The lyrics chew as much as they bite, and the music -- ranging from twangy jazzisms to raucous blues rock -- lets Costello honor his roots while still showing off what he picked up at the conservatory. [May 2002, p.118]

Straining to prove something to the haters, the Ring flee from their strengths, trading enthusiastic bash-and-pop for slow songs as soggy as deep cuts from a Train album. [May 2002, p.115]

Unlike When I Was Born, which made similar pileups sound subversive, Handcream often feels mapless. [May 2002, p.122]

C'Mon, C'Mon makes such consensus-building sound like a virtue, imagining a world where the Dixie Chicks and Stevie Nicks and Emmylou Harris and Dr. Dre's bass player can all ride the same tour bus. [May 2002, p.118]

With riffs this sugarshit sharp, who needs ideas? [May 2002, p.124]

Rye Coalition send up a prayer for that emo addict who's done with Rainer Maria but keeps AC/DC in the closet. [Apr 2002, p.122]

When it all cooks properly, as on the sultry, sweaty "Number One," Jackson's retro pastiches generate steam heat. [May 2002, p.125]

She reinvents herself as a salacious digital temptress, crooning through soulful slow rollers. [Mar 2002, p.129]

There's plenty of that spacey/dirty sound on Loud, even when the tracks don't fit the trance template. [Apr 2002, p.122]

Given its songs' consistent strength, Rings' extravagant extras rarely seem excessive. [Apr 2002, p.125]

As broad as their discography is, though, In Search Of still feels radical. [Apr 2002, p.113]

Beneath the bleakness is a perky mix of deep house, dub, dance-oriented rock, and acid jazz pieced together from bits of live percussion, electric bass, flute, sax, and an overflowing grab bag of indie guitar. [March 2002, p.132]

Clinic remember that Britpop is supposed to be fun. [Mar 2002, p.127]

England's exoticism is offset by plenty of tough and tender ballads, and even the most stridently worldbeat numbers are joyous, well-made, and never patronizing. [Apr 2002, p.117]

The processed guitar-based tracks on Rug don't quite rollick or shimmer, but with Alanis it's the lyrics, not the music, that count. [Apr 2002, p.114]

It's the album's studied organic liveness that resonates the longest. [Mar 2002, p.137]

Strikes the perfect balance between the pop-savvy shuffle of Lyle Lovett and the lush loveliness of '80s Englishmen Prefab Sprout. [Mar 2002, p.134]

South's tunes tend to wobble in very slow circles, and Joel Cadbury has picked up soggy vocal habits from Coldplay's Chris Martin. [Mar 2002, p.127]

Is a Woman finds Lambchop turning into America's Tindersticks, replacing songcraft with baroque digressions. [Mar 2002, p.134]

The vibrant Revelry is tougher and deeper--the sound of traffic lights reflected through Rolling Rock empties, of clothes permanently reeking of cigarette smoke. [Apr 2002, p.124]

It's a thoroughly satisfying album, but surprises are in short supply. [May 2002, p.120]

They've gone one step beyond the underrated Surrender by integrating their two sides: high-octane thrust and airy psychedelic dreaminess. [Feb 2002, p.105]

Point is at once less sprawling and less insular than Cornelius' earlier work. [Feb 2002, p.110]

Not many of the expansive, leisurely songs on Asleep In The Back stick in the memory once they've ended, but they swoon nicely. [Mar 2002, p.127]

No. [Jan 2003, p.99]

Beneath all that veneer, the band sticks to its guns. [Jan 2002, p.105]

Fortunately, the old pros gel well often enough to keep things rolling -- with some help. [Jan 2002, p.107]

Cool people probably think this sort of utilitarian grab bag dumbs down Beck-like eclecticism. But maybe it didn't take such a genius to come up with it in the first place. [Jan 2001, p.109]