Whilst a gift for converting arrogance into entertainment has always been one of Jay-Z’s strongest suits, Kingdom Come skirts perilously close to the showboating that marred 2002’s bloated double album, The Blueprint 2.

This fourth album is straining toward a more commercial sound, but pop crossover needs hit songs and F&M's best moments are still driven by ace rhythm section Matt Hainsby and Lee Adams. [Feb 2011, p.87]

They're pop-culture-versed update on the Gravesiggaz, murky collective efforts like "NY (Ned Flanders)" popping with grisly imagination. [Jun 2012, p.80]

Johns eliminates the melodramatic slow builds and punches up the groove quotient, much as he did for Ryan Adams on the similarly melancholy Heartbreaker. [Mar 2011, p.85]

There are plenty of deft touches but it's perhaps too knowing to truly connect, to sketchy to reward deep listening. [Jul 2014, p.80]

Much of this is rather pedestrian ska with blandly topical lyrics referencing populism, social media and hashtags. However, "Remember Me" winds and grinds appealingly. [Nov 2017, p.36]

There are some strong cuts but even Pollard, who appeared more energised on his recent solo LP Of Course You Are, sounds a little tired by the enterprise. [Jun 2016, p.74]

Manners is impressively slick and sparky but probably just a little too toothpaste fresh. [Jun 2009, p.93]

If Matt Pike's current group High On Fire are a little less singular than Om, in thrall to the dark trash of Slayer and Celtic Frost, five albums have semn them chisel out their own grizzled, imposing image. [May 2010, p.90]

A robust if not radically groundbreaking set of hook-laden heartland Americana with occasional detours into college indie rock. [Oct 2019, p.39]

This, assembled by Menahan Street Band guitarist Tom Brenneck, painstakingly recreates the tropes of classic '60s Southern soul--impassioned vocals, shimmering guitars and fruity horns. [Mar 2010, p.85]

The highlights of their third album appear to have been forged rather than recorded. [Aug 2012, p.69]

Behind the hype and the swagger, he's still baring enough of his soul for The Eminem Show to be compelling theatre. [Aug 2002, p.118]

All the usual Madness fixtures are present--the jaunty ska-meets-Motown rhythms, the tricksy chromatic chord changes, the well-crafted narratives. What much of the album lacks is any kind of heart. [Dec 2016, p.32]

If at times it's a little too knowing for its own good, the music itself is less claustrophobic than before. [Nov 2007, p.121]

In short, a glittering sign reading "business as usual"--even if it’s not a return to adventurous Kylie gold.

Canning's default setting is a distorted, drone-laden, melodic indie rock that recalls My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth, but he also goes off on some interesting tangents. [Oct 2008, p.81]

A hazy, boozy affair that threatens to collapse at any time but is buoyed by good-times psychedelic pub-rock chuugers. [Oct 2008, p.105]

Despite the odd dreamy detour into girl-group psych-pop, this slender 10-tracker is bulked out with a little too much autopilot retro-kitsch filler. [May 2016, p.79]

The results are almost too intimate to bear. [Jun 2018, p.33]

A little may go a long way with Telepathe, but there's enough variety here to reward repeated listening.

It sometimes feels a little pedestrian, though Jurado excels when upping the pace. [Jun 2018, p.28]

Bits and pieces, even within the album's successful tracks, are overcooked and threatens to capsize the project into mere camp or noodly instrumental preening. [Feb 2011, p.91]

City Awakenings mostly retains the meatier arrangements of MacIntyre's solo work. [Feb 2012, p. 92]

Phil Manley's first solo album presents as a homage to the spirit and sound of mid-'70s German Electronic rock. [Feb 2011, p.90]

There's still a tendency to over-emote with superfluous melisma. But when she's at her starkest and most haunting, accompanied by little more than Beste's piano on "Faded" and "Leave You In Yesterday," she hits the spot unerringly. [Sep 2016, p.76]

With a bit of self-pruning, a bit MORE risk and space in the production, he might have TRULY self-reinvented. [May 2002, p.90]

Argentinian rockers Los Enanitos Verdes turn "Travelin' Band" into a turbocharged burst of bilingual tropical rockabilly, and Spanish singing star Bunbury adds a thrilling salsa dance workout to "Corre Por La Jungla." [Nov 2016, p.40]

The spread, encompassing piano and mellotron, is pretty; the songs rather maudlin. [Sep 2013, p.85]

The prevalent mood is somewhat dour, and the loss of Steve Shelley blunts some of the dynamism in Disappears' dogged repetitions. [Nov 2013, p.69]

Some of the arrangements are busier than they need to be. [Mar 2012, p.89]

The lungs are in good shape here. [Sep 2009, p.86]

Across the record's 12 tracks, it's never entirely clear what the group are aiming for: anthemic indie rock by numbers, more introspective songs or something heavier. [Sep 2019, p.26]

NIO seem more intent on gazing at shoes than stars. [Apr 2004, p.92]

[French Touch] feels like a soft option. Yet there's no denying the chic sophistication with she delivers stripped-down versions of hits associated with Patsy Cline, The Rolling Stones, Tammy Wynette, Lou Reed, Depeche Mode, the Clash and Abba. [Nov 2017, p.24]

A collection that feels more art project than album. [Nov 2012, p.71]

This is folk music given the widescreen treatment and a crisp, modern sheen. [Oct 2011, p.91]

Where the album suffers, however--especially in comparision to the Jenny Lewis record--is the absence of any real lyrical verve or personality. [Aug 2008, p.94]

It's a concept album about vengeance and contempt, and reminds that they're one of the only UK bands of their era still worth following. [June 2008, p.86]

The sheer depth of ideas is impressive, but the result is exhausting. [Jun 2020, p.33]

There's much to admire here, but Flume needs to fix his identity. [Mar 2013, p.72]

Despite some interesting -co-writes with the likes of Walter Becker, it never achieves lift-off. [Apr 2009, p.82]

Their treacly heaviness still courses through pop cuts. [Jul 2017, p.23]

Although the title track holds a sliver of adventure with its fizzing electronic flourishes, the absence of evolution elsewhere reveals a band hanging too tightly on to the past. [Jun 2016, p.81]

Fiendishly clever, but not easy to love. [Oct 2009, p.104]

The long-running project of Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel, also of venerable indie-rockers Three Mile Pilot, BHP peddle a slo-mo country gloom, songs of heartbreak and religious dread conducted at a desultory limp. [Dec 2009, p. 85]

From a band as previously as stylishly provocative and adventurous as Goldfrapp, these knowing cliches and lush pastiches suggest a band playing it distinctly safe. [Apr 2010, p.88]

While James Murphy's homages are leavened with irony and discrete heartache, Dear is more po-faced than pomo. [Sep 2012, p.75]

A set of faintly sad songs so minimal that they're often barely there at all. [May 2005, p.96]

The vibe is mid-'60s grindhouse. [Jan 2026, p.25]

There's little evidence [of reinvention] on a collection of soul-pop ballad s that sound like Jay Kay singing the James Blunt songbook. [Oct 2011, p.93]

While its faintly folkish, alt.pop songs fail to reveal any feral side to the bassist of Bombay Bicycle Club, they prove his compositional chops while radiating a pleasantly frosted glow. [Mar 2017, p.40]

Their third LP reveal a sweary rock toughness that suits them (surprisingly) well. [Nov 2008, p.120]

In this mood, 57 minutes with Barnes is exhausting. [Mar 2012, p.94]

It's undeniably awe-inspiring and effective stuff, nut for fans, there's a sense of well-worn tropes entering half-life. [May 2016, p.76]

Rosen and Nicolaus stride forth as songsmiths of a much more assured vintage, harp, piano, brass and chocolatey harmonies coming together in vividly orchestrated numbers. [Nov 2008, p.94]

There's a less scrappy approach on this album, a glossier production with more realised and experimental offerings. [Jun 2017, p.28]

This is a fairly functional set of no-nonsense instrumental cyber-boogie that lives up to its title by bucking and slithering across the dancefloor in an elegant if anonymous fashion. [Jun 2016, p.75]

Six albums in, they remain fond of that very Swans pursuit of ecstasy through repetition. [Jul 2013, p.69]

This, their sole album, is a curious beast, reminiscent of The Lounge Lizards or Devo, but defiantly its own thing. [Nov 2011, p.98]

The music does not so much take off as forever taxi toward the boundary fence. [Dec 2013, p.70]

It's an uninspiring ending to a record that it's best faces up to some pretty downbeat truths and thus seems to fit right into the current national mood.

There's nothing here as good as 'Nosebleed,' the standout from 2007's "Our Earthly Pleasures"--but there are still some good points here. [Jun 2009, p.92]

It's manically busy, demanding you strain to find the tune beneath layers of mellotrons, flutes and timpani. [Jul 2010, p.115]

It's hard going, but one can only applaud the ambition. [Jun 2010, p.83]

Both fierce and mellow, this is smooth-jazz with an alluringly punky heart. [Sep 2011, p.96]

Overall there's a sense of a moment having passed. [Oct 2006, p.123]

Oczy Mlody continues the Lips' longstanding mission to explore the joy and sadness of simple human consciousness, so that even when the album loses its footing--which it does, often--it never loses its way. [Feb 2017, p.34]

It's both Gothic and arch, meaningless and amusing. [Nov 2006, p.110]

The results have a clinical, cerebral appeal, but--perhaps predictably--sometimes fail to deliver instinctive musical kicks. [Mar 2007, p.100]

Aside from the Ryan Adams-esque "Bonfires." on their second album the more scruffy, down home elements of Alberta Cross' 2009 debut have been buffed to a stadium sheen. [Sep 2012, p.71]+

Lekman makes the kind of Nick Hornby-ish "perfect pop" that no one actually listens to. Which is a pity, because his lyrics are Cole Porter witty, and his major-key songcraft delicious. [Nov 2007, p.110]

The Blondes' expansive synth jams can sometimes feel a little directionless. [Mar 2012, p.81]

Wells favours minimal lyrics and skeletal, looping arrangements that an feel overly austere, but the improvised viola scraps and sampled splash of New Orleans jazz on "A Quiet Life" show an evolution towards Matthew Herbert territory. [May 2018, p.30]

Wilson's chord changes are as heart-wrenching as ever, and bathed in heavenly harmonies. [May 2015, p.84]

In short, it needs a rigorous editor. [Feb 2005, p.94]

A measured set. [Jan 2017, p.23]

The saturation bombing technique is only partly successful. [Nov 2006, p.123]

Only on "Hooting And Howling" and "All The Kings' Men" do you catch the sharp, hot stink of their once feral presence. [Mar 2018, p.35]

Pleasant, but hardly original. [Dec 2011, p.90]

Some tracks suffer, not from a lack of inherent quality but from the fact that you've already heard any number of perfectly decent, faithful reading of them. [Feb 2012, p.88]

He's been inspired by the Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout, but in truth the synthetic textures and drum machines bring to mind a more downbeat Bruce Hornsby. [May 2018, p.33]

Cohesion, The Men have clearly decided, is not their bag. [Apr 2013, p.73]

Russell was always more super-sessioneer and songwriter than vocalist, and the rasp of advancing years does little for over-familiar pieces like "Fever" and "Georgia On My Mind." Better are more personal favorites like Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind" and Mose Allison's "Fool's Paradise." [Jul 2014, p.80]

Alas, genuinely surprising moments are scarcer on much of Wallop, with rudimentary workouts outnumbering the fresher like of "$50 Million" and its super-charged Chic groove. [Oct 2019, p.23]

Mileage left in the gag yet. [Apr 2005, p.108]

The odd gauche moment remains, but her plaudits are not undeserved. [Mar 2012, p.98]

Four albums in, and Cold War Kids still feel like a band trying to decide what they are. [May 2013, p.69]

Might be a primer for his various selves, so redolent are individual tracks of previous songs. [Jun 2004, p.92]

There's still a noisy edge to the group and some moments do shine, such as the LCD Soundsystem-like "Welcome To Hell" or the sneering "I'm Sick," but largely the album feels a little lost and confused. [Dec 2016, p.26]

It's hard to shake the sensation that the band have become rather more ordinary as a result [of the departure of Frank Carter.] [Nov 2012, p.73]

Ultimately though, Tennis are too polished and MOR to rival the peaks of the trio's edgier peers. [Mar 2012, p.101]

Apostle Of Hustle have now all but abandoned the Cuban mores of earlier albums in favour of a lean, bass-driven powerpop. [Sep 2009, p.79]

These are songs all at once cavernous and claustrophobic, substantially assembled from gloomy electronica and echoing drums, all of which provides an appropriate backdrop to a rich voice appealingly laced with melancholy. [Oct 2017, p.30]

If there's a whiff of C86-styled whimsy in this debut, then its savvy more than compensates. [Sep 2011, p.89]

When it's not straining for Significance, though, Viva La Vida is often rather lovely.

Other tracks hide catchier tunes amid the quagmire of guitar. [Mar 2012, p.79]

It's frequently impressive and occasionally lovely, but often loses its soul in Emmanuel's relentless barrage of spectacular effects. [Mar 2012, p.107]