She presents another batch of intimately detailed songs – from the anxious ballad “Dreaming Of Falling” to the exultant rocker “Driver” – in sturdy, string-accented settings that seem wholly unified with her intentions. [Nov 2024, p.43]

Momentum sags somewhat over its lengthy duration - but it also unquestionably features some of their finest, and funkiest, work to date. [Apr 2026, p.34]

To some, Psychedelic Pill will seem like a monumental work of self-indulgence. To others, though, its heft and eccentricity make it one of the purest expressions of Young's genius to date.

Throne might be her boldest and most intimate statement yet. [Feb 2019, p.29]

Smith sounds revitalised (and often very amused), delivering his most emphatic vocals in years. [Mar 2007, p.76]

Drummer Bryan Devendorf’s rippling, muscular runs provide a racing human pulse over the programmed drums on “Tropic Morning News” and “New Order T-Shirt”, enliven the laidback “I Need My Girl” and supercharge “Lit Up” and the conjoined “Humiliation”/“Murder Me Rachael” during a torrid late-set run. He’s The National’s secret weapon, and Rome is his showcase. [Review of the Year 2024, p.34]

The retro flavours are only one strand of an alert, impressive collaboration. [Dec 2011, p.104]

The album captures both Matthew Houck's heartbreaking delivery--rendered even more gorgeously cracked by the strain of live performance--and the sinewy charm of his backing band. [Mar 2015, p.80]

For all the perversity, tracks like 'Stumble Out Of Bed' would ignite any dancefloor. [Apr 2009, p.80]

At two hours, it's a lot to stomach, but worth staying for the closing "Streets Of Fire," a love song that trickles tears over the end credits. [Apr 2012, p.87]

An album of tough-edged, passion-fuelled songs full of real emotion. [Jun 2002, p.109]

Helplessness Blues is as passionately desolate as anything on Closer, the record which documented Ian Curtis' romantic guilt and existential confusion. [Jun 2011, p.74]

The sort of herky, jerky new wave Molly Ringwald might have bopped to in The Breakfast Club. [Jun 2004, p.95]

For shredheads, there's urgent opener "The Static God," while the superb "Animated Violence" alternates between the album's twin moods of sustained guitar menace and reflective percussive ambience. [Sep 2017, p.35]

It's characterised by a delicate, hypnotic power with subtle light/shadow shifts. [Oct 2018, p.37]

The formula remains potent. [Aug 2015, p.71]

A record that grows on you slowly but surely. [May 2002, p.104]

If Texas is a deliberately ambiguous assessment of Crowell’s home state, it’s also a resounding endorsement of the enduring powers of its composer.

A sturdy, touching arrival. [Nov 2016, p.31]

Smart, sharp and endlessly stimulating. [May 2022, p.36]

A fearsome blast. [Jun 2006, p.100]

He's made one of his most uncompromisingly lovely albums, a tender notebook of pointillist electronics, deep waves of drone and ever ascending, yet melancholy, melody. [Dec 2018, p.23]

Consolidates the experimentation of 2002's Phrenology and the conscious snap of 1999's Things Fall Apart into a focused, intelligent record. [Oct 2006, p.123]

A characteristically indefinable collection guaranteed to please their larger continental fanbase. [Feb 2017, p.35]

Splic[es] savage wit and cynicism with hopefulness. [Apr 2017, p.28]

Not even this collaboration's most thunderous moments detract from the quieter power of the singer's frank, free-associative lyrics. [Apr 2016, p.74]

Mountains' skillful manipulation of texture and space creates a sound that stealthily envelopes you like an Appalachian fog. [mar 2009, p.92]

A bold endeavour with some genuine thrills. [Nov 2022, p.35]