The results sound as if Corgan plundered a few moves from Dave Grohl, since the songs keep one boot in heavy metal but mostly get straight to the point while piling on the hooks and harmonies. [Mar 2003, p.95]

A triumph indeed. [Sep 2003, p.102]

Amply demonstrates the man's craft, the inherent strength of apparently fragile blooms added extra ballast by painterly shades of guitar, piano and strings. [Apr 2003, p.105]

He may be treading water a little until he really gets into his groove as the 21st century Sondheim, but Distortion at its best is beguiling and quietly devastating.

D is a technical tour de force. [Jul 2011, p.89]

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.

Layered vocal effects and unexpected rhythms on tracks like "Messenger" and "Loud" reward repeated listens, while the pounding, jagged drums of "Caged Sleep" and blissed-out fuzz-pop of "Wheel" offer immediate satisfaction. [Jul 2020, p.39]

Variety is this album's strength. [Oct 2023, p.33]

Gone are the stark acoustics of his noughties output, replaced instead by a layered warmth and gorgeous, semi-orchestral settings that make him sound like a spiritual descendant of early '70s Laurel Canyon. [Feb 2014, p.77]

The mood is upbeat throughout; a joyous, non-stop chug through several shades of American popular song. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Curiously nonconformist to the last. [Jan 2021, p.27]

Despite occasional hints of tastefully anodyne sonic wallpaper, most of these painstaking musical haikus have a quietly potent and gently mesmerising beauty. [Jun 2019, p.29]

Though not as viscerally crushing as A Crow Looked At Me, Lost Wisdom Pt 2 is as plainly poetic. [Jan 2020, p.27]

It's clear we're in for an introspective ride, though the more major-key, upbeat nature of many of the record's arrangements belie these melancholy undertones. [Oct 2021, p.29]

One of their more purely enjoyable albums. [Mar 2023, p.25]

Blake's fragmented post-dubstep has always had an air of bleak melancholy, but nothing he's done has been quite as self-consciously miserable as this. [Nov 2021, p.25]

Frequently offers moments of joy. A wider range of live musicians – harp, clarinet, violin, vocal ensemble – give songs like “Collect Color” and “Big Dipper” room to breathe and lend sparser, more electronic-based tracks like “Violetlight” and “Heartwood” a sense of intimacy by comparison. [Nov 2024, p.37]

His fine fourth album sees him thicken his sound a little, layering jazzy brass and full-blooded surf-rock twangs over austere acoustic foundations. [Jul 2011, p.96]

Less outre than much of Patton's work. [Feb 2013, p.80]

Weirdly wonderful. [Jul 2015, p.78]

Her flow has a bratty edge and unhurried, authoritative core, capable of Philly soul sweetness on “Lo Rain”, or riding low, squelching beats on “IDGAF”. ... Meanwhile, “Let Me Be Great” isa pan-African firework display celebrating her rooted rebirth. [Oct 2022, p.34]

Now We Can See feels a sunnier listen, bracing indie-rock with few frills but a joyfully juvenile energy and choruses to spare. [Jun 2009, p.103]

These songs are pretty, but something intense seethes just beneath the surface. [Nov 2015, p.83]

Toledo offers dense, self-analytical lyrics and a style that take in everything from The Zombies to the Pet Shop Boys, ambitious in scope and clearly much agonised-over. [Dec 2015, p.69]

It's droll, evocative and occasionally moving. [Jun 2018, p.30]

The album isn't presented in chronological order, which makes it harder to discern changes in style and lineup, but does demonstrate the consistency of Wheeler's writing over a long period of time. [Mar 2020, p.43]

The fourth album from Speedy Ortiz crackles with typically furious energy - but there's a deftness which makes the band's polemics as fun to listen to as they are powerful. [Nov 2023, p.33]

Though still hyper-literate, the sound away from the semi-spoken ballads tends less frantic than The Hod Steady, from the Cars-like new wave of "postcards" to the distinctly Springstonian "Luke & Leanna". [May 2025, p.29]