There's plenty of squelching, soaring solos, and drone rock, just the ticket for those turned on by 11-minute epic 'The Rise' from the last album. [Apr 2009, p.97]

Marigold and Paradise Drive show they aren't short of thrills, but Levitation's title track, which despite its seven minutes and two parts, never achieves the promised lift-off, and encapsulates Flamingods's shortcomings. [Jul 2019, p.110]

There's little revelatory, but it's another fine record to add to their cannon. [Oct 2009, p.119]

There is a fluid coherence to the project.

An acquired taste. [Mar 2003, p.109]

Laughing Party proves a pleasing surprise. [Jun 2012, p. 104]

Imperfect but never less than interesting. [Oct 2019, p.110]

A fine album which often suggests Elliott Smith wreaking merry havoc in a library of sound effects. [May 2001, p.116]

Four may be too diffuse and rough around the edges to qualify as a knockout comeback but it shows a band relocating their purpose and promise by changing their habits. [Sep 2012, p.96]

Though Strange Sensation guitarist Liam "Skin" Tyson is no Jimmy Page, Plant can still strut with the vigour of a man half his age. [May 2005, p.114]

Shaver's always been a tough guy making trouble on the edges of a Nashville that values slickness. [Oct 2014, p.119]

Intricate and thoughtful, it recalls the work of Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson. [Jul 2012, p.102]

While on the secular likes of Randy Newman's Losing You she's never less than majestic, it's when celebrating her Lord that things really click. [Oct 2010, p.116]

The tragedy, once again, is that nothing here approaches greatness. [Mar 2008, p.103]

Listening to this third LP, you wonder if some of the good ones slipped through the cracks. [May 2017, p.102]

While there is no denying the heady rush of the band in full flow, predictability creeps in over 45 minutes. [Apr 2008, p.113]

But, too often, tracks such as We Go and Defender merely taxi along the dancefloor runway rather than take off and soar. [Jul 2018, p.116]

Inevitably, it's a bit of a mess.... But if you like Poe, or Reed, and can tolerate the incoherence, there's fun to be had. [Feb 2003, p.105]

Jones's voice and melodic savvy means this album boasts--if you will--just enough entertainment to perform. [Jul 2003, p.109]

He's shot truer and more heartfelt arrows than these. [Jul 2004, p.122]

While this more contemplative side rounds out their usual roaring punk, it does strip them of some edge, making The Black Market sound oddly anonymous. [Sep 2014, p.113]

It's as welcome as a warm fire on an autumnal evening. [Dec 2019, p.110]

When samba's beat is uppermost, the music takes off. [May 2006, p.129]

If it's not an easy introduction to Mascis's work, for the converted it's a treat. [Jul 2012, p.102]

There's nothing desperately new here, but it's all sharply enough executed. [Jun 2006, p.114]

Sounds like a natural follow-up to the original Ommadawn. [Mar 2017, p.112]

This is a swig of all that's gone before, chased down with much warmer production. [Jan 2013, p.107]

It's often bleak fare, but it's also compulsive stuff. [Jan 2008, p.105]