An album full of freshness and fun that's less sketchy than its predecessors. [Jul 2004, p.110]

[The songs are] bereft of the joy and pain that made her name. [Oct 2004, p.128]

Sweet, nostalgic and relishing the strength of words softly spoken. [Aug 2004, p.112]

A trash-conscious blend of craft and humour gives them the sass, style and balls to sound like no one else around. [Mar 2004, p.111]

It loses its way in the last quarter, but not before you're convinced there's a unique talent at work. [Aug 2004, p.115]

For all their winning ways they lack the songwriting dexterity of the truly great. [Sep 2004, p.119]

Loaded with delights... that highlight their soft, uniquely beautiful sound. [Sep 2004, p.135]

An intermittently potent album that feels unlikely to etch itself too deeply onto the world. [Aug 2004, p.104]

Half-written, overproduced songs collide with grandiose ideas, and the self-indulgence is astonishing as sounds and samples appear with little grace. [Aug 2004, p.116]

For the most part, he keeps it all on the ingenious side of ridiculous. [Aug 2004, p.121]

Despite the rollercoaster ride, there are intense moments of pop wonder and cartoon hilarity. [Sep 2004, p.120]

Together We're Heavy's transcendent qualities grow as it flows onward, and the sheer musical ambition of the Spree's pet sound finally, really defies cynicism. [Aug 2004, p.116]

It's originality that's lacking. [Jun 2004, p.105]

Nothing on this album surprises or pushes the urban envelope. [Sep 2004, p.116]

Alas, for all its genuine charm and the way the two Johns genre-hop without leaving footprints, The Spine lacks the spark of true greatness. [Aug 2004, p.119]

A textbook case of college rock, performed very well. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Hardcore fans will probably be disappointed with the amount of rhythmic experimentation which, the messy breaks of Boom aside, is pretty much lacking. [Aug 2004, p.113]

For the most part, this band still sounds grounded by an emo rulebook long since torn up. [Sep 2004, p.123]

Sounds derivative and over-produced. [Sep 2004, p.123]

Stunningly impressive... It's something that demands to exist beyond iPods, something that should be bought rather than downloaded, and played from start to finish. [Aug 2004, p.108]

This is The Cure sounding a lot like The Cure. Never a bad thing, just a familiar one. [Aug 2004, p.107]

Heath's high-octane hoedown riffs achieve the expected levels of raucousness. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Sees him progressing further towards becoming a punked-up Bruce Springsteen. Trouble is, someone's got there already--his best mate, Ryan Adams. [Jul 2004, p.118]

Fine for a happy hour of poppy abstraction, but you may find it tough remembering much of it afterwards. [Jul 2004, p.113]

Contains some potentially highly commercial music, were it not for the underwhelming production. [Sep 2004, p.118]

Even more meandering than its celebrated, if somewhat cold, predecessor. It's also more confident, more coherent, yielding an all-enveloping warmth that's entirely resistant to any iPod shuffle function. [Jul 2004, p.119]

It's wallpaper you'll be glad you bothered to hang. [Aug 2004, p.106]

A winsome, musically surprising outing. [Jul 2004, p.114]