Shiny slabs of US radio rock. [May 2012, p.94]

So ill-conceived and shoddily executed it could well finish them off altogether. [Feb 2003, p.102]

When it works... he is as heroically spirit-raising and stomach-tighteningly emotional as he was on Play.... Yet, when Moby plods, it's as if the world is burning with boredom. [Apr 2005, p.121]

It's warm and heartfelt, but the scaled down production allows his grating Treesside vocals dominate to distraction. [Nov 2010, p.114]

Here, they are hitting their stride. [Feb 2005, p.98]

They remain spirit-crushingly average. [May 2005, p.114]

The lascivious lyrics have gone, replaced by monotone melancholic musings on love and loss that initially grate, but actually compliment the minimalist cello and piano arrangements. [Oct 2008, p.139]

Simply crazed speedcore played over actual cattle auctions. [Jan. 2012, p. 120]

The Devil's Rain is very silly indeed. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

They may have no defining sound of their own, but they're admirable recyclers. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Nicole's tunes are so memorable you almost don't need to buy them. [Dec 2007, p.123]

Occasionally it's so insane that you can't help but be swept along with it. Mostly, however, it's so over the top the more likely reaction is to run it off and make sure you don't hear it again in a hurry. [Dec. 2011 p. 122]

It may not be an unpleasant listen, but it's a strangely soulless one. [Aug 2009, p.101]

Desperately slim pickings... betray this release's roots as a mere EP. [Jan 2004, p.116]

Although none of the newcomers quite supply the killer touch, the flow of soft-rock shimmies and cowbell-driven R&B lives up to the guestlist's promise. [Dec 2005, p.156]

Sloppy, emotion-free, chicken-in-a-basket ballads. [May 2007, p.125]

A rare peep at the methods of a great songwriter. [Feb 2004, p.98]

The '80s influence remain close to the surface secodn time around and Ryan James's lyrics are still hardly full of cheer, but it's a leap forwards. [Feb 2015, p.111]

They tear through 14 tracks in a flicker over 37 minutes without ever going anywhere even vauely new. [Apr 2009, p.100]

It's all doom and gloom, and it ain't pretty. [May 2007, p.125]

At times, they still stray into Nirvana territory, particularly on 'Braindead,' but they do so with enough brio to get away with it. [Nov 2008, p.123]

So while the agit-prop lyrics say little new, the best tracks--'Barcode,' 'Hit From The Morning Sun,' 'Julian' and the title track--are convincingly atmospheric. [Mar 2009, p.102]

At 20 tracks long, Imperial Blaze suffers badly from a lack of editing, however, Paul also spends hald the album in ballad mode. [Nov 2009, p.111]

[The album] is full of reductive, radio-friendly hard rock. [Nov 2012, p.86]

Where they were once a glorious mess, here they are simply a mess. [Apr 2007, p.114]

It tries to be everything at once, with varying results. [Oct 2005, p.114]

She has a fine technical voice but the emotional resonance of a car park. [Feb 2003, p.98]

The resultant chaos is addictive, energizing and catchy as hell. [Feb 2010, p. 108]