It makes the case for some long-forgotten virtues: fast songs, staccato chords, songs about trysts in squalid apartments. You know, the good stuff.

A noble, affecting sign-off worthy of the name. [Feb 2017, p.118]

Disc five means you can now hear it in its aborted "quadrophonic" surround sound mix. [Dec. 2011 p. 145]

Stevens's love for the region, its people and legacy is palpable and infectious enough to send the curious scuttling straight towards the bookshelves to discover more. [Aug 2005, p.137]

Unquestionably his finest album to date. [Apr 2015, p.113]

A dark album for darker times--at 53, Saadiq is still ahead of the curve. [Oct 2019, p.110]

Newcomers may be amazed that a rock band can still feel so vital. Even diehard fans will wonder at the sheer melodic intensity. [Feb 2015, p.107]

Eve is a hip-hop delight. [Nov 2019, p.115]

These lavish Deluxe Editions are fat with rare tracks and live performances on accompanying DVDs - they are all the Beat anyone could ever wish for. [Aug 2012, p.112]

A masterpiece in mood setting, the apocalyptic Punisher aches with sadness, but Bridgers doesn't wallow. ... The end of the world rarely sounds this good. [Summer 2020, p.106]

The remaster reveals The Joshua Tree in all its sonic wonder, and its capturing-lightning-in-a-bottle imperfections, which makes it all the more real and riveting listening experience. ... Thirty years on, it's a complete picture of The Joshua Tree, past and present. [Jul 2017, p.116]

Heroically in-depth liner notes tell the full warty story of a label whose output still stimulates. [Dec 2015, p.119]

The odd portentous lapse and minor clunker aside, the rate of killer lines is remarkably high. [Mar 2002, p.115]

This is not a document to be eaten all at one, maybe, but it brilliantly records Dylan's skill for interpreting his own songs. [Summer 2019, p.118]

Its woozy title track, oddly sideways lyrics and often meditative vibe make it a strangely gorgeous and graceful work. [May 2002, p.114]

That they've been forgotten for 30 years seems almost a crime, because they've got just about everything real soul music needs. [Feb 2004, p.118]

Faithful singers could learn a secular trick or two. [Dec 2019, p.117]

It's so out of step with most indie rock it's as if it's been beamed from outer space. [Apr 2005, p.126]

It feels like a nimble, pleasure-seeking record which takes its grown-up themes in its stride and wants to entertain first and impress second. [Feb 2011, p.126]

It's as an articulation of grief that this record speaks most powerfully. [Jan 2019, p.106]

This broadens his musical palette, with digi-dub, moody techno and deranged dubstep adding weight to Martin's winning sonic menagerie. [Aug 2008, p.132]

It's the fiery One Up, One Down and the four zigzagging interpretations of Impressions that truly add tot he indispensability of this set. [Aug 2018, p.119]

The sound more fully formed than ever. [Oct 2013, p.114]

Psychodrama is a bold statement from a rapper unafraid to ask tough questions of himself--and the often unforgiving world around him. [Jun 2019, p.108]

Untrue lives in the present, its more complex moods showcasing the emotional range that marks Burial out as more than just another bloke with a computer. [Jan 2008, p.108]

These songs sound as if they could have echoed around soot-stained ports and roadside taverns for generations and can still cast 21st-century listeners under their spell. [Mar 2018, p.117]

A darkly uncompromising and often difficult record: uneasy, sinister, scored and scarred with sonic detritus and, in layman?s terms, a bloody racket.

A thrilling joyride through reggae's golden era and beyond. [Jan 2020, p.117]