Well; it could've been worse.

It's an awkward, not entirely likeable mix. [Jul 2005, p.106]

It excels at that classic pop trick of combining the euphoric with the melancholy. [Apr 2005, p.108]

Make no mistake, X&Y is an exceptional pop record. [Jul 2005, p.98]

If anything, though, this pop machine is too tightly drilled. [Jul 2005, p.94]

A slate-cleaning exercise that positively radiates contentment. [Jun 2005, p.102]

Hardly an alienating, experimental listen... White hasn't written such an accessible set of songs since 2000's De Stijl. [Album of the Month, Jul 2005, p.88]

Minimum Maximum is the sound of Kraftwerk shedding all previous skins and staking their claim on the now. [Jul 2005, p.106]

Though often pretty rather than memorable, there's enough vibrancy here to outlast the summer. [Jul 2005, p.90]

Captures their Tex-Mex boogie at full tilt. [Aug 2005, p.105]

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]

Finds Muller reviving a lush disco spirit he once discretely discarded. [Jul 2005, p.92]

The musical settings are crisp, spare, folksy, recalling '96's The Doctor Came At Dawn and allowing Callahan to play one of his best roles: a campfire-friendly Leonard Cohen. [Jun 2005, p.97]

The lack of urgency makes it feel like we're eavesdropping on a well-heeled Britpop Survivors Group rather than the site of fresh rock'n'roll alchemy. [Jun 2005, p.98]

Four Tet's epiphany is concerned entirely with the properties of sound itself. [Jun 2005, p.117]

Tosca is now... a band proper as well as a studio concern, and the change shows. [Jul 2005, p.106]

At times it's hard to see the point of such a meticulous homage to motorik.... Nevertheless, [it's] DIV's most aesthetically satisfying album. [Dec 2004, p.145]

A dazzlingly clever record--great beats, brilliant production, top tunes and some of Albarn's best singing. [Jun 2005, p.106]

This isn't mere sonic overload; Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein's vocals are still towering. [Jun 2005, p.107]

The likes of "Be Yourself" lack much of a dimension beyond 'Let's rock out!' [Aug 2005, p.105]

A real treat. [Jul 2005, p.92]

The confidence and unforced vigour of Face The Truth suggest Malkmus is happier on the margins of alt.rock than in its spotlight. [Jun 2005, p.112]

The record's feel, like West's College Dropout, offers a rich jukebox of gospel-tinged R&B flavours over which Common scatters his gems. [Aug 2005, p.97]

Accomplished but seldom inspired. [Aug 2005, p.106]

Mercury Rev's power is undiminished. While never resorting to crude hooks, they build melodies to peaks of graceful intensity. [Album of the Month, Jan 2005, p.114]

Confirms System Of A Down as one of the most innovative bands in modern rock. [Jun 2005, p.110]

Magic Time ultimately reveals itself to be the sort of strangely mixed bag that will be all too familiar to those who've hung on with patient, fervent belief through the '90s and beyond. [Jun 2005, p.114]