Judgement Days is no disgrace, but nor is it cause to anoint Dynamite as a major talent. [Oct 2005, p.112]

The melancholy is relentless and ultimately rather suffocating. [Sep 2005, p.115]

The major problems with his 14th solo studio album are Starr himself, and Dave Stewart. [Feb 2008, p.102]

Music in monochrome needs blacks and whites, but Silesia only has shades of grey. [May 2011, p.116]

To a saucer-eyed teenager with a head full of pills stood amidst Deadmau5's immersive, impressive son-ET-lumiere experience, watching everything "going right off," it'll probably sound amazing. Maybe the rest of us should just wait outside in the car until the show's over. [Nov 2012, p.105]

At times, notably on Honey Bee, Pritchard's lyrics are sugary enough to induce toothache. However, the ever-present feel-good factor makes this an album as impossible to dislike as seeing the sun break through the clouds. [Oct 2018, p.112]

Comes on like an in-your-face Avalanches, with elements of Pavement-style art-rock and a punk attitude thrown in for good measure. [Nov 2005, p.127]

Day Before We Went To War, co-written by Brian Eno, inflects mundane details with enigmatic dread in a similar fashion to the frostbitten adult pop if ABBA's final years. If only you could hear this colder, bolder Dido in every song. [Apr 2013, p.101]

It all feels empty, like they're striking a pose without knowing why. [Jul 2013, p.104]

This time around, Bugg writes every track. It only makes the stand-out tunes even more impressive. [#361, p.113]

Contains far too many bland ballads. [Feb 2006, p.105]

Devon soul woman meets Dave Stewart, in Nashville. [Sept. 2011, p. 118]

Jollett's weighty musing are all but neutered by his determination to cover all musical bases but, as an alt-rock starter-kit, it's just about perfect. [May 2011, p.109]

Beta Love ultimately feels unfinished. [Apr 2013, p.109]

Alas, for all its genuine charm and the way the two Johns genre-hop without leaving footprints, The Spine lacks the spark of true greatness. [Aug 2004, p.119]

Surely a man of his talent has more to offer than this? [Sep 2006, p.109]

It follows the million-dollar formula laid down on 2017's Evolve a little too closely. ... But as emotional Trojan Horses go, few do it better. [Jan 2019, p.110]

I Got Your Number is a sexy, snarling glam rocker, Wonder recalls Smashing Pumpkins at their sunniest and Stuck In A Rut has the strut of prime-time Black Crowes. [Dec 2009, p. 110]

The yearning fluidity of the vocals is checked, unfortunately by guitars that fail to detonate. [Jun 2011, p.114]

This follow-up sees them up the ante slightly. one Man Army is packed with big songs, windswept harmonies, swashbuckling choruses, and less appealingly, big guitar solos when all you wanted was a key change. [Jun 2012, p.105]

Fusing dubstep and rock worked for Pendulum but it's all too easy to get the balance wrong. Josh and Tony Friend's efforts have succeeded in getting their singles onto Radio 1's A-list, but it's an idea that stalls on their debut album. [Mar 2013, p.107]

Ultimately, there's something delicious and monumental about Hurts.[Apr 2013, p.106]

In creating a party record that will easily translate to the festival season's main stages they've also reversed out of the narrow tunnel that, for all their adventure, they were being led into by the bombastic Xtrmntr and Evil Heat. [Jul 2006, p.110]

Galoshes largely succeeds as a document of a delinquent soul finally coming to terms with his own past. [Feb 2009, p.119]

The band's power chorus-penning know-how is evident each of these slick and sometimes over-polished ten tracks. [Jun 2011, p.125]

Whey-faced romantics in black clothing should form a queue. [Aug 2002, p.131]

It's about as vibrant and sweat-streaked as mainstream pop gets. [Dec 2002, p.105]

Some might find Issues a bit too strenuous ("I stand up to them and confront/While you choose to be a cunt, " claims Up) but as fans know, The Slits are meant to be full-on. [Dec 2009, p. 126]