The results are accomplished, but the yearning twang of the porch is never far away. [Jan 2005, p.127]

With their 11th studio album, they've succeeded in not becoming crap quite admirably. [Dec 2004, p.126]

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

As the set progresses, the trademark Nirvana sound begins to take shape. [Dec 2004, p.152]

It's disappointing to find a glut of songs seemingly calibrated to appease the demographics. [Jan 2005, p.126]

Want Two isn't an immediate album, but what it lacks in pop hooks in makes up for in ambition. [Mar 2005, p.92]

So, does it match expectations? No. [Jan 2005, p.122]

Peachtree Road is home to three songs that can sit alongside his best work.... [but] there are too many saccharine ballads. [Dec 2004, p.128]

As a daring experiment which flies in the face of the derivative tendencies evident in the modern music industry, it succeeds. [Dec 2004, p.140]

What once sounded thrilling and new now merely sounds tired and repetitive. [Nov 2004, p.127]

Genuinely anarchic and surprising. [Dec 2004, p.148]

But for all the acerbic intelligence at play, the pretentious delivery makes this self-satisfied project hard to embrace. [Dec 2004, p.134]

A massively inventive debut. [Feb 2005, p.104]

Miserable and insipid. [Dec 2004, p.130]

A straightforward, warm-sounding album. [Dec 2004, p.138]

Smart and occasionally even danceable, if not quite as cool as they think. [May 2005, p.111]

Both [discs] are full of surprises. [Oct 2004, p.115]

Wareham is in fine, sardonic form throughout. [Nov 2004, p.130]

An exuberant debut. [Aug 2004, p.110]

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]

While it's hard to feel moved, it's impossible not to admire the craftsmanship. [Mar 2005, p.101]

These songs display such moustache-twirling camp that they exert a lively pull despite the undead atmospherics. [Dec 2004, p.136]

Without enough killer hooks Leo seems unlikely to claw his way much beyond cult attraction. [Mar 2005, p.100]

Ultimately, Futures is Bleed American Part Two. [Nov 2004, p.118]

This is the best yet from Kathleen Hanna's trio. [Nov 2004, p.130]

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]

The Music generate their songs like a smoke machine--vaguely atmospheric but ultimately lacking in substance. [Oct 2004, p.124]

This is largely intense, liberated stuff. [Nov 2004, p.111]

McCabe details a stoner's humdrum city life a touch too convincingly at times, but the spirit of musical adventure is nonetheless commendable. [May 2004, p.111]

When they strain for sexy modernity... it's as appealing as Mr. Burns writhing round in satin sheets. [Nov 2004, p.119]

It might be wearing, were it not for the fact that his voice... is a thing of considerable power. [Aug 2005, p.122]

Punk funk can be a prickly thing, but they never overdo the art-rocking, always placing the emphasis on melody. [Feb 2005, p.101]

Gibb's style is frustratingly monotonic. [Sep 2004, p.119]

If anything, [Disc 2] is the real rip-off, as unsuspecting buyers will be shellshocked by these FX-laden, space-ambient settings. [Dec 2004, p.135]

Strong and melodic, atmospheric and creative... a powerful work. [Oct 2004, p.120]

A disappointment. [Nov 2004, p.124]

There's too much instrumental cleverness to get to grips with the theme. [Nov 2004, p.118]

Too melodic for metal fans and too heavy for the pop-punk kids who made them famous. [Nov 2004, p.127]

Can be summed up succinctly: Damon Albarn sings The Smiths. [Nov 2004, p.130]

If iPods came with a button that randomly spliced tracks together it would sound like this. [Dec 2004, p.137]

Packed with intriguing melodies. [Mar 2005, p.99]

The result is somewhere between a Badly Drawn Boy and a strung-out Paul McCartney. [Dec 2004, p.135]

Essentially, Fatboy Slim is doing little more than repeating his past, but the quality here doesn't suffer for that. [Nov 2004, p.120]

Relentlessly, frustratingly slow. [Nov 2004, p.108]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Mono, but bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions In The Sky do it better. [Aug 2004, p.116]

A disappointing barrage of lethargic metal. [Dec 2004, p.137]

Some of the most awkward, unapproachable music he's made. [Nov 2004, p.128]

Great non-rap spoken-word albums comprise a list shorter than Wiiliam Shatner's critically acclaimed film roles. Yet [Shatner and Folds] have got closer here than most. [Dec 2004, p.144]

A tricky, pretentious balancing act that's mostly charismatic and only occasionally hard work. [Jul 2004, p.116]

It's nothing if not ambitious... [but] they simply don't have the depth, or the authority, to pull it off. [Dec 2004, p.143]

Exists in the blurry middle ground that separates provocative experimental art from utter nonsense. [Nov 2004, p.130]

For the most part, it's standard shouty punk designed to appeal to white male American virgins... Yet, they surprise. [Dec 2004, p.147]

There are rather too many old-fashioned slow songs here, and as a result, the album is predictable. [Oct 2004, p.114]

The link between '50s rock and the modern world. [Oct 2004, p.121]

At times, the sugary vocals do become a little sickly; mostly, though, Universal Audio is a mastercalss in harmonious guitar pop. [Oct 2004, p.122]

The feel is of youngish bucks cruelly taunting their 64-year-old granny. [Nov 2004, p.127]

Stylish nightlife pop. [Dec 2004, p.148]

Antics is ridiculously good. [Oct 2004, p.112]

A wry and considered thing. [Oct 2004, p.128]

The real revelation of this new Smile is its melodic depth, even if lyricist Van Dyke Parks's oblique ruminations seem unnecessarily flowery. [Nov 2004, p.114]

He remains, ultimately, doom-laden. [Nov 2004, p.125]

It's '80s synth-pop in spirit rather than form, miles away from the make-up clad silliness of electroclash and much more interested in muching about with present day technology than simply recreating the past. [Jun 2004, p.98]

The actual effect... is closer to a whinier Duran Duran, with even their slapped bass-driven grooves hobbled by the paper-thin production. [Apr 2005, p.124]

Like Talib Kweli... she mixes precise diction with writing that's high on observation and metaphysical promise. [Dec 2004, p.137]

They seemingly can't help breaking electroclash's abiding principle, that of sounding like you're an utterly ghastly person. [Oct 2004, p.121]

There's still heart and soul in that funny old voice. [Nov 2004, p.118]

A powerful work, noble in both intent and execution. [Nov 2004, p.110]

With genre-hopping abandon he enlists Spanish guitars, jazz bass, reggae horns, rock drums and disco synths, relentlessly asserting that commercial viability and imagination don't have to be mutually exclusive. [May 2005, p.112]

What burns from the music is The Clash's defining characteristic: the fact that they were insatiable omnivores. [Oct 2004, p.136]

Not everyone will want to follow Banhart's cosmic meanderings, but those who take the plunge will find much to feed their head. [Oct 2004, p.133]

Halfway through... it becomes a directionless mess. [Jul 2004, p.113]

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

Though head-spinning, this collision of ideas retains some cohesion thanks to Gelb's sun-scorched songwriting that sees his acoustic alt-country efforts, in particular, shine. [Oct 2004, p.123]

It sounds exactly the same as the first record... Another solid, unremarkable effort. [Oct 2004, p.116]

After all these years, is that it? [Sep 2004, p.110]

His falsetto voice, cutesy pitched-up female backing vocals and playground chant hooks are the stuff of kiddy pop. [Oct 2004, p.123]

Seems to focus more on Dizzee's virtuosity as a producer than a rapper, and teems with exotic noises, odd rhythmic loops and unexpected shifts in mood. [Sep 2004, p.112]

An instantly loveable collection of sky-punching, new wave pop glory. [May 2005, p.117]

What is surprising is how lacklustre an affair it turns out to be. [Oct 2004, p.128]

It's so out of step with most indie rock it's as if it's been beamed from outer space. [Apr 2005, p.126]

They still sound best when playing fast and loud and are only hampered by the album's terrible title and some bizarre lyrics. [Oct 2004, p.123]

It's all terrifically boring, naturally, but her voice is exquisite. [Nov 2004, p.117]

They've lost the spark. [Sep 2004, p.122]

Often seems willfully inscrutable. [Sep 2004, p.120]

Deep voiced, disquieting and bristling with intelligence, Hobo Sapiens is a reminder of how intoxicating an artist Cale can be. [Nov 2003, p.107]

Innovation isn't on the agenda, but thanks to some stomping tunes and Auerbach's oak-smoked vocals, it's another rock-solid enterprise. [Sep 2004, p.119]

Shows he still has few peers when whipping up a likeable mix of energy, melody and glistening harmonies. [May 2005, p.117]

The threesome do manage to build up a decent head of steam on the motorik Just To Play, but Olivier's bored tones guarantee the feeling is fleeting. [Mar 2005, p.104]

There's nothing wrong with this record... Yet it's only on Feel The Beat, in which he lets his ego off the leash, that LL gets into gear. [Oct 2004, p.128]

This record... is brimming with character, easily surpassing their debut, its energy level like a battery charge. [Sep 2004, p.108]

Her voice is versatile, the beats delicioiusly languid, but it's the songwriting that shines. [Oct 2004, p.129]

The few electronic beats and textures are deft, discreet soundbeds for the lush intimacies of the vocals, which slip from soothing to strident. [Oct 2004, p.120]

There's not much to tie it to the present day, but when the template is this well tuned that's no great problem. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Finds GBV playing to their long-standing strengths. [Oct 2004, p.124]

[Clinic] has misplaced the groove and settled for a rut. [Sep 2004, p.117]

Rendered with all the warmth of a fax machine. [Sep 2004, p.117]

Dulli sounds like he's performing at a Sunday pub gig. [Oct 2004, p.130]

Neil Finn's gift for driving songs remains as strong as ever. [Sep 2004, p.118]