Despite the presence of original Patti Smith Group members Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty, this lacks the buzz of her past material.

Five years ago she collaborated with Brian Eno and U2 producer Daniel Lanois on the ambient Wrecking Ball. Now she returns with a less intense but no less powerful new record that continues that album's heavy/ethereal vibe, courtesy of producer (and Wrecking Ball engineer) Malcolm Burn, but with a more melodic touch.

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

Solid rather than spectacular. [June 2002, p.110]

There's no doubt that his fingers still know their way around the fretboard.

Folie A Deux is mostly a barrelling, hugely confident record that should see Fall Out Boy swiftly elevated into mainstream rock's premier league. [Jan 2009, p.112]

Pieced together over a two-year period, the results are often stunning. [Oct 2010, p.104]

It's not an instant listen, but there's wisdom and loveliness to spare. [Jul 2014, p.110]

For all the craft she shows, for all her ability to move and for all the promise of the zinging, Indian-inflected Growing Pains, Birdy is undone by an unwillingness to change her musical pace. [Jun 2016, p.110]

For all the many diverting moments, the lack of judicious editing leaves the album spending too much time going round in circles. [Apr 2020, p.114]

Their 11 post-punk/hip-hop songs are brittle, but catchy and fun. [Sep 2006, p.107]

The least adventurous and most disappointing Coral album to date. [Jun 2005, p.106]

These unforeseen electro-moves should rightly bag fresh converts. [Mar 2016, p.113]

Cults' combination of mid-'60s girl-group and cusp-of-the-'90s shoegazing is still bewitching but takes a more stripped-down form here, and packs more of a thwack. [Jan 2014, p.120]

Citay's fourth album hasn't moved far from the excessive Black Sabbath/led Zeppelin grind of their self-titled 2006 debut. Dream Get Together does, however, show more finesse. [Mar 2010, p.98]

The Information... is hamstrung by the sensation that, though Beck likes rapping, he has little to say beyond smart-alec one-liners. [Nov 2006, p.138]

With no track under six minutes in length, some editing wouldn't have gone amiss. [Jan 2013, p.107]

They need to do this again. [Mar 2017, p.112]

Guitar pop at its most ecstatic. [Apr 2006, p.113]

The overall impression is one of a garbled sonic soup. [Oct 2013, p.110]

There's breezy charm to much of the music here. [Feb 2015, p.117]

It's aged remarkably well and All My Love is breathtakingly beautiful. [Sep 2015, p.121]

A listening experience that's frequently compelling, but rarely comforting. [May 2017, p.103]

Beneath the distractingly high-pitched, multi-tracked vocals and tastefully tribal drama, there's nothing more threatening than a synthesized Florence + The Machine. [Jul 2012, p.107]

There are one too many nondescript instrumentals. [Aug 2008, p.139]

The way they shift from the blues-y swagger of Let The Record Play to the percussive march of Pendulum and the R.E.M.-evoking country twang of Yellow Moon is a sure sign that they belong in the lineage of great American rock bands. [Nov 2013, p.108]

Much here amounts to solid AOR, by turns over-polished and underwhelming. [Oct 2017, p.103]

Brand New Eyes sounds like an energised romp through the diary of a small-town American gal--albeit one struggling to reconcile Christian views with the celebrity afforded by more than two million album sales. [Nov 2009, p.111]