This won't alienate any fans--his voice is as soothing as ever--but it's pleasing to see him stimulating more than just a goofy grin. [Mar 2008, p.102]

As ever, there's not a hint of irony in the air. [Mar 2008, p.107]

This is his most pleasing solo album for a decade. [Mar 2008, p.108]

It's like being hit over the head by a giant hammer in a neverending Itchy & Scrathy episode. [Jan 2009, p.113]

Old Growth blurs mearly into a long yawn. [Mar 2008, p.103]

The 10-minute 'Midnight Surprise' is the album's sprawling, beguiling centrepeice, but 'Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk' is its bewildered, adorable heartbeat. [Feb 2008, p.96]

He remains a little too in thrall to these heavy influences, despite fashioning an album of melodious songs that deserve a wider audience. [Mar 2008, p.115]

This Gift rattles along in the finest punk tradition, even usefully recycling The Damned's 'Neat Neat Neat' riff on the title track. [Feb 2008, p.1000]

There's greater scope here [more] than ever before, with the gentle llyena providing space before Cavaletta's riot of detuned radios, car alarms and struggling internet connections. [Feb 2008, p.99]

Extremely inventive, a litttle uptight and slightly high on their own cleverness, Vampire Weekend are the musical equivalent of a Wes Anderson movie. [Mar 2008, p.109]

Rain revisits familiar Jackson themes of romantic disappointment and despair at the modern world with a pared-back immediacy that showcases his craftmanship to the full. [Feb 2008, p.96]

The Helio Sequence add lucioous electronic icing to their songs but too often this mearly masks predictable indie rock. [Mar 2008, p.104]

It doesn't work, such superior pop items as 'Just A little Lovin'' and 'The Look Of Love' being reduced to an uninspired yawn. [Mar 2008, p.107]

The sparse sound that he produces means it's more entertaining to watch his trickery than to listen to it. [Apr 2008, p.117]

Hey Venus! feels like a missed opportunity. [Sep 2007, p.94]

In The Future has enough ideas to last several albums. Mostly, they work. [Feb 2008, p.98]

Jukebox might not be the jewel in her crown, but it still catches the light and imagination. [Feb 2008, p.91]

The tragedy, once again, is that nothing here approaches greatness. [Mar 2008, p.103]

The punchy power-pop of Mission Control owes more to the Foo Fighters. [July 2008, p.113]

Oracular Spectacular is a triumph of conceptual ambition, a series of fantastic voyages that avoids any of the navel-gazing such notions normally provoke. [May 2008, p.138]

His second album is braver and more expansive and, in the case of 'Cigarette Eyes,' surprisingly angry. He's getting near to brilliant. [Feb 2008, p.95]

What works onstage doesn't necessarily translate to disc, and that'sthe case here. [Oct 2007, p.108]

Finn's sonic tricks and references to love gone sour undercut the prettiness and hook the listener in, again and again. [Aug 2008, p.142]

There is plenty to enjoy, although it never comes close to recapturing the eclectic brillance of 1999's career high, "69 Love Songs. [Feb 2008, p.99]

The major problems with his 14th solo studio album are Starr himself, and Dave Stewart. [Feb 2008, p.102]

While not yet distinct enough to escape [Lily] Allen's shadow, as an empathetic soundtrack to similar growing pains Nash's debut hits its mark. [Sep 2007, p.86]

Fuler sounds wonderful on the woozy 'Little Black Sandals' and Ray Davies's 'I Go To Sleep,' though she could do with more restraint and better tunes to sing. [Feb 2008, p.100]

Angels Of Destruction builds on the momentum of 2005's "If You Didn't Laugh You'd Cry." [Feb 2008, p.99]