If you can get over the voice--and it is not a lovely thing--Time Changes Everything at least has curiosity value. [Oct 2002, p.104]

A marvellous, surprising comeback from a forgotten talent. [Mar 2003, p.103]

The effect is spoiled by noodly, indifferent tracks such as We Meet At Last. [Aug 2002, p.128]

Adamson's not abandoned the scary swing tunes that made David Lynch a fan... merely added another gear. [Oct 2002, p.100]

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]

She's utterly beguiling, a fresh presence at last in singer-songwriter land. [Jun 2003, p.95]

White it can still sound like samples waiting to be made into songs, on It's Not Me and Six Pack they reveal a canny knack with almost Motown-esque pop hooks. [Oct 2002, p.107]

The sense of creative retreat is disappointing. [Jan 2003, p.118]

A few too many of these songs follow an all-too-familiar formula -- slow-burning introduction building to a crashing finale -- but on Still Tonight, Lately and last year's single Til The End, the bluster melts away to reveal Haven's passionately beating heart.

Mixes melancholy and might to a rare degree. [Sep 2002, p.104]

The quality often drops, making for an intermittently engaging album. [Nov 2002, p.100]

A collection of vastly moving songs that will render stadiums as intimate as bedrooms. U2, Radiohead... Coldplay? It would seem so. [Sep 2002, p.98]

The album has a polished sheen, but Leto's delivery of his earnest, sci-fi-tinged lyrics gets monotonous over the course of the album. [Dec 2002, p.96]

Features a few ropey grunge numbers. [Aug 2002, p.133]

[Mann has] returned to writing songs which are wry, funny, adult and perceptive, all wrapped up in handsome melodies. [Oct 2002, p.112]

There's something truly peculiar going on here, and worth pursuing. [Sep 2002, p.110]

Cocker's treasurable wit and the band's seventh album have taken a corporation bus ride out for strange, poetic interludes among the trees and the undergrowth.

There are exquisite moments here, mostly the simpler ones, but not as many as there should be. [Dec 2002, p.100]

Sometimes they're studenty when they think they're being menacing, but there's promise and ideas aplenty here. [Sep 2002, p.109]

Half of Zoomer suggests Beck being produced by Aphex Twin, but elsewhere his flimsy songwriting is drowned out by percussive clatter. [Nov 2002, p.106]

All baes covered, an international hit seems guaranteed. [Oct 2002, p.100]

The wait for the first great Frank Black solo album continues. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Dominated by common-or-garden blues workouts, with few of the startling dynamics that marked his former band's finest work. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Predictably claustrophobic listening.... When they come up for air, Interpol have the tunes to match all the mannered gloom. [Sep 2002, p.107]

A brisk, varied and entertaining little package. [Oct 2002, p.126]

A smart mixed bag. [Oct 2002, p.106]

Sometimes an attitude, a thumping beat and an A-plus scream like the one Carrie Brownstein provides here are really all that's needed. [Oct 2002, p.117]

An album of rich, subtle melodies, championship-level guitar playing and lyrical depth. [Sep 2002, p.115]

It's the songs which seal The Isness's fate. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Some interesting musical touches and flashes of intelligence remain, but muddy mixing and one-paced production make this an overlong bore. [Nov 2002, p.114]

Their former group's artful exuberance and awkward edges may have been sawn off to create a more grungy rasp, but there's still plenty of angst on show. [Oct 2002, p.117]

Son of Evil Reindeer has a fun, collaborative atmosphere which produces some truly unique moments. [June 2002, p.123]

These songs sound more like her collaborators' than hers. [Mar 2002, p.120]

Their sound speaks more of artifice than inspiration. [July 2002, p.112]

An exhausting, emotionally wracked affair. [Sep 2002, p.101]

Gene have found a soulful and reflective edge that's brought them close to matching the grace and guile promised by their debut, and best album, Olympian.

It's familiar, but immaculately done, and by far the most focused work this band has managed thus far. [Sep 2002, p.100]

As a cohesive armchair trance soundtrack, Airdrawndagger is a clear success. [Sep 2002, p.106]

Falls several steps short of its predecessor. [Aug 2002, p.130]

This is a sheer visceral delight. [May 2002, p.124]

Locates her coffee-cream vocals amid glossy settings ranging from hip hop to gurgling electronica and folk. [Nov 2002, p.105]

Tortoise-pace strumming and a crippling shortage of choruses produce only torpor. [Aug 2002, p.131]

A robust blend of anthemic choruses and electro-tinged riffing, it will appeal to fans of Depeche Mode and Metallica alike. [July 2002, p.112]

Certainly there are some weak tracks... but Long Long Way To Go and Unbelievable are expertly crafted pop-rock tunes. [Aug 2002, p.122]

Almost every track here pales in comparison to the original version. [Sep 2002, p.109]

In size and texture it's closer to 1980's The River than anything since. [Sep 2002, p.111]

A set of songs so cockle-warmingly familiar that you're left scanning the credits to see who did them the first time. [Oct 2002, p.118]

The songs are perfectly pitched, and even the less obviously suited numbers are approached with interpretive genius. [Sep 2002, p.101]

Corny soul pitfalls are navigated via satisfying hooks which erupt every time the four-part harmonies kick in. [Sep 2002, p.101]

Nashville at its most belligerently formulaic. [Nov 2002, p.105]

Not, perhaps, the best overview of their work, but bound to satisfy loyal fans. [Jan 2003, p.123]

Though this is a return to Matthews's more meandering ways, some lessons about conciseness have plainly been learned. [Nov 2002, p.108]

An astonishing reassertion of relevance for Plant. [July 2002, p.118]

The Australian quartet's debut album justifies the fuss that followed its title track's bubblegum approximation of Nirvana. [July 2002, p.121]

This is one of those exquisitely rare records on which maturity and vitality are equally matched. [Aug 2002, p.127]

[Morcheeba] return to what they do best. [July 2002, p.117]

Halos & Horns has Dolly reaching fever pitch with Hello God and, with Not For Me, singing as beautifully as she has ever done. [Aug 2002, p.131]

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

Adam Duritz has vocal warmth and his band create all sorts of lush soundscapes, not a million miles away from a less jazzy Steely Dan. [July 2002, p.112]

A fantastic record, full of wonder. [Aug. 2002, p.118]

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

Any good news – Liam’s decent fist of songwriting, the less oppressive sound, the professional playing – is rendered largely irrelevant by the gaping chasm where more decent songs should be.

Mature rather than groundbreaking. [May 2002, p.122]

After just six songs and 17 minutes, the future is sounding admirably open-ended. [Oct 2002, p.118]

An essay in coolly assured, sophisticated leftfield rock, occasionally laden with trademark discordance yet also full of scintillating tunes. [June 2002, p.123]

Nellyville doesn't really have any side streets unexplored by the previous Country Grammar, but it's all so good-natured it's hard to object. [Sep 2002, p.111]

This may not be their greatest album to date, but Universal Truths and Cycles is a charming record that shows the Pollard production line remains in good order. [July 2002, p.114]

The synthesised tropical shimmers, buzzings of insects and blat of helicopter blades largely lack the momentum to sustain interest outside the cinema. [Jul 2002, p.112]

It's hard to discern quite what Oakenfold himself brings to the party. [July 2002, p.117]

It's brimming with what he does well: competent, poppy-yet-street mixtures of rap, reggae, R&B and brazen cover versions. [July 2002, p.110]

LoveHateTragedy is a compendium of modern rock styles, glued together by Papa Roach's exuberance and Shaddix's outsized persona. [July 2002, p.119]

Those converted via the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack may find the starkness and religiosity here unpalatable. [Jan 2003, p.123]

Highly charged without being mawkish. [July 2002, p.115]

The riffs are cleaner and catchier than on previous records. [Aug 2002, p.126]

A return to form. Definitely. [June 2002, p.108]

Combining the brittle emotion of Bob Mould with Dave Grohl's understanding of rock dynamics, My Vitriol are robust enough for the moshpit while also providing the perfect soundtrack for those dark nights when the only company you need is a wine bottle.

Lavigne displays a musical guile way beyond her years. [Sep 2002, p.109]

Understated and slightly surreal, this could be dance music's answer to Pink Floyd. [Aug 2002, p.122]

It's a disjointed affair, but there's no denying the robust confidence with which they carry it off. [June 2002, p.111]

It's a deeply Manchester album: melodic yet substantial, uplifting and acceptable to football fan and student alike. [May 2002, p.109]

There's the humanist warmth and simple joy that you hear in The Beach Boys or The Flaming Lips at their best. [Nov 2002, p.114]

Low on booty-shaking but high on atmosphere. [June 2002, p.119]

The only problem is Slim Shady. As Eminem outgrows his old alter-id, so the obligatory pantomime villainy, skits and crass cameos by Shady Records signings become a hindrance. [July 2002, p.109]

An oddity for sure, but much too good to be restricted to specialist alt-rock record retailers. [July 2002, p.122]

By turns magical and maddening, it's with the house-tinged ambience of singles Breath and Love Can Damage Your Health that they excel.

Ferry has covered so much ground that it's hard not to repeat himself. [Apr 2002, p.112]

No matter how much frenetic energy is exuded, Title TK fails to ignite The Breeders' former fire. [May 2002, p.108]

A more coherent album [than Play], it enchances rather than advances his previous approach, proving superior to its predecessor because its music is more sensitive, its emotions more personal, and what's on offer is a closer, more inviting experience. [May 2002, p.105]

It'd be easy to throw the "emo" tag at them, but Matt Pryor's approach has more in common with the disarming honesty of Weezer's Rivers Cuomo than mere whinging. [Nov 2002, p.100]

Rush sound like they're slowly but audibly running out of puff. [July 2002, p.118]

Amid all the bitching and moaning are some of the finest songs of Weezer's career. [May 2002, p.118]

Finds Zevon reverting to a fuller, plumper, back-to-the-'80s sound. [July 2002, p.122]

That's not to say these 11 tracks lack merit, just impact, such highly-strung, right-angled songs as Right In Time frequently becoming bogged down in experimentation. [Jun 2003, p.96]

Its woozy title track, oddly sideways lyrics and often meditative vibe make it a strangely gorgeous and graceful work. [May 2002, p.114]

A powerful and almost gleeful celebration of the horrors of the world. [May 2002, p.114]

It's perverse, contrary and, on stand-out tracks No Home Without Its Sire and Just For Love, surprisingly engaging. [Aug 2002, p.120]

The thing about prog rock is that it is supposed to progress. [Mar 2002, p.122]

A vibe of maverick playfulness married to fabulous tunes. [Apr 2002, p.106]