Pusha T and Malice are deft wordsmiths who deliver lean, whip-smart couplets. [Mar 2007, p.111]

Opinions will still be divided--Murdoch as literary giant or self-important art school berk?--as, over 25 tracks, there's evidence of both. [Jul 2005, p.129]

A bastion of control and quaking vulnerability that strikes a match against its sombre surrounds. [Jan 2019, p.113]

This zeitgeist-friendly genre-hopping proves the trio are moving with the times, but it's satisfying to note that when they return to their starkly simple, powerful melodic trademark sound on closer Hallelujah, Haim remain in a league of their own. [Jun 2020, p.94]

The songs sounds just as fierce 20 years on. [Jul 2014, p.124]

What a wild trip. [Jan 2014, p.133]

Songwriting thus warm and wise can't be as easy as Musgraves makes it sound. [Jul 2013, p.108]

The result is a pitch-perfect homage to the old master, whose voice resonates as powerfully as it did a decade ago. [Mar 2020, p.120]

The lasting impression os of music full of a magic and panache that a mere compilation album can't quite reflect. [dec 2008, p.136]

A leap forward. [Apr 2004, p.120]

Putting it on is less like listening to an album and more like scaling a mountain. [Jun 2014, p.121]

Building on 2015's explosive comeback album Freedom, War Music offers further proof that the gamble paid off, with Blood Red mixing Marxist doctrine and surging riffs to stunning effect. [Dec 2019, p.114]

Marling's seventh solo LP has the clarity, mastery and quiet strength of a folk-rock classic. [Jul 2020, p.110]

A boundlessly entertaining expose of what happens when you mix fine words with excellent melodies to make great songs.

Her songs are challenging, expansive and cinematic, turning minimalist melodies on their heads and redefining the limits of pop. [Oct 2013, p.103]

Bad As Me is as accessible as it is intelligent. At their heart, these are classic pop songs. That they're coated with his trademark wonder and weirdness makes them more special still. [Nov. 2011, p. 130]

For the most part, though, the excellence of what's here is less a matter of particular details than the way they combine to produce long stretches of real magic. [#361, p.104]

Each St. Vincent album has outclassed the one before, and her fifth is no exception. [Nov 2017, p.106]

This utterly beautiful balm of a record feels less like a confessional, and more a vessel for warmth, serenity and worldly wisdom. [May 2020, p.114]

No two tracks are the same, none could be anyone else. This is one irresistible party: the joy Adebimpe was looking for is right here. A great, great record. [Oct 2008, p.154]

An album full of playful daring. [Aug 2006, p.115]

Sometimes I Sit And Think is littered with wry, smile-inducing couplets and wonderfully mundane detail. [May 2015, p.114]

This is essential listening. [Mar 2017, p.112]

Wicked Grin is a bona fide revelation.... A rambunctious joy from beginning to end.

Most tracks follow a simple formula: the vocal from Don't Stop by the Stone Roses + layers of chimes + dog barks + crashing drums = mess. [Jun 2003, p.100]

The swampy exotica that was draped around both 1995's To Bring You My Love and '98's Is This Desire? has been forgotten: as proved by the likes of Big Exit and the pleasingly frantic Kamikaze, the dominant sound is that of a three-piece garage band, fused with enough production panache to prove that Harvey remains an admirably intelligent auteur.

Sleazy listening at its best. [Jun 2020, p.106]

The melodic flow of Alchemist;s beats perfectly offsets his partner's raw, unfiltered delivery. [Aug 2020, p.107]