There are exquisite moments here, mostly the simpler ones, but not as many as there should be. [Dec 2002, p.100]

He's an even limper pastiche of [Michael] Jackson than Jackson himself. [Jan 2003, p.123]

There's no hint of an artistic left-turn here. [Dec 2013, p.103]

The results are perplexing. An artist who has made a career out of pushing herself to extremes has put together an album of pappy, poppy songs that sound like they were written between cups of tea in the garden.

Cod-reggae and sunny R&B are the order of the day here, which as beach bar background music would no doubt suffice. But unless Stone is content with coasting she needs a serious rethink. [Aug 2015, p.112]

Unfortunately, aside from Stranger's Kiss, the overall level of artifice here is simply too steep to surmount. [Oct 2017, p.100]

The robots were more fun. [Apr 2005, p.118]

Deeply unengaging. [May 2012, p.94]

It's all tastefully executed, but there is painfully little to get excited about here. [Sep 2013, p.104]

These songs sound more like her collaborators' than hers. [Mar 2002, p.120]

Recent name change can't save disappointing debut. [Sept. 2011, p.105]

His second album Splazsh serves up tense techno without a hint of human warmth. [Jul 2010, p.140]

Eagles may be victims of a world in which their signature sound has been distilled into oblivion. [Dec 2007, p.110]

This record passes right through you. [Feb 2013, p.104]

Aside from 1%'s hushed moments, they're stuck in a rut. [Feb 2015, p.109]

This is middling hip hop fare devoid of So Solid's scrappy, feral energy. [Apr 2009, p.111]

While his lyrics are lascivious to a point, songs such as "Love," "The Hardest Way" and "Heartkiller" are strictly soft-focus, with any semblance of attitude--or actual sex--air-brushed into radio-friendly oblivion. [Mar 2010, p.102]

They seem ground down by arguments. [Oct 2010, p.111]

But, alternating between the laughable and listenable, it's safe to say there's never been anything quite like the sound of him jollily croaking his way through Her Comes Santa Claus or Hark The Herald Angles Sing. [Jan 2010, p. 119]

Sad to say, The List is an overly polite, lifeless collection of tried and trusted country standards apparently recommended as required listening by her father back in 1973. [Dec 2009, p. 126]

Any good news – Liam’s decent fist of songwriting, the less oppressive sound, the professional playing – is rendered largely irrelevant by the gaping chasm where more decent songs should be.

Mostly, though, it's the well-trodden formula of soggy lyrics and wan, rather aimless melodies the main purpose of which seems to be not to offend. [Jul 2004, p.113]

The album lacks the breathless show-stoppers that have long peppered their records.

Glitter continues her slump from gifted to grievous via gratuitous power ballads, dismal disco/R&B and criminal covers of '80s classics. [Oct 2001, p.117]

If iPods came with a button that randomly spliced tracks together it would sound like this. [Dec 2004, p.137]

While there are sprightly, smooth-cheeked moments--the bumptious riff of Blue Velvet, for example--there's a draining lack of invention or novelty. [Sep 2014, p.106]

Despite the hysterical crowd response, Live From Dakota is as meat'n'potatoes as its creators. [May 2006, p.130]

It isn't just that it's (mostly) a covers album, more that so many of the selections are so uninspired. [Jan 2011, p.139]