The songs may work better in short, sudden bursts; over 11 tracks, you can feel bludgeoned by the band's blunt force. [Apr 2005, p.112]

Gleefully adulterated here with generous slugs of dubstep, dancehall, rock, R&B, baile funk and anything else that fits the fervent party mood. [Jan 2012, p.82]

Ironically, the straight country of Jessi Colter's 'I'm Looking For Blue Eyes,' suits her best, while the busted drones and banjos of Julie Miller's 'Orphan Train' suggest there is better still to come. [Apr 2008, p.98]

It proves a diverting tour round Seeger's perennial concerns. [Jan 2008, p.111]

Grainger's first solo outing swaps the lascivious intensity of his former outfit for a rakish new wave ramalam somewhere between Cheap Trick and The Strokes' "First Impression of Earth." [Apr 2009, p.86]

His voice isn't built for such poignancy. This is a 74-year-old's dance record, not an elegy. [Jul 2018, p.27]

It's one of the most straight-up enjoyable records they've put out in a long time. [May 2011, p.88]

Wit's end is so sparse and downbeat that it occasionally verges on the drab. [May 2011, p.91]

It's craftily composed, and on individual tracks like "24-25," sparely beautiful but cumulatively lacking some of the spice of their side-projecvct affairs. [Nov 2009, p.90]

The strident approach... doesn't quite work. [Jul 2005, p.100]

Warnings/Promises was written on acoustic guitar and fleshed out in the studiio--a tactic that bears mixed results. [Apr 2005, p.97]

The only consistent thing about Infiniheart is its inconsistency. [Sep 2005, p.116]

Fair play to Jones, He's a trier. [Sep 2010, p.96]

The devil is in the detail--and Skinner's devilish side is his most appealing.[Oct 2008, p.108]

Though Lucky One is his first collection of orginal material in seven years, it's still rooted firmly in Malo's familiar enthusiasms. [Apr 2009, p.91]

There's a sense that it trawls the finest moments of his 15-year carreer. [Jul 2009, p.93]

There's a whole gamut of compressed pop guitar stylings; some leap out, others don't. [Feb 2011, p.95]

The Pet Shop Boys and Ladytron have elbowed their urbane ways into his affections, but Maps makes the move sound more like a case of personal growth than populist payoff. [Oct 2009, p.104]

Amid this poor material, the Chili Peppers still manage t deliver a handful of very very good songs. [Sep 2011, p.86]

A band slowly escaping the weight of their still-obvious influences. [Aug 2005, p.104]

When the adrenalin stops pumping, the reality is that labelmates The Constantines do this stuff much more effectively. [Dec 2006, p.118]

Arguably, they are a little one-paced and some looseness would not have gone amiss--but the candid, striking honest lyrics about sex and love bear the strain. [Jul 2017, p.26]

It's a partially successful approach that starts promisingly with the disco trust of "Never Let Me go" and "Night People," but the plodding tempo begins to drag, and by "Single Minded" the listener feels worn out. [May 2011, p.88]

While there's not any unity of occasion to speak of, the cover of "Arms Aloft" by Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros is an impressively galvanising opener, new material sitting comfortably alongside older, more diffuse cuts. [Feb 2011, p.95]

It moves somewhat uneasily through Celtic folk and rural string music. [May 2011, p.92]

A promising opening gambit. [Sep 2011, p.89]

A faithful if condensed cover of Yes' "Heart Of The Sunrise," sweetly sung by Drozd, concludes what is essentially a likeable frivolity, and a stop gap before their next Flaming masterwork. [Sep 2014, p.73]

It's not a disaster, by any means.... It's just that, over 13 songs, it's abundantly clear that whatever the potency of this partnership, there's an old lack of range. [Jul 2005, p.89]