His version of Hey Joe curls around your ears like smoke before you notice what it is. Alice In Chains' Got Me Wrong works because Mehldau doubles the rhythm section on piano, giving it a real kick up the backside and sounding not unlike the great Neil Crowley. [Nov 2012, p.101]

Paranoid, doomy synths temper the classicism of Christinzio's luxuriant Harry Nilsson songwriting. [Jun 2020, p.94]

The rest is a textbook example of a major African artist successfully reaching out toward Western ears without sacrificing integrity. [June 2009]

Its kitsch-free excellence confirms Hawley as a balladeer of the very highest order. [Mar 2003, p.109]

The album evokes not claustrophobia but space and freedom: an exhilarating screw-the-consequences leap into the bizarre. [May 2010, p.110]

A couple of other tracks veer too close to pastiche, but taken as a whole, this is a rich, brave, eloquent piece of work. [Sep 2019, p.108]

Superb. [Jun 2011, p.114]

It makes for a wonderfully warm way of celebrating life. [Aug 2003, p.102]

Moon Duo have eclipsed their previous best here. [Nov 2019, p.115]

Inventive Londoner plunders all corners of the dancefloor. [Aug. 2011, p. 123]

It's a magnificently gothic trip in which guitars grind pitilessly against hip hop beats, electronic circuitry throbs to breaking point and Iggy Pop cameos as a serial killer.

It is only after about the fifth listen that the true wonder of Some Cities slowly starts revealing itself. [Mar 2005, p.97]

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]

There's still an absence of real emotional heft, but it's hard not to be won over by Blossoms' relentless, effervescent cheeriness.

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

By its very nature, Father Of All... is slight compared to a sprawling magnum opus such as 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, but it's close to impossible to emerge from its rapid-fire near-half-hour without a smile on your face. [Mar 2020, p.112]

Gifted '60s casualty delivers first record in 14 years. [July 2010, p. 131]

Far from being a downer, these songs are frequently sublime. [Feb 2016, p.113]

Their self-titled debut crackles with youthful brio. [May 2018, p.111]

Elvis Perkins in Dearland is more than good enough. [May 2009, p.117]

Beauty that can slice down to bone: double-edged and deep. [Jul 2016, p.108]

The World Is Yours is the usual drill: fast, frenetic and very, very loud, with Lemmy belching his messages of defiance and rock'n'roll redemption like a raging, fire and brimstone preacher. Who would want it any other way? [Feb. 2011, p. 124]

This is heavy, yes, but it's never leaden. ... With The Universal Want - sad, wary, yet still alert to life's thwarted beauty - Doves are in the right place, the right time. [Sep 2020, p.106]

What makes BRMC extra special and what steers them well clear of parody drone-rock territory is their three-dimensional sound. [Jan 2002, p.103]

Another like this and people will struggle to remember she was ever in another band. [Dec 2002, p.98]

It's the 27-year-old's patience that dominate this sultry debut.[Sep 2012, p.113]

Funny, provocative and concise at 10 tracks, Bleed is the sound of a powerful and unique voice back on peak form. [Dec 2015, p.105]

Here Greenspan takes a more direct approach, showcasing his feel for melody and melancholy to brilliant effect. [Oct 2006, p.125]