The lyrics tend towards the banal and, at times, there is a palpable sense of awkwardness. [Dec 2004, p.134]

The results are mixed. [Oct 2004, p.121]

It's not an earth-shattering account of the last year, but maybe the most affecting in its ordinariness. [Jun 2004, p.102]

Returns to the epic beauty that characterised their early work. [Aug 2004, p.116]

Patchy... Little of his indignant bluster hits the mark. [Oct 2004, p.130]

Shows [Lanegan] to be more alive and more vital than ever. [Sep 2004, p.121]

It's a fine set, full of calm, thoughtful rhyming. [Nov 2004, p.125]

Were he only able to drop the naff drum machines, this would be a classier piece of classicism all round. [Sep 2004, p.117]

She recalls the emotionally raw folk of... Kristin Hersh. [Sep 2004, p.118]

With its soft lilts and cracked delivery, his rusty voice presses the same emotional buttons as Shane MacGowan and Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. [May 2004, p.98]

An album full of freshness and fun that's less sketchy than its predecessors. [Jul 2004, p.110]

[The songs are] bereft of the joy and pain that made her name. [Oct 2004, p.128]

Sweet, nostalgic and relishing the strength of words softly spoken. [Aug 2004, p.112]

A trash-conscious blend of craft and humour gives them the sass, style and balls to sound like no one else around. [Mar 2004, p.111]

It loses its way in the last quarter, but not before you're convinced there's a unique talent at work. [Aug 2004, p.115]

For all their winning ways they lack the songwriting dexterity of the truly great. [Sep 2004, p.119]

Loaded with delights... that highlight their soft, uniquely beautiful sound. [Sep 2004, p.135]

An intermittently potent album that feels unlikely to etch itself too deeply onto the world. [Aug 2004, p.104]

Half-written, overproduced songs collide with grandiose ideas, and the self-indulgence is astonishing as sounds and samples appear with little grace. [Aug 2004, p.116]

For the most part, he keeps it all on the ingenious side of ridiculous. [Aug 2004, p.121]

Despite the rollercoaster ride, there are intense moments of pop wonder and cartoon hilarity. [Sep 2004, p.120]

Together We're Heavy's transcendent qualities grow as it flows onward, and the sheer musical ambition of the Spree's pet sound finally, really defies cynicism. [Aug 2004, p.116]

It's originality that's lacking. [Jun 2004, p.105]

Nothing on this album surprises or pushes the urban envelope. [Sep 2004, p.116]

Alas, for all its genuine charm and the way the two Johns genre-hop without leaving footprints, The Spine lacks the spark of true greatness. [Aug 2004, p.119]

A textbook case of college rock, performed very well. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Hardcore fans will probably be disappointed with the amount of rhythmic experimentation which, the messy breaks of Boom aside, is pretty much lacking. [Aug 2004, p.113]

For the most part, this band still sounds grounded by an emo rulebook long since torn up. [Sep 2004, p.123]

Sounds derivative and over-produced. [Sep 2004, p.123]

Stunningly impressive... It's something that demands to exist beyond iPods, something that should be bought rather than downloaded, and played from start to finish. [Aug 2004, p.108]

This is The Cure sounding a lot like The Cure. Never a bad thing, just a familiar one. [Aug 2004, p.107]

Heath's high-octane hoedown riffs achieve the expected levels of raucousness. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Sees him progressing further towards becoming a punked-up Bruce Springsteen. Trouble is, someone's got there already--his best mate, Ryan Adams. [Jul 2004, p.118]

Fine for a happy hour of poppy abstraction, but you may find it tough remembering much of it afterwards. [Jul 2004, p.113]

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

Even more meandering than its celebrated, if somewhat cold, predecessor. It's also more confident, more coherent, yielding an all-enveloping warmth that's entirely resistant to any iPod shuffle function. [Jul 2004, p.119]

It's wallpaper you'll be glad you bothered to hang. [Aug 2004, p.106]

A winsome, musically surprising outing. [Jul 2004, p.114]

As always, fans will adore, everyone else will ignore. [Sep 2004, p.123]

It's [an album] whose tricks... we've heard done before. [Aug 2004, p.115]

He has rediscovered the knack of making Beach Boys records again. And make no mistake, in sound if not personnel, this is a Beach Boys record. [Aug 2004, p.119]

The Beastie Boys have always been at their best when gleefully rhyming and stealing from a variety of sources--both musically and lyrically--and the self-imposed adherence to hip hop traditionalism here, and indeed musically on the album as a whole, rather subdues their famously free-form sonic palette. [Jul 2004, p.108]

Like a quieter, more thoughtful Sheryl Crow, Scialfa is a daughter of the city and her charms reveal themselves slowly. [Jul 2004, p.122]

A welcome return to form. [Jan 2004, p.114]

Fulfill[s] glam's promise of tasty geezers in make-up playing shrill, sleazy punk sounds. [Jul 2004, p.121]

Things go awry in places... but somewhere in a parallel universe Molly Ringwald is running down a high school corridor to the sound of The Killers. [Jul 2004, p.116]

It doesn't all work, but there are euphoric peaks... that rival the far-out grooves of David Axelrod and The Flaming Lips. [Aug 2004, p.106]

Finds them revelling in bursts of noise and awkwardness, but more surprisingly perhaps, taking as much comfort in sweet melody. [Jul 2004, p.124]

It's the way Margo Timmins' distinctive, kohl-eyed delivery melts into Notes Falling Slow's funereal throb that remains the band's USP. [Jul 2004, p.113]

Amidst all this, the trio's scratching feels peripheral, and when it does take centre stage, is underwhelming. [Jul 2004, p.127]

You might not easily hum its tunes, but you can often salute its good taste. [Oct 2004, p.121]

A very impressive debut. [May 2005, p.117]

He's never that far from plunging towards obviousness. [Jun 2004, p.108]

A thrill from first to last. [Aug 2004, p.106]

A refreshing, bracing detour. [Jul 2004, p.121]

When Harvey stretches herself things really become interesting. [Jun 2004, p.100]

Mostly, though, it's the well-trodden formula of soggy lyrics and wan, rather aimless melodies the main purpose of which seems to be not to offend. [Jul 2004, p.113]

Wilfully artful and obtuse. [Aug 2004, p.107]

An inventive album whose impact is lessened by Guthrie's illustrious past. [Jun 2004, p.107]

Astonishingly good. [Jul 2004, p.127]

Music that makes you 10 percent sleazier than you were--now where's that dancefloor? [Jul 2004, p.110]

Takes the first steps towards some sonic nirvana.... But overall, it's still not quite the record you know they could make. [Jul 2004, p.116]

It's disappointing this... sounds more like the work of bright, bored A-level students than British dance royalty. [Jul 2004, p.124]

It's a long time since anyone left their club past behind with this much panache. [Jun 2004, p.103]

A revelation. [Apr 2004, p.107]

It's ultimately too well-mannered and surprise-free. [Jun 2004, p.97]

An altogether more satisfying supply of air punching, stadium sized choruses. [Jun 2004, p.103]

A triumph. [Jul 2004, p.124]

As a collection of songs, this is hugely impressive. As a debut album, its confidence is right up there with Definitely Maybe. [May 2004, p.96]

Although this is certainly flawed, the Cardigans deserve kudos for recognising their faults, trying with all their might to rectify them. [Apr 2003, p.103]

Crass, brash, open freeway excess at its best. If only he didn't spend half the album apologising for them. [Jul 2004, p.118]

[They] have shifted further toward airy accessibility. [Jun 2004, p.107]

It's the laziest of comparisons, but their harmonies--and they do it expertly live, so fear not--do have the ring of The Beach Boys. [May 2003, p.99]

[They] continue precisely where they left off on 2002's Static Delusions..., bashing their way through 11 indistinguishable songs without recourse to wit, style or tune. [Jul 2004, p.112]

Her attempts to swagger on songs like Dirty Dog will fool nobody. [Aug 2004, p.112]

It's too wordy by half, but underneath the psychobabble lies the most solid collection of AOR you're likely to encounter this year. [Jun 2004, p.105]

Mclusky are unique and getting better. [Jul 2004, p.118]

Teeters between over-studied perfection and heavenly pop glory. [May 2004, p.101]

Terrifying, but in a good way. The bar is raised. [Jun 2004, p.105]

Perfectly pleasant, but with none of the edge that might mark them as another Arcade Fire. [Oct 2005, p.117]

Like a technology-phobic Beck, Desser tells his off-kilter tales with a wry eye. [Sep 2004, p.119]

Kanye West's debut aside, it's the essential hip hop album of the year so far. [Jun 2004, p.102]

It is by turns funny, dark, ridiculous, exhilarating and -- most strikingly of all -- relentlessly personal. [Apr 2004, p.104]

A spiralling blend of infectious psychedelic pop that froths and fuzzes for a noisy hour. [Jul 2004, p.122]

Unusually direct. [Jun 2004, p.98]

In Our Trip and Remember Today, the trio manage to strike the right balance between amp-popping fury and pop finesse--unfortunately everywhere else, they don't. [Jul 2004, p.124]

Once you've bequeathed them your synapses, the rewards are great. [Aug 2004, p.116]

The best album of 2004 so far, and by some distance. [Jun 2004, p.92]

Those looking for the kind of soaring poetry that defined The Smiths will surely be depressed by lyrics that are often boringly solipsistic and prosaically worded. [Jun 2004, p.106]

There's such a huge feelgood swagger it's impossible not to be swept along in its wake. [Jun 2004, p.96]

Post-industrial punk with little to smile about. [Aug 2004, p.110]

A proper treat for aficionados of the laugh-out-loud lyric. [May 2004, p.106]

It's all linked by a sense of dignity, wisely chosen collaborators and David Hidalgo's voice. [Aug 2004, p.115]

Geographically, one would here have to imagine a borough between The Stills and The Walkmen. [Nov 2004, p.120]

Someone still plays the Devil's music. [Jun 2004, p.98]

Sounds like a recently awakened Aphex Twin in warm snooze mode. [Oct 2004, p.133]

Even more mesmeric and deep into Nick Drake territory: intense and slightly damaged. [Jun 2004, p.94]

This shows they've lost little of their sonic clout. [Jun 2004, p.103]