The Wolf works best as a concept album about never surrendering the night when you got your first real six-string at the five-and-dime and were tryin' to break free. [Oct 2003, p.108]

Pretty Girls believe in anthems, which would be irritating if they didn't make you believe, too. [Oct 2003, p.107]

It's not gallows humor, just the most natural thing in the world. [Oct 2003, p.113]

As with Watermelon, Chicken, the album drags; still, it's a compelling ride. [Oct 2003, p.110]

After one truly cool tune, their feeble musicianship becomes a problem. [Oct 2003, p.113]

After ten years, Rancid's still-rock-solid kinship is evident in their lock-step chemistry. [Oct 2003, p.108]

It’s like a vacation slide show in which vivid memories turn hazy.

The album feels unfocused, and this time, Alien Ant Farm don't have a novelty hit up their sleeve. [Sep 2003, p.111]

The deadpan humor that animated the band's early werk is missing. [Nov 2003, p.117]

Hazy, almost-there stadium anthems that don't quite fill the stadium. [Sep 2003, p.115]

The Kings are probably sick of the "redneck Stones" tag already, but the signs are all there. [Aug 2003, p.111]

For a 28-year-old, Carrabba remains remarkably fluent in the language of teen heartbreak. [Sep 2003, p.107]

Funky like Fred Schneider and Barney Fife killin' it at karaoke. [Sep 2003, p.115]

Juicing fragile melodies with weeping George Harrison guitar, frontman Luke Steele is pretty even-keeled for a spaced-out pop maestro. [Nov 2003, p.117]

Simultaneously joyous and joyless, all downloaded beats, downhearted lyrics and down-the-hatch daring. [Aug 2003, p.113]

As a current-events commentator, Gray's got better beats than The New York Times and funnier lyrics than Fox News.

It's a little creepy hearing such adolescent voices hooked to Miami booty bass. [Aug 2003, p.116]

Traffics full-time in the kind of raw, godless punk rock that's relegated to a handful of cuts on Queens' albums. [Sep 2003, p.112]

There's more muscle in their moping this time around. [Apr 2003, p.107]

This is a record that creates tension from the cryptic and release from the inexplicable. [Jul 2003, p.105]

Guru is as bluntly eloquent as ever. [Sep 2003, p.115]

[BEP] pick up where the Fugees left off. [Aug 2003, p.119]

Boasts road-toughened guitars and a welcome accusatory edge. [Aug 2003, p.116]

Boilerplate MOR.... But what Liz Phair delivers is authenticity. [Jul 2003, p.107]

For about 17 minutes, the duo's third album comes terrifyingly close to brilliance. [Aug 2003, p.114]

A little rockier, a little slower, and a little less transporting. [Jul 2003, p.110]

The Trickster's best record in years. [Aug 2003, p.119]

Their songs excavate new depths of frivolity. [Aug 2003, p.119]