For the most part, Beyond Good & Evil roots itself between Metallica, nu-metal and the slightly psychedelic ambience of '85's Love: the band's pre-metal apex. [Aug 2001, p.124]

McLamb's vocals still sometimes fall the wrong side of the impassioned/histrionic divide, but this is a far more coherent album than its predecessor. [Sep 2013, p.104]

Unbearably stark. [Nov 2006, p.136]

While album two adds flavours from the Mediterranean and Iran, the fundamental intent is the same with less-is-more funk beats and bass providing an opiated shagpile foundation for Mark Speer's light-touch guitar lines. [Apr 2018, p.111]

A bit of a gimmick maybe, but one that pays off, with Mellencamp relishing his role as grizzled troubadour steeped in the rootsy traditions of America's rural South. [Oct 2010, p.111]

When they hit their still groovy '50s psychedelic rock stride on 'Second Sight' or the bonkers hippy wig-out 'Song of Love/Narayana,' the truth is that Kalu Shaker still aren't so awful after all. [Sept 2007, p.92]

When they stop bing so smart, Join With Us becomes more rewarding. [Mar 2008, p.106]

Rudolf's sound is his own on an album full of scarf-waving choruses, insistent hooks and surprisingly reflective lyrics. [Mar 2009, p.104]

No album with a nursery rhyme like Bongo Bill takes itself seriously, but even when he tackles the titular Persephone having her eternal hippy idealism rudely punctured, there's still a kindly smile on Tilbrook's lips. [Feb 2014, p.121]

Seemingly compiled by the toss of a coin, Can't forget is a hotch-potch of old staples, two new songs and two covers. [Jun 2015, p.102]

Continues in the same vein as its predecessor, matching Lynne's soulful vocals with an array of catchy tunes. [#184, p.140]

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]

At its best it's a combination that offers a kind of Lynchian allure. ... Elsewhere, thought, it can all seem a little passive, a chill-out zone somewhere along Route 66. [Sep 2018, p.118]

Ultimately, floating voters will lament the lack of a flat-out glam and/or electro-disco belter to rival their hits. [Oct 2017, p.111]

Coda mopped up odds and sods and two new discs include Page and Plant's 1972 recordings with the Bombay Orchestra. [Sep 2015, p.121]

West Coast eccentrics' second ambitious offering. [Sept. 2011, p. 104]

If there's a weakness it's the lack of an obvious pop banger. [Dec 2017, p.113]

Wed 21 is a great place to enter Molina's world, but doesn't tell fans anything they don't already know. [Dec 2013, p.110]

As a coherent album it's flawed, then, but with more consistent songwriting one senses they could be contenders next time around. [Apr 2016, p.107]

Enthusiasts for dooomy extremes will find much to love here. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Symphonica feels supper-club safe. [Apr 2014, 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]

At Glastonbury she dazzled; here she plays it safe. [Sept. 2011, p. 105]

Though frontman Tom Dougall's subdued vocals prove a little one-note over an album, the ground's certainly safer than it was three-fifth of Toy's old band. [Oct 2012, p.112]

While the icy Joy Division guitar chords and singer Davide Jones's faux-cockney delivery never sound entirely natural, their energy is compulsive. [Jul 2005, p.113]

When they ease off the gas, such as on the relatively forgettable High and Afterglow, they can err towards pedestrian emo, but there's enough toughness here to see them comfortably over the line. [Apr 2018, p.108]

This is no dour social critique. In fact, his seventh album finds him energised following a period as a soundtrack hack in Los Angeles. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Nine albums later the sextet's mix of American pop classicism and Khmer-language vocals is ever more indivisible, the melting pot now also including African rhythms. [Apr 2015, p.99]