Robust structuring is a blessing and curse: for all the frills and trapdoors, Ex-Hex's workmanlike rhythms eventually get monotonous. [May 2019, p.111]

At 38, Rufus's star moment appears to have finally arrived. [May 2012, p.108]

Oozing with dark passion, Nux Vomica is very Nick Cave. [Oct 2006, p.127]

An incredible album. [Sep 2020, p.111]

A wildly energetic record. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Each of the 11 new songs on Bottom Of The World twinkles mournfully, chamber-country meditations which blend the playful and sinister in his patented fantasia set in the US-Mexico borderlands. [May 2013, p.95]

Comparisons to Marling may linger, but The Staves should soar above them. [Nov 2012, p.105]

They are a band still in search of that one killer track. [Mar 2017, p.108]

Though never matching the otherworldly brilliance of their first two albums, Moonbuilding 2703 AD does at least find these 50-something space cadets still aiming for the stars. [Aug 2015, p.111]

Achilles Last Stand and Nobody's Fault But Mine notwithstanding, Presence sounds as rushed as it was. [Sep 2015, p.121]

This is a wonderful record--involving and irresistible. [Sep 2016, p.105]

Thirty years in NIN sound reinvigorated. [Summer 2018, p.116]

He and his demons haven't come in from the cold just yet, but thankfully, Pearson's muse has caught fire once more. [Apr 2011, p.105]

Brooding is the word for their claustrophobic jams, forged on skeletal guitar lines and smothered in reverb. [Dec. 2010, p. 112]

Moving into attack mode suits the band, most strikingly on the monolithic Superbug and the effects-laden boogie of Mars For The Rich. [Sep 2019, p.112]

Staying true to a 20-year career of uncompromising extremity, it will take commitment to breach this seventh album's walls of noise. [Dec 2009, p. 113]

It's all wonderfully executed. [Sep 2017, p.116]

A smart melting pot of influences and references. [Jan 2018, p.113]

A second album full of ambition and epic arrangements so unexpected it knocks you sideways. [May 2004, p.108]

An album of rich, subtle melodies, championship-level guitar playing and lyrical depth. [Sep 2002, p.115]

Finds them revelling in bursts of noise and awkwardness, but more surprisingly perhaps, taking as much comfort in sweet melody. [Jul 2004, p.124]

She's utterly beguiling, a fresh presence at last in singer-songwriter land. [Jun 2003, p.95]

Whatever it lacks in cohesive identity it more than makes up for in chaotic invention. [Feb 2003, p.107]

An exhausting, emotionally wracked affair. [Sep 2002, p.101]

The six tracks on Take care... are beautifully realised mini-symphonies that invite comparisons with a leaner Godspeed You! Black Emperor, all defined by epic, awe-inspiring crescendos. [May 2011, p.115]

Stunning. [Mar 2012, p. 96]

Playful pop brainteasers from the cult quartet. [Feb. 2011, p. 114]

While his message is clear, the means of conveying it comes up wanting. [Sep 2012, p.98]