The fire dies down as the album progresses, but the infectious melodies remain. [May 2016, p.104]

His aim is true, his enthusiasm genuine and even the one new self-penned track, Live It Up, slots in nicely. [Mar 2012, p.105]

It might all sound as comfortable as an old cardigan feels but at this point, that seems fair enough. [Jul 2016, p.115]

It still pays dividends, The Notwist adding melody to the fractured electronica of Themselves and gaining rhythmic substance in return. [Jun 2011, p.107]

The spare production on their second album is less indebted to the post-punk era. [July 2010, p. 129]

In short, Calling Out's not a bad shout if you're looking for something calm and unruffled to soundtrack the summer. [Aug 2015, p.104]

It's a low-pressure affair that variously recalls such non-rocking reference points as Phillip Glass, Debussy and Chopin. [Sep 2012, p.100]

As ever, you end up feeling there's method somewhere in his madness. [Nov 2014, p.104]

Looose's invocation of early '80s New York, complete with squeaky sax solo, is less compelling, but when they hit their groove with the aptly titled Heavy Meditation, it really does sound as if there are superhuman powers at work. [Jan 2018, p.114]

It's cute--like a super furry animal, perhaps. [Jan 2006, p.127]

It still falls to his guest vocalists to distill the album's emotive mood. [Apr 2018, p.108]

Ultimately, you're left wishing that Panic at the Disco had more to say about their own generation, instead of mimicking that of their parents'. [May 2008, p.134]

Their sound is instantly familiar - equal parts Fleet Foxes, Mumford & Sons and Coldplay - but executed with sufficient exuberance to avoid any staleness. [Feb. 2012, p.101]

It all makes for an engaging and frequently charming solo debut. [Nov 2010, p.114]

It's only on a frazzled but euphoric Raise Your Head that DeLaughter achieves the sonic rapture the Spree promised from the outset. [Oct 2013, p.109]

Maraqopa sounds like the place he's been searching for all along. [Mar 2012, p.105]

It's a uniformly lovely if melodically insubstantial mode. [Summer 2020, p.105]

It's soulful and pristine pop that all seems a little pedestrian in comparison. [Aug 2009, p.101]

Alexis Taylor teams up with Spiritualized guitarist John Coxon and Charles Hayward, drummer with post-punk originals This Heat, for a charming diversion that draws freely on '70s jazz, Southern rhythm-and-blues and vintage synths. [Jun 2011, p.107]

We're All Somebody does at times feel like three different albums simultaneously vying for supremacy, but, in an age of dwindling rock royalty, it makes a good case for Tyler's stack-heeled versatility. [Sep 2016, p.114]

Neil Finn's gift for driving songs remains as strong as ever. [Sep 2004, p.118]

Sometimes overly busy album. ... Swift soars when she is most herself. [Jan 2018, p.112]

[There are] some great songs lurking in the darkness of their debut. [Jan 2016, p.111]

[A] palatable solo debut. [Oct 2007, p.101]

Slower tracks such as 'Just Say Yes' and 'Blush' veer too close to blandness, though the power chords of 'Sex Without Love' and humorous idolatry of 'What Would Jay-Z Do?' revitalise. [Nov 2007, p.141]

It leaves less room for their more usual fluid melodies, though both Nails and Best Friends And Hospital Beds recapture their emotive sensibilities. [Feb 2013, p.104]

It's a winningly demented mix of ADHD garage rock, wonky psychedelia and massive, foot-on-monitor guitar riffs. [Oct 2013, p.109]

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]