ultra, has rarely sound more potent. This time it's Martin Gore who's out of puff. No amount of fashionable tweaking can hide the flimsiness of his offerings...

They've never sounded this heavy or this pissed off. [Jul 2003, p.106]

Their most overblown record since 1989's Gold Mother. [Aug 2001, p.130]

Though a certain battle weariness has set in, many songs lacking The Wedding Present's trademark guitar bluster of old, Gedge remains wry, dry and wholeheartedly likeable. [July 2008, p.111]

If Kylie's musical ambitions extend further than play-safe good times of X, she's keeping them, like everything else, to herself. [Dec 2007, p.108]

Naturally, they can't resist chopping and changing course at the drop of a hat, but the melodic sheen clearly serves notice of more mainstream intent. [Oct 2010, p.120]

Beady Eye's Different Gear, Still Speeding was always going to be one of the most important records Liam Gallagher would ever make. The gobsmacking reality is that it's also among the best. [March 2011, p. 102]

It could all seem like an indulgence, an intimate late-night emotional overspill best kept at home, like crying in front of a mirror. It's testament to O's skills as both songwriter and performer that out in the open, Crush Songs still seems like an attractive prospect. [Oct 2014, p.102]

It might be largely business as usual, then, but for all that A Place To Bury Strangers remain strangely comforting presence in an otherwise turbulent world. [Mar 2015, p.103]

It's a salient reminder of the wafer-thin line between art and pretentious bollocks. [May 2004, p.108]

They don't sustain the quality of songwriting throughout, but this is a promising start.

This friskier, fresher take on Evelyn's previous fare is especially well judged bearing in mind that the last thing the world needs is another chill-out album. [Sep 2002, p.111]

When it works, it's exhilarating, but elsewhere the poor lamb sounds a touch jaded. [Feb 2003, p.96]

An intriguing listen...

This debut has enough catchy cheap thrils. [Dec 2007, p.124]

It looks like The Rapture--now a trio following the departure of bassist Matt Safer--have regained their despite to flaunt their slightly awkward moves. [Sep 2011, p.102]

Breezy sort of fun to be had. [Jan 2012, p.126]

It's Hield's increased confidence as a singer that is most striking. [Jul 2012, p.102]

It sets Vast Of Cheers up as just another cookie cutter indie band. [Jul 2012, p.96]

Though Candela never fully eludes to Pierce's studied background, the foundations are strong enough for him to go wild with the decorations. [May 2013, p.106]

By the end, they're almost sounding like their own band, rather than a Thin Lizzy tribute act. [Jul 2013, p.100]

While the track titles may be minimal, his music teems with beguiling sonic quirks. [Jan 2014, p.125]

These tales of iron-age blacksmiths, 17th-century highwaymen and modern-day ecological disaster are brilliantly told, long on smart wordplay, but light on tunes. [Jun 2014, p.103]

His first LP of original material since 2002's October Road slips into earshot with the gentle country lilt of Today, Today, Today and rarely breaks a sweat from here on in. [Aug 2015, p.113]

Too often, however, these songs underwhelm. the likes of Sand and Boyfriend confusing unengaging plodding earnestness for emotional heft. [Jun 2018, p.113]

Hard Candy is the sound of pop's ultimate superbrand consolidating her success. [June 2008, p.134]

Konk is the perfect example of the modern indie record: bright, breezy, demanding no great investment from its listeners but enjoyable to jump around to. [May 2008, p.128]

If From The Hills doesn't quite have the swing and swagger of 2012's self-titled EP, it shouldn't be hard to recapture that promise next time around. [Jul 2013, p.105]

Occasionally, things lift out of the bluster--unfortunately, in the case of Preacher, a terrible lyric--but even the Everybody Wants To Rule The World guitar on Life in Color or the relatively stately synth-pop of Something's Gotta Give can't make Native Anything but a great gas giant of a record. [Jun 2013, p.103]

Too much of the material is lightweight, ultimately making this an exercised in what might have been. [Oct 2012, p.101]

Some workmanlike settings, but when the vocals spar and catch the tune just right, it all soars with a gospel-like wonder. [Aug 2017, p.100]

Their most focused album to date. [Apr 2006, p.118]

Nothing if not consistent, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel's sixth studio album sounds effortlessly Air-like. [Nov 2009, p.110]

Relaxer is a special album. [Aug 2017, p.101]

[Her] penchant for pretension remains irksome: the dot in her name, the cringey album title, the worthy lyrics and constant namechecking of soul greats. [December 2002, p.96]

Yet while the sound of these songs is often great, the bad news is that most of the songs themselves leave little lasting impression.

Lou Reed guests and she's brave enough to wrestle with both Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan's unsettling The Stations, while her four lugubrious originals show the drugs didn't turn her brain to much. [Apr 2011, p.101]

The slower numbers, built around pneumatic electro basslines and memories of Giorgio Moroder soundtracks, aren't as slick, though 58BPM's is a stylish, slow-motion homage to the neon-lit world of '80s synth-pop. [Apr 2014, p.120]

His reluctance to engage, ego issues and occasional sexism speak of a vanity as large as any of the major-label players he opposes. [Nov 2004, p.117]

It's more accessible than more tripped-out previous releases. [Dec 2012, p.110]

While there may not be anything startingly new here, there is a definite sense of ease with Murphy's past. [Aug. 2011, p. 123]

An admirably muscular and direct effort. [Jan 2007, p.145]

Sunny melodies abound, even if the results are more pleasant than thrilling. [Aug 2008, p.139]

When the volume dips and Smith takes centre stage, United We Stand suddenly comes alive. [Jul 2012, p.95]

Sara Lucas's strident vocals are often incomprehensible, rarely alighting on a tune for long enough to become memorable. [Feb 2013, p.102]

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

Too much feels half-baked. While the songs aren't without charm, they're torpedoed by Doherty's distracted, sloppy performance. [Jul 2019, p.109]

As with the other great British debut of 2004 so far, by Franz Ferdinand, Up All Night ripples with cocksure sangfroid and a barely contained sexual fever. [Jul 2004, p.111]

Wildly collaborative, pan-globalistically luvvy-duvvy and heaps of fun, it just about hangs together as her best outing since 2007's Kala. [Oct 2016, p.102]

The result is that a few songs in you find yourself rather craving a bit of imperfection, something scruffy and incorrigible to disrupt all this generic rhythm and gusto. [Mar 2016, p.116]

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

9 may be quiet, but it is never easy listening. [Dec 2006, p.125]

This is a luxurious but ultimately hollow Faberge egg of a record. [Feb 2014, p.121]

But even knowing that [it's inspired by a Sam Shepard play], it's impossible to tell what's going on. [June 2008, p.149]

In short: challenging stuff. [Dec 2016, p.113]

This band aren't about confrontation, and to those attuned, this is exactly their strength. [Jun 2013, p.109]

Many of the collaborations are jarring. [Jul 2006, p.115]

This new-found worldliness comes in tandem with a noticeable musical maturity. [Apr 2007, p.118]

Melodic without being vibrant or actually that pretty, these are songs that seem to sink into themselves. [Nov 2003, p.123]

Loewenstein's debut is pretty impressive. [Aug 2002, p.128]

The attention does wander over two CDs... but vigorous renditions of Bring It On and Get Myself Arrested are reminders that Gomez's psych-blues revivalism really was quite special. [Aug 2005, p.128]

Sounds like the work of a man touting for soundtracks. [May 2006, p.131]

What sounds antagonistic in premise actually proves to be a brilliant odyssey through the eclectic backwaters of Keely's imagination. [Feb 2016, p.112]

Nicholls has regained his muse in spectacular style. [May 2006, p.129]

By throwing everything at the wall and nailing up the stuff that didn't stick, he's done himself--and more importantly what he clearly views as his masterpiece--a grand disservice. [Jan 2009, p.110]

Sadly most of these forgettable songs tend to evaporate on impact. [Apr 2012, p.101]

It sounds lovely. And yet it is also crying out for Fraser's otherworldly quaver to give it a much-needed extra dimension. [Jul 2006, p.114]

Another smart and limber record. An astute choice of collaborators plays its part. [Oct 2010, p.116]

While it's not exactly beach music, his ear for uplifting harmonies as on So Lucky's lens-flared sonic rapture and Hand Over Hand's ecstatic evocation of bucolic landscapes, means the songs never fail to glow. [Aug 2012, p.95]

Stockholm contains 11 good-to-excellent songs, hooks and pleasure aplenty, but still, alas, short of a masterpiece. [Jul 2014, p.101]

It's all perfectly competent, but rather generic. [Jun 2006, p.119]

It's a vibrant affair. [Nov 2007, p.138]

Breezy, fitfully arch--if ultimately untaxing--indie rock is the order of service here, while the odd dappling of analogue synths does little to suggest it was recorded this side of the millennium. [Apr 2019, p.116]

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]

For the most part, it works. [Nov 2012, p.108]

The submarine disco of Currents suggests people subject to forces they cannot control, while Lost Boys triggers a very '80s-style melancholia. [Oct 2016, p.110]

There are echoes of Bibio's pastoral folktronica woven throughout. [Sep 2017, p.110]

This slow-moving record is full of secrets yet reveals barely anything at all. [Summer 2018, p.116]

Some veteran rock stars write a memoir in order to make sense of their origins; Bono has chosen to sing one. From this autobiographical precision all the album's strengths flow. [Nov 2014, p.100]

Blunt, focused and inventive, it's as near to classic metal as Trivium have been. [Sep 2011, p.110]

This ends up as a thrilling victory of an album because at its heart it has the same great swirling mass of melancholic energy that drove their debut. [Nov 2012, p.88]

Mark appears disarmingly buoyant, his lyrics so humdrum that it's hard to take his pain entirely seriously. [Apr 2007, p.120]

Even utterly dedicated Albarn fans will be hard-pushed to force themselves to play it more than once. [Jun 2012, p.107]

With a running time of barely half-an-hour, it seems likely to remain a minor footnote to Drozd and Coyne's already extensive back catalogue. [Sep 2014, p.106]

This exquisitely downbeat album of droll heartbreak songs once again confirms that there is a certain knack to creating uplifting musical misery, and spectacularly-named frontman Eeef Barzelay has that knack in spades. [Jun 2009, p.119]

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