Shunning those bawdy, mike-tossing rock'n'roll tendencies of yore and aiming at the modish pop/R&B middle ground inhabited by the likes of R. Kelly, he's made what is easily his most cheering, soulful collection in years.

The likes of Up The Junction and Cool For Cats still sound fabulous, but it's a mystery why they didn't just remaster one of their collections. [Dec 2010, p.114]

The main impression left by Nobody's Daughter represents no great surprise: that for all her raging intelligence, Courtney Love is only as good as her collaborators. [Jun 2010, p.121]

Mostly, the sound of The Dandy Warhols spreading their wings suits them. [Oct 2005, p.115]

An inventive album whose impact is lessened by Guthrie's illustrious past. [Jun 2004, p.107]

A Fool For Everyone is serviceble moan-rock that only splutters to life when he slips into angular, Tom Verlaine guitar-playing mode. [May 2009, p.119]

Giddy with excitement at times, his enthusiasm for life at 58 comes as a relief after 2001's Sex Age & Death. [Apr 2011, p.102]

Each and every track is subservient to a formula which demands a whistling filter sweep, a rattling, super-hyped snare roll and the inevitable canyon-deep drop before it all goes nuts. [Dec 2012, p.113]

For the most part, though, there are too many soggy love songs such as the interminable Give It Back To You and too many moments where they cross the line between smart and smart-arse. [Aug 2013, p.94]

Likely to frustrate fans of folk music as much as fans of 10,000 Maniacs, Twice Told tales is a double disappointment. [Jun 2015, p.99]

While odd duds such as Cryin' In Your Beer occasionally stall proceedings, this trip down memory lane otherwise yields compelling results. [Dec 2017, p.113]

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

The result is a marriage of indie pop and dance music, containing a number of tracks that are just a remix away from clubland glory. [Apr 2009, p.111]

In a half-hearted effort to dilute the homogeneity, Harris grouts 18 Months with flimsy instrumentals, as if to create the illusion of a proper album. He's not fooling anyone--maybe not even himself. [Dec 2012, p.108]

A hugely moving affirmation of life. [Nov 2006, p.136]

As good as it should be. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Time for another rethink. [Nov 2012, p.96]

There's plenty of schmaltzy cobblers on Another Country, too, but the good bits are just about worth hanging in there for. [Dec 2015, p.114]

The Ataris transcend the four-square melodic thud of their contemporaries with a gentle melancholy and poetic ambition. [May 2003, p.98]

The follow-up is an equally passionate, turbulent affair, sounding, oddly, like a cross between Foreigner and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This is music precision-built for vast stadiums. [Aug 2006, p.112]

The hushed mandolins of "Still Love You" nudge it toward Sufjan Stevens territory and "Wont's Lie" is a witty gothic waltz, but neither does enough to atone for the mawkish excesses eleswhere. [Apr 2010, p115]

Pleasingly, it's much better, not to mention poppier. [May 2009, p.115]

His falsetto voice, cutesy pitched-up female backing vocals and playground chant hooks are the stuff of kiddy pop. [Oct 2004, p.123]

She's convinced an army of writers and producers... to furnish her with above-average R&B to pant suggestively over. [Sep 2006, p.108]

Gone are most of the Beck-ish hip hop stylings, back is the bespoke indiecraft of spidery guitars, loose drums and oblique lyricism. [Mar 2003, p.108]

Initially arresting, after a while it gets claustrophobic, leaving the listener punch-drunk and weary. [Jan 2003, p.111]

Their sound speaks more of artifice than inspiration. [July 2002, p.112]