Guru is... pushing the same grim consistency that makes folks describe Gang Starr albums as 'solid', not budging, not boring, but not better than Moment of Truth. [#234, p.73]

There are several memorable songs here, but the offhand, one-take atmosphere makes the project slighter than it might have been. [Feb 2011, p.50]

Lyrically Public Enemy's new album packs no surprises. [Oct 2007, p.75]

Only one track matches the flaming cannonball energy of their single, "Politicians In My Eyes"; the herky-jerky "North Street," which is as much funk as punk. [May 2014, p.77]

The result is a predictable major label mixed bag, overburdened with string arrangements and backing vocals. Even so, it’s an enjoyable album, with standout tracks like “Outubro”, a melancholic Nascimento original with vocals by the leaders; the plaintive “Morro Velho” featuring Orquestra Ouro Preto; and “Get It By Now”, a composition with a wonderful unexpected harmonic reversal. [Nov 2024, p.65]

A few tracks stand apart: "Story Of OJ" and "Mercy Me" both impress for verve and venom if not his every chain of thought. Otherwise it's all so dry that after a couple of listens it feels more like spoken word. [Sep 2017, p.62]

The result is an often awkward assemblage of trial and error decisions that either allow the tracks to keep their era’s verve or attempt to punch things up in a modern sense, where the cut-off date is the mid-90s. ... All is not lost, though. It’s insightful to hear where Davis was heading with sleek arrangements such as “Give It Up” and “Maze”. [Dec 2019, p.65]

Ultimately Plantasia is often hard to love for the music itself. It was released several years after more evocative pieces for the Moog had already been released – from Perrey and Kingsley, Dick Hyman and even Garson himself – but it remains beloved as an amusing curiosity first and foremost, and for good reason. [Dec 2019, p.66]

It's a shame that such moments [lyrics that objectify and highlight abuse toward women] can so completely mar an album, as Banner is on sparklingly articulate lyrical form elsewhere. [Sep 2008, p.66]

Wong knows that to build up this depth of texture he has to restrict the harmonic content, but endless repetition of pentatonic scales played very fast by 100 Fender Tele-wielding Wong doppelgangers loses it lustre as a listening experience some considerable time before the 16th track reaches its conclusion. [Feb 2012, p.68]

It is a difficult task to understand just what the fuss is about. [#236, p.72]

Musically it’s mannered to the point where he makes Stormzy look like Tempa T. Token exceptions offer some respite. On “Location” with Burna Boy and “Disaster” with J Hus he briefly escapes the bland backing and naff counselling concept to explore more primal modes of expression. But ultimately the failures predominate, most notably ten minutes of the heavy handed domestic violence PSA “Lesley”. [May 2019, p.50]

93696 is their sixth to date and, in many ways, it still sounds like music made to illustrate a theory. [Apr 2023, p.56]

This is the sort of shtick that the band have been pulling for over two decades, and it's as earnest and laudable as ever. ... Though, the band could also do with a sonic rehaul. [Oct 2017, p.53]

2 Chainz moves around the sort of eclectic brat selection that Lil Wayne was devouring in the mid-2000s. [Nov 2013, p.66]

[He] sticks to the basic formula: modernizations of the sort of proto-trap Memphis riot music that defined his early career... but never transcendent. [Nov 2013, p.66]

The mood is subdued, the backing spare, meditative, but--as we've become used to with Bush--lacking in any adventurousness of spirit, at points, you could even describe it as late night jazz club tasteful. [Dec 2011, p.52]

At times this soundtrack feels like a library music album with umpteen variations of the same cue, at different speeds and edit times – but the piano-led “Strodes At The Hospital”, the guitar solos and growling synth bass of “Hallway Madness” and the many moods of “It Needs To Die” are moments of fresh interest. [Dec 2021, p.61]

The results are a little underwhelming. Lyrical themes are repeated throughout the album and the feeling that something is missing compared to the projects that came before is hard to ignore. This might be due to having become accustomed to hearing Mike as part of a duo; but also that since 2012 he has been rapping over El-P's beats, which are a big part of RTJ's appeal and an effective platform for his vocals. [Aug 2023, p.54]

Vol 3 finds Sean C at the helm, resulting in a batch which sounds clunky at times, but works perfectly at others. [Dec 2020, p.66]

It sometimes seems too restrained, too polite. [Dec 2011, p.62]

The mixes (on the second disc) reinforce the strength and weaknesses of Pyramids, not only showcasing their craftmanship in the surface of sound, but also insinuating that there might not be much beyond these sculped surfaces. [July 2008, p.55]

There’s far more US punk in this music (you’re often reminded of The Descendents and The Dictators) than UK punk and, considering we live in the age of Bob Vylan, much of the album sounds too retrograde. I would have loved more of the angriness, and some quality control on the inherent defeatism/smirk of band name and album title. [Aug 2021, p.65]

This mood of rocking-chair wistfulness becomes soporific, and there are times when, frankly, the mind, unjabbed by the sort of stimulus that was once Byrne & Eno's stock in trade, begins to wander. [Oct 2008, p.54]

As it is, it's a new Godspeed album and it's a good one, but when you have set your standards as high as they have, it can only seem like a failure. [Nov 2012, p.59]

The new, mature De La means traditional pop over brash artistry, religion over irony, and conformity over the extraordinary. [#215, p.59]

His unfocused ire dominates every inch of space. It's frustrating because the best tracks here deftly whirl together seemingly disparate styles. [Dec 2012, p.61]

The album doesn't wear so well over time. [Mar 2013, p.50]