The chill out crowd, and anyone else unbothered by such walk-ons, will happily drift off to the rich, inevitably orchestral backdrop, thinking it ever so classy. Which, of course, it is.

Though its concept may remain opaque, Carnival Of Souls compels. [Oct 2014, p.116]

They haven't completely severed links with the past--the bruising Wonderful Life comes with a cameo from Cradle Of Filth squawker Dani Filth-- but mostly it's a bold leap into the future. [Feb 2019, p.108]

Overall this is never less than an engaging listen. [Dec 2012, p.112]

It's a beautiful set of sweeping prairie ballads. [Jan 2014, p.122]

Excellent, soul-infused debut. [May 2019, p.112]

Most of what's here is great melancholy rock, but sometimes held back by Wilson's willingness to play the perennial prog-rock boffin. [Mar 2015, p.118]

Jesso's winsome melodies and gorgeous chord changes never fail to hit the spot. [Apr 2015, p.103]

Steeple is a big, old hairy beast capable of stirring the most primal of instincts. [Dec 2010, p.115]

The View appear to be growing up. Forever, of course, is a very, very, long time. But on this evidence, against all odds, The View look set to run and run. [Apr 2011, p.99]

The result is a return to the giddy highs of their heyday. [Aug 2017, p.107]

Radiohead's ambitions are so modest that it's hard to tell whether this is just creative throat clearing or the quieter path they've settled for. If it's the latter, well, Radiohead sound calmer and more content than ever. [May 2011, p.106]

More downtempo delights from Rhode Islanders. [March 2011, p. 106]

If there's a weakness, it's that the fulid, four-MC set-up masks a lack of lyrical depth.

The Trump nightmare goes on, but these otherworldly lo-fi lullabies provide the perfect tonic. [Nov 2018, p.111]

An album that yields more with each listen. [Nov 2016, p.111]

The way they shift from the blues-y swagger of Let The Record Play to the percussive march of Pendulum and the R.E.M.-evoking country twang of Yellow Moon is a sure sign that they belong in the lineage of great American rock bands. [Nov 2013, p.108]

The Carpenter's appeal lies in its gentle tempos and heartstring-tugging melodies. [Dec 2012, p.100]

Come Around Sundown is the sound of them trying to wrestle its relationship with fame back under control. On a musical level, they've succeeded--they've scaled back the ambition with out throwing the baby out with the bathwater. [Nov 2010, p.102]

He achieves an almost architectural sense of scale. [May 2018, p.115]

It's a quintessential extra-curricular album, straining every which way, but an excellent and oddly coherent one. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Terse songwriting and Hutch Harris's emotionally strained vocals create a liberating sense of urgency--and there's something both modest and succinct about a 32-minute album in the age of infinite MP3s. [Dec 2010, p.115]

A beguiling, constantly surprising record. [Jul 2019, p.113]

An assured second outing, Fast Food is a full realisation of Shah's noirish visions. [May 2015, p.111]

This brilliant, OutKast-like fusion of synthetic electro beats and surreal rhymes form a skewd tribute to the US state of Georgia. [Aug 2009, p.107]

This is gold for fans. Worth the £18 for the definitive version of lost classic Lift alone. [Aug 2019, p.119]

Sigworth is Moyet's musical soulmate and this is her best LP in decades. [Jun 2013, p.103]

Each of these fine songs could be sung by a blowsy, bruised Blanch DeBois. [Aug 2015, p.109]