The quality often drops, making for an intermittently engaging album. [Nov 2002, p.100]

A collection of vastly moving songs that will render stadiums as intimate as bedrooms. U2, Radiohead... Coldplay? It would seem so. [Sep 2002, p.98]

The album has a polished sheen, but Leto's delivery of his earnest, sci-fi-tinged lyrics gets monotonous over the course of the album. [Dec 2002, p.96]

Features a few ropey grunge numbers. [Aug 2002, p.133]

[Mann has] returned to writing songs which are wry, funny, adult and perceptive, all wrapped up in handsome melodies. [Oct 2002, p.112]

There's something truly peculiar going on here, and worth pursuing. [Sep 2002, p.110]

Cocker's treasurable wit and the band's seventh album have taken a corporation bus ride out for strange, poetic interludes among the trees and the undergrowth.

There are exquisite moments here, mostly the simpler ones, but not as many as there should be. [Dec 2002, p.100]

Sometimes they're studenty when they think they're being menacing, but there's promise and ideas aplenty here. [Sep 2002, p.109]

Half of Zoomer suggests Beck being produced by Aphex Twin, but elsewhere his flimsy songwriting is drowned out by percussive clatter. [Nov 2002, p.106]

All baes covered, an international hit seems guaranteed. [Oct 2002, p.100]

The wait for the first great Frank Black solo album continues. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Dominated by common-or-garden blues workouts, with few of the startling dynamics that marked his former band's finest work. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Predictably claustrophobic listening.... When they come up for air, Interpol have the tunes to match all the mannered gloom. [Sep 2002, p.107]

A brisk, varied and entertaining little package. [Oct 2002, p.126]

A smart mixed bag. [Oct 2002, p.106]

Sometimes an attitude, a thumping beat and an A-plus scream like the one Carrie Brownstein provides here are really all that's needed. [Oct 2002, p.117]

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

It's the songs which seal The Isness's fate. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Some interesting musical touches and flashes of intelligence remain, but muddy mixing and one-paced production make this an overlong bore. [Nov 2002, p.114]

Their former group's artful exuberance and awkward edges may have been sawn off to create a more grungy rasp, but there's still plenty of angst on show. [Oct 2002, p.117]

Son of Evil Reindeer has a fun, collaborative atmosphere which produces some truly unique moments. [June 2002, p.123]

These songs sound more like her collaborators' than hers. [Mar 2002, p.120]

Their sound speaks more of artifice than inspiration. [July 2002, p.112]

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

Gene have found a soulful and reflective edge that's brought them close to matching the grace and guile promised by their debut, and best album, Olympian.

It's familiar, but immaculately done, and by far the most focused work this band has managed thus far. [Sep 2002, p.100]

As a cohesive armchair trance soundtrack, Airdrawndagger is a clear success. [Sep 2002, p.106]