Lush as it sometimes is, too often disappears into an indecipherable cloud of smoke. [Apr 2020, p.30]

Collapse Into Now can only sound like an afterthought, but it nevertheless one which bristles and fizzes with invigorating qualities of wit and fury. [Apr 2011, p.76]

The pulse of the blues still beats deep in his soul but the emphasis here is on Taylor's poetic sensibility on an emotionally charged set of songs loosely dealing with the darker side of the human heart. [Sep 2009, p.96]

It has a peculiar charm. [May 2011, p.77]

Air Museums doesn't quite have the same freewheeling energy of Moebius and Roedelius' pioneering kosmische, and at time the music seems to hang oppressively in the air rather, instead of questing forward. [Jun 2011, p.91]

An auspicious introduction. [March 2002, p.96]

Affairs of the heart dominate Batmanglij's lyrics which, when combined with his unfeasibly Christmassy production across all 15 tracks, tends to leave the listener gasping for air. [Oct 2017, p.39]

It's an intense, at times crazed live-in-studio session. [Aug 2011, p.104]

A deceptively sweet concoction. [Aug 2010, p.79]

It can sometimes feel like a band trying on a variety of hats, although the songs themselves generally ring true, anthemic and delivered with a fistful of grit. [Apr 2020, p.30]

The only thing lacking is a sense of rhythmic discipline, without which these overlong - and occasionally overwrought - songs can tend towards the self-indulgent. [Jan 2010, p. 123]

Strictly for the committed. [May 2011, p.80]

On "Operator Error" and "Less From You", the duo nimbly reintegrate the post-punk and power-pop elements of their mid-'00s selves with the more avidly dance-oriented direction of the band's last decade. [Apr 2023, p.38]

For an international pop act on a major label, this is a daring album. [May 2005, p.109]

You're willing him to succeed, but ultimately it's hard to listen to a lot of this album without cringing. [Aug 2010, p.78]

It might be playful, and it might be versatile, but however light-hearted it may sound initially, it ends up sounding serious.

They've mastered the basics, but still have miles to go. [May 2017, p.26]

Cabic’s limited vocal powers are part of the problem. His dusty delivery is allusive when wrapped in instrumental swirls--asked to front up a song, it sounds merely flat.

Theirs is a sophisticated, finely nuanced sound, lynchpin Aaron Turner's vocals notwithstanding. [Jun 2009, p.88]

Sometimes it's grating - "The Ocean" could be a Belinda Carlisle album track - but the supremely catchy likes of first single "Hell" deserves daytime radio ubiquity. [Jan 2010, p. 131]

While this is a deeply experimental record, it is also subtly stunning in parts. [Jan 2025, p.31]

It's a potent combination and one made all more alluring by their refusal to settle for one chorus when about 12 all being played at once will do. [Nov 2007, p.98]

As an artistic exercise, it's interesting enough. [Nov 2023, p.33]

Best are tunes that showcase Cash's plainspoken lyricism and mould his musing into fully formed songs. [May 2018, p. 37]

Musically it's toytown folk, like Jonathan Richman with out the complicated buts, but Green's narrative lyrics grow increasingly weird and witty, recalling early '70s Lou Reed. [Feb 2010, p.86]

On her 2019 debut album Keepsake, Harriette Pilbeam, who records as Hatchie, showed an inclination to take her shoegaze-infused pop onto the dancefloor. That’s something continued on Giving The World Away. [Jun 2022, p.28]

[A] slight tendency toward wishy-washiness is kept at bay through deft deployment of collaborators. [Mar 2015, p.81]

Ultimately, Cardinology serves as another minor indictment of Adams’ famously lackadaisical internal editor. Neveretheless, it is still, almost infuriatingly, a stretch better than most people at their best.