For the most part, there is little here to take offense to.

The minimalist arrangements are still here. The bored baritone voice hasn't changed any. The personal-yet-guarded lyrics can be found throughout.

For a few glorious moments, our beloved Mancs have that swagger back.

This is an awesome, magnificent, incandescent, trailblazing record.

The high points are so fantastic that their missteps are easily forgiven.

The vicious licks laid down by Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker on "The Fox" are as punchy as anything I've heard them come up with, approaching something like Jack White if Jack White fell in love with The Experience instead of his Johnson. Amazingly, The Woods just picks up from there.

Face the Truth won me over by showing all the sides of Steve that drew me to him in the first place, along with a few new surprises.

Regardless of the modernist leanings of Kanye's techniques, the album retains an organic feel that rivals Com's hemp beanie and Erykah Badu's incense.

The music won't knock you on your ass, but the overall delivery is a real treat, if you go in for this sort of thing.

Those who like Mercury Rev like them a lot; so while The Secret Migration doesn't happen to migrate into new territory, they are the type of band that could go on making the same album forever and we wouldn't care.

Atmospheric, provocative, and uplifting.

Taking a step back and struggling with that always-expected "hot band" dilemma, Why? is coming to terms with his career as a musician. Judging from the quality of these eight songs, he appears to be handling it well.

Every track on Axes offers something exciting for those who care to listen.

It is phenomenal.

Weezer's once unique aesthetic has been replaced by something formulaic and ultimately too safe.

They accomplish what most rock bands only dream of: the subtle transcendence of genre, form, and the music itself.

This is not an album bent on changing the way one listens to music, but the way one listens to their self.

It's unfortunate that 13 & God neither succeeds nor fails.

This 18-track monster drives home one point more than any other: Ryan Adams needs a fucking editor.

Snaith covers a lot of bases on The Milk of Human Kindness and somehow it all works.

It's just a little sad to hear Mike giving in to conventionality, even if he does do it better than most.

This record is solid and merits a listening, particularly for fans of similar straight-ahead rockers like the Constantines.

The Further Adventures combines the absolute best aspects of well thought-out and researched studio work with the spontaneity and showmanship of live performance.

It doesn't have a whole lot of replay value.

Pierce sinks his heart into his music, and while that may not manifest in impassioned yelping or big rock riffs, the exquisiteness of his playing and songcraft make it apparent.

This is a record that only Darnielle could pull off: in the hands of a less skilled writer and vocalist, it would fall flat or grate the nerves as so much hyperemotional posturing.

Jayne is a lyricist with the cynical wit of a Stephen Malkmus, but rather than pointing that cynicism outward, he uses it to cut himself down a notch or two.

The music is often awesomely original.