Nothing on this full-length debut is so insidious, though several tracks come close.

Nearly every song on their second collaboration--but particularly the brooding 'Salvation' and sweetly melancholy 'Trouble'--reveals gorgeous comfort in the juxtaposition.

Sometimes the results are stunning ("Hearts of Love"); elsewhere, the barrage of studio effects leaves you wondering if they're merely covering up crap songs. Either way, Sleep Forever never bores.

Laufer flushes out the dark corners of last year’s blushingly sexy No More EP with velvet-voiced rapper Jeremih, turning it into his most ambitious and cinematic album yet.

After a 2009 album, assorted seven-inch singles, and a recent live recording for Jack White's Third Man imprint, Jacuzzi Boys have taken their place among the best sloppy racket-makers bashing out easy-boogie soundtracks to your next drunken night at the local rock dive.

Time and practice have made them a far more straightforward rock band. [Oct 2004, p.120]

...melds Billy Joel and James Taylor... [Apr 2001, p.161]

Phantogram drives straight through, with a clear purpose, no rest stops.

There are glimmers of melodic gems--but that’s all they prove to be, sagging beneath the weight of these overstuffed songs.

The Montreal group has never sounded so desperate or epic as on their fifth album's four earth-scorching, quarter-hour compositions.

With songs and production this pumped, they’ll continue to make waves far outside their beloved home state.

Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, the sequel to The End of Day, is a revelation, boldly reshaping Cudi's sound -- with vivid production by Emile, Plain Pat, the Cool Kids' Chuck Inglish, Jim Jonsin, Diplo, and others.

Animal Collective’s latest sees them painting with confidence, acrylics, dinosaurs, Bob Ross, a twist, and a wipe out.

For most of Neptune, the Duke Spirit graft sweet coatings onto a dark, swirling center.

The Israeli threesome's second full-length, though, provides fewer surprises, dutifully thundering through rage-rock history as singer Ami Shalev alternates between growl and yowl to communicate a life-is-short-might-as-well-bash message.

They sound like serious witches--impossibly high, fluttery voices singing mystic incantations over pulsing, six-minute jams that gun for another astral plane, and occasionally reach it.

She's smart to dress her aching, powerful voice in something other than rhinestones. [Nov 2008, p.90]

Brilliantly unhinged rock spiked with R&B and power pop. [Jun 2006, p.80]

Between Pitts' unrelieved misery and the tepid music, Pythons makes a bitter, unsatisfying brew. Imbibe at your own risk.

He’s chosen good material and done right by it. But Kill the Lights sees him both at an apex and a crossroad.

Their new songs are sunnier and jumpier than 2005's dirgeful "Feathers." [Mar 2008, p.100]

As intellectual and introverted as Krell often is, he’s at his best when he and the music simply let go. What Is This Heart? delivers in the second half when nearly every song peaks with exuberant finales.

Scattered predictability aside, AC/DC still sound strong and hungry 35 years on, as if they could pulverize riffs in perpetuity.

A big improvement over 2007's ho-hum "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon," it's also the most consistently satisfying full-length he's made.

When things are going right, she reverentially nods to the sumptuous aesthetic that defined Marvin Gaye's What's Going On; when her form slips, it's like Dido gone "groovy." [Jul 2006, p.82]

The lyrics are certainly emotional, as he says, but there’s an immediacy to them that feels new for DeMarco, and it doesn’t always suit the music.

From bracing opener "Precious Stone" to the chugging fan appreciation "Rock Crowd" to a heartfelt version of Gram Parsons' "Wheels," Yorn emerges with his most purposeful, affecting album yet.

These reimaginings... unlock some interesting textures suggested by [Black's] still-scratchy vocals. [Dec 2004, p.118]