Rather good fun. [Nov 2002, p.116]

With regular producer Swizz Beatz virtually absent here, this fourth album is definitely mixed. [Dec 2001, p.121]

Charming, if slight.

This debut has her trilling like Mariah Carey on fluffy R&B tunes. [Oct 2003, p.103]

Someday World is a joyous blend of busy rhythms and bright, surging melodies with fleeting hints of Hot Chip and Talking Heads. [Jun 2014, p.108]

Even Faith's super-powerful voice never elevates the material above the decidedly everyday. [Jul 2012, p.100]

Certainly the reverb/echo-drenched deconstructions of 'No You Girls' and 'Ulysses' pack a punch, but elsewhere it feels merely like an exercise in bolstering beats, amping basslines, then adding some beeps and FX. Pointless, really. [Jul 2009, p.122]

There are some fine moments, chief among them the searing Ordinary World and the delicate ballad Lost, but there's a feeling The Temper Trap will never again match the bombastic euphoria of their breakthrough track. [Aug 2016, p.117]

Largely they hit the sweet spot by turning these songs into tunes that could be straight off their own LPs. [Sep 2015, p.110]

Ultimately, A New Testament is for converts only. [Nov 2014, p.115]

The model can work successfully--There IS Nothing Left recalls a sunnier, more sugary take on '80s Cure, for example--but elsewhere songs would benefit from editing. [Nov 2014, p.111]

Thier latest mixes elements of ambient, post-punk and psychedelia. Often a recipe for a mess, there are moments of coherence. [Mar 2010, p.97]

New Found Glory's newfound maturity makes for a surprisingly palatable record that will soothe both lovelorn teenagers and their long-suffering parents alike. [Apr 2009, p.108]

Neil Young sounds like he's up on bricks with his exhaust pipe hanging off. [May 2009, p.106]

Some arena-pleasing riffs, a couple of polished acoustic numers and everyone goes home happy. [Apr 2002, p.114]

Over three albums Echobelly seemed confused as to whether to flog the pixie-esque appeal of singer Sonya Aurora Madan and seek the big money, go for the political jugular or just to pretend to be daft old hippies. Judging by People Are Expensive, the trio still haven't wholly resolved the dilemma...

The sound has changed little, and the level of emoting none. Still, thunderous grooves such as Everyone and Shining Star continue to be virtually irresistible, while the quieter moments, including the hit single Shape Of My Heart will wow the ladies and the more sensitive gents for a while yet

His fourth album sees credible Jean making a timely return. [Dec 2003, p.129]

With nary a tune in earshot, it sounds like an explosion in a guitar shop. [Oct 2006, p.124]

His first album in five years is a very musicianly affair, stronger on feel than memorable songs but still a fitting vehicle for one who turns 60 later this month and has nothing left to prove. [June 2008, p.148]

Their sound has broadened, too, moving from callow mod-punk towards the big choruses of Kaiser Chiefs. [Nov 2008, p.120]

Not as instant as the old stuff, but there's more substance here. [Apr 2010, p.116]

The admirable rhetoric might mean something were it not backed by such a generic pastiche of Editors/White Lies/Interpol, all cavernous bass and drums and two-note guitar solos. [Apr 2011, p.98]

The Sisters' eponymous first release throws up the unlikely comparison of John Lennon fronting The Flaming Lips, only to result in something that's too unfocused and self-indulgent to be more than a passing curiosity. [Mar 2011, p.116]

At 21 minutes at least it doesn't outstay its welcome. [Apr 2011, p.102]

Idlewild's Roddy Woomble has made a surprisingly decent stab of his concurrent career as a born-again folkie. [May 2011, p.126]

Unsurprisingly, this posthumous album doesn't reach such heights [as a973's Solid Air], and comes with a little too much overlong, incoherent blues whimsy. [Jul 2011, p.114]

It's a mixed listen. [Oct 2011, p.128]