Unconvincing and safe. [Feb 2004, p.102]

There are toe-curling moments. ... However, their voices are a convivial fit, most effectively on the gentle 22nd Street and the harsher, more restless Night Shift and both escape, dignity intact. [Jun 2018, p.114]

Fluff, maybe, but very entertaining fluff. [Dec 2009, p. 115]

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

Much as their guitars cascade and their lyrics have a dark undertow, there's too much heavy-footed stodginess, notably in the plodding Staying Up, to make them truly engaging. [Jun 2013, p.103]

They've lost the spark. [Sep 2004, p.122]

The inimitable genius of B.I.G.--the mordant wit, the complex lyricism--is painfully diluted here. [Jul 2017, p.107]

Monkey Business proves that less could have been more. [Jul 2005, p.110]

Without Pop The Glock's digitised vocals Hartley sounds like a karaoke version of '80s rapper Roxanne Shante. [Aug 2010, p.126]

Back To Basics' pub-rock charm wears thin pretty quickly. [Aug 2015, p.115]

Compared to the Puppets' ornate '60s pop, Rascalize is straight Arctic Monkeys indie-rock, with echoes of The Coral. [July 2008, p.108]

This may be some kind of dance music but Play Music is sadly no fun. [Jul 2009, p.133]

What is surprising is how lacklustre an affair it turns out to be. [Oct 2004, p.128]

The result is a too quiet, curiously unfinished-sounding album with barely a moment to remember, let alone cherish. [Oct 2007, p.96]

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

The songs sizzle merrily, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and the relentlessness becomes wearing. [Oct 2008, p.139]

Like Leto's performance in the risible Suicide Squad, the result is unsubtle, self-important and not half as good as it thinks it is. [Jun 2018, p.106]

It features much gastly US po-punk. but Robert Smith and Franz Ferdinand take on songs from former Alice In Wonderland productions and just about win. [May 2010, p.125]

Halfway through... it becomes a directionless mess. [Jul 2004, p.113]

Admittedly, her FM-friendly singalongs aren't rocket science, just fantastically effective. [May 2003, p.109]

Epic pop has a new face, and it belongs to Joe 90. [Jun 2009, p.122]

Yet for all Stride's laddishness, this is a sophisticated album that never coasts or repeats itself. Making pop sound this effortless, this joyous, is no easy task. [May 2010, p.124]

Somehow contrives to bring us the worst of both worlds [of glossy dance floor beats and Manc rock swagger.] [Oct. 2011 p. 131]

Until they find their own voice, they'll forever be a tribute band. [Mar 2014, p.116]

No great leap forward here. [Oct 2015, p.106]

This is a catchy, cocky, Avril Lavigne-y debut, its surface gloss making up for an ultimate lack of depth. [Nov 2008, p.118]

Plain White T's are ultimately as bland and banal as the clothing they take their name from. [Dec 2008, p.133]

Their attempts at songwriting here are woeful. [Sep 2007, p.95]