The perfect soundtrack to summer in the city. [Oct 2002, p.111]

As unoriginal as his previous five, yet still entertaining. [Mar 2003, p.106]

Introspection clearly suits him. [Nov 2006, p.119]

Over time, vocalist Aaron Ross stands out as the weak link, his voice merely shrill and average. [Apr 2007, p.102]

Best enjoyed with your brain set to simmer, it's harmlessly high-octane fun. [Dec 2007, p.119]

The Rapture have picked themselves up with a third album packed with ragged romps every bit as joyous as "house Of Jealous Lovers," their 2002 breakthrough. [Oct 2011, p.95]

This Is Christmas [is] neither turkey nor cracker but a sweetly silly trifle. [Jan 2012, p.86]

Orfeo's spare soundscape can sometimes seem a bit frugal, but Hield proves a versatile frontwoman. [Aug 2012, p.73]

Afropop sparkle to jazzy bounce and shoe gaze shimmer, but too often these exotic ingredients feel like undigested dilettante dabblings. [May 2013, p.74]

Slender and strange, Await Barbarians once more finds the singer on the back foot, his default position, peering cautiously at the things around him. [Jul 2014, p.81]

Accomplished rather than exciting. [Jul 2015, p.83]

Intriguing album. ... Lyrically, the prevailing atmosphere is reflective. [Jun 2017, p.28]

There's certainly a highly evocative quality to the stoned, sun-dappled soul found here. [May 2020, p.25]

Unpredictability is its greatest asset. [Dec 2021, p.31]

The songs here are country rock, unadorned and sensitively played, nestled around Young's lovely acoustic take on Barn's "Song OF The Seasons." Inevitably, Young's influence proliferates. [May 2023, p.31]

Campbell respects the original material's emotional temperature but glams it up with fizzing synths, strobe-light bass and woozy rhythms. [Sep 2025, p.27]

And though it sometimes plays safe, Hard Candy could be her most unpretentious and consistently enjoyable pop record since Like A Virgin.

Her gusto is undeniable. Sadly, the abundance of karaoke-night misfires among the 30 tracks makes Rockstar such a slog. [Jan 2024, p.34]

Frivolous but elegant. [Feb 2014, p.75]

Two years and two million album sales later- and minus raffish bassist Max Rafferty--their sugar-rush enthusiasm has dissolved almost entirely.

They might've allowed the collage more space to breathe, for the bandwidth is densely layered to bursting with blissed-out sampling; but the rapture makes it churlish to complain. [Feb 2014, p.80]

It's a fine effort in a heavily populated field. [Jul 2013, p.76]

Their treacly heaviness still courses through pop cuts. [Jul 2017, p.23]

The endless drug references now seem calculating rather than risque, while the daft lyrics simply grate. [Apr 2006, p.106]

Love 2 is a cinematic affair--but not in a good way. [Oct 2009, p.89]

Alt-J enter Kid A territory. The baroque synth pop of "In Cold Blood" and the kinky rockabilly of "Hit Me Like That Snare" are their only concessions to the arena. [Jul 2017, p.25]

Since the impact of their shtick has diminished from overuse, the shift toward a less hectic pace elsewhere is a wise one. [Jan 2018, p.26]

On her underwhelming second album, we realise how nu-sould would sound stripped of all sonic invention, mischief and sensuality. [Dec 2002, p.151]