The Feist-like 'My Favourite book' and the triumphant 'Today Will Be Better, I Swear!' are songs of rare craft but you'll need to suspend disbelief to make it through to curtain-down. [Nov 2007, p.123]

There's no denying the wind-rush thrill of the title track, nor the malevolent pull of "Fall Out Of Love," but you'd expect such a capable band to disguise their affection for MBV, Ride and Kitchens of Distinction rather better on their second album. [Jan 2014, p.78]

Effective, if not quite thrilling. [May 2018, p.30]

Their heart is evident; they need to find their voice. [Oct 2009, p.115]

Oddball, but articulate, brimming over with a delight in language, "Bury" is a wonderful example of Mark Smith's transformative science fiction, and pretty much what one would hope to find on The Fall's first album for Domino records.

Its fuggy electronics and lyrical non sequiturs not giving up their secrets easily. Still, a few moments stand out. [Nov 2018, p.32]

There’s a sweet sadness to the end-of-relationship duet with Dave Gahan on “Stop Speaking”, but while the melancholy romantic meditations of other tracks can also be initially intriguing, the songs then lack the peaks and troughs to keep you from disengaging. [Jun 2022, p.29]

As always, her lyrics are unambiguous - too on-the-nose for some - but there's an admirable unfussiness to it all. [Apr 2020, p.23]

Intriguing. [Mar 2020, p.27]

No prizes for adventurism, but bracingly fat-free, with attitude in spades. [Apr 2014, p.77]

The band must from time to time stray from their stomping ground of doomed sailors and pining maidens, but one hopes the band will not steer too close to plain old indie rock. [May 2011, p.96]

It's only the Can-meets-Canned-Heat avant-boogie of "Bees" and "Barnowl" that escape a sense of academic contrivance. [May 2005, p.95]

Exhilarating or jarring, depending on taste. [Dec 2016, p.26]

All too often, though, slick jams such as "Drugs" and "Party With Children" resemble library tracks, exercises in style that pirouette exquistely, but shy away from becoming anything meaningful. [Aug 2010, p.93]

Scialfa's third is the most complete and satisfying of her career, the lyrical candor matched by the open-ended optimism of the band which weaves doo wop, gospel and rockabilly influences into a convincing whole. [Oct 2007, p.102]

Dr. Dog have stepped up to the plate for the fifth album and hits a homer. [Sep 2008, p.88]

It's bracingly experimental throughout, if a little difficult to fully love. [Jun 2017, p.30]

Seductively decaddent, but a feeling that The Raveonettes are living on borrowed time persists. [Nov 2009, p.99]

Born In The Echoes feels a bit Chemical Brothers by numbers. [Aug 2015, p.72]

There's nothing here to surprise anyone familiar with Mogwai's chiefly instrumental, epic soundscaping. [Mar 2005, p.120]

Retro-kosmische pastiche is now firmly established as a lazy good-taste signifier, but it does not excuse mundane plodders such as "Turncoat" or "Motorbath." Thankfully, Soft Error move beyond retro-hipster orthodoxy on their best tracks. [Feb 2017, p.38]

It may be no great leap forward, but on this showing Nelson can still produce graceful electronica with a rare poise and reserve. [Mar 2009, p.95]

This affinity with Muse is impossible to escape on pounding epics like "That Golden Rule" and "Mountains," but the slight personal "God & Satan" and intriguingly angular "Born On A Horse" offer respite from the bombast, while Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme brings a welcome touch of class to "Bubbles." [Feb 2010, p.79]

Gore's brittle choirboy voice lacks the depth and grandeur of Gahan's, but he still gamely takes on some adventurous choices. [Jun 2003, p.108]

Despite the scattered and itinerant nature of the process, there's a pleasing coherence and warmth to the record. [Apr 2023, p.26]

It is definitely deserving of the cult status that it will inevitably earn. [Dec 2004, p.138]

It's certainly more assured and less wilfully angsty than Cast Of Thousands. However, it still lacks the special unified mood or thread of Asleep. [Oct 2005, p.110]

The seven unnamed tracks here are often surprisingly straightforward in form given the two musicians' penchant for demolishing conventions. [Jan 2018, p.22]