They're better when operating at full-throttle, as on the muscular Blood and carefree Our Ego, but for music intended to elevate, the rest remains strangely earthbound. [Feb 2014, p.118]

Lyrically, though, he's got strangely little of interest to say, no a particularly distinctive way of saying it. [Nov 2010, p.111]

As a daring experiment which flies in the face of the derivative tendencies evident in the modern music industry, it succeeds. [Dec 2004, p.140]

Selway understands that he starts with a blank slate and that his extracurricular activity need sound neither drummery nor Radiohead-esque. Instead, he's blessed with a warm and gentle voice, he sings of heart, hearth and on the aching "broken Promises," the death of his mother in 2006. [Sep 2010, p.120]

While the thumping psych-rock of Rollercoaster shines a light on the fears that still plague her, it's lead single For The First Time that makes for the most refreshing and cathartic moment. [Apr 2020, p.105]

Outbursts sees them returned to a duo and the acoustic cut'n'thrust of old. [Apr 2010, p.120]

[It] is the stirring, rounded collection leader Glen Hansard has hinted at since they formed in 1990. [Feb 2007, p.99]

Experimental and confusing... Oberst's voice struggles to hit home through the effects. [Jan 2005, p.129]

As this flits from widescreen country soul to palpitating Meat Loaf theatrics, the overriding impression is of a band that's having a blast. [July 2008, p.99]

More engaging doom from the download kings. [March 2011, p. 101]

It won't dethrone his great works, but there's heart in abundance. [Nove. 2010, p. 117]

In stark contrast to their finest work (1993's "brown" album, 1999's The Middle Of Nowhere), the magic moments never add up to an epic, morphing whole.

It's far from perfect but still worthy of investigation. [Oct 2012, p.97]

This is the best yet from Kathleen Hanna's trio. [Nov 2004, p.130]

It sounds like the album Courtney Love might have made had she not spent periods of the past decade blitzed to the back teeth. Which is a (very) good thing, by the way. [Jul 2009, p.132]

Whether psychedelic riffing or crooning over strings, theirs is top-notch garage pop. [May 2007, p.126]

Their music now comes wrapped in gauzy textures more reminiscent of local hero Toro Y Moi. [Jul 2011, p.111]

The Californian four-piece's follow-up is less inspired, however, lacking any memorable tunes or winning hoks to distract from Nathan Willett's grating falsetto, and much of the album is heavy going. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Phillip Labonte's melodic vocals give the Massachussetts quintet an edge over their contemporaries, and the songwriting and classy production here suggests they're set for bigger things. [Oct 2008, p.141]

The end result is 10 songs that switch direction with ear-pricking regularity and generally avoid the sub-Oasis ladrock you might have expected Ifans to churn out. [Oct 2008, p.143]

A foursome without a single Ken among them, their self-titled debut is heavy psych-rock for those of a crepuscular calling, with Bearfight and Refined being the songs where they really up the power. [Oct 2008, p.153]

It's a mess, characteristically dark but the riffs are scruffy and their once-mesmerising power is gone. [May 2013, p.99]

Like a silent movie star who discovered she didn't sound like Janet Street-Porter when talkies came, the overwhelming feeling is one of relief and career continuation. [Dec 2013, p.102]

Ultimately, while(1<2) is overlong and never quite the cohesive masterpiece it wants to be, but there's tantalising evidence of a smart brain ticking away beneath those big Disney ears. [Aug 2014, p.114]

The overall sense is that for all its unhinged eclecticism, Control is the product of a fiendishly inventive mind. If he can find focus, he'll be a real force. [Apr 2015, p.99]

Everything that made their past albums so engaging--the lopsided melodies, frontman Tim Elsenburg's anguished drawl, those lazy Bacharach-style brass fills--is still here, but harnessed to better songs. [Jul 2015, p.114]

Prong's no-rills approach is a far better fit than, say, Slayer's patchy Undisputed Attitude from 1996.... They're less sure-footed on a raucous stab at Husker Du's Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely that bludgeons all the magic out of the original, however. [May 2015, p.109]

He's sounding like a contender again, something only Borrell himself would have ever betted on. [Dec 2018, p.113]