Possibly a grower, this album is certainly better than anything Macca's done for some while. [Jan 2002, p.131]

Whether she'll increase her fanbase on this second album by cloaking her naked ambition in the character of a self-obsessed bunny boiler called Electra Heart remains to be seen, but she's certainly given it everything. [May 2012, p.78]

For all this sonic broad-mindedness, the Twins' ideas are piled on a lightweight core, and good luck making sense of the lyrics. [Jul 2005, p.104]

Hayes sounds comfortably cocooned in her familiar musical skin with little need to venture outside the safety zone. [Nov 2012, p.75]

Pete & The Pirates have a handful of great pop songs to balance out the weight of their obvious influences. [Mar 2008, p.97]

For once they look to be towing the line rather than drawing it a new. [Jan 2011, p.85]

Exposed and vulnerable, Funk has seldom sounded so sensible. [Apr 2014, p.78]

The snarling Creedence-style rock is typical, but Golightly also does beautifully as a balladeer on "River Of Tears." [Jun 2011, p.85]

Come Down With Me seems slightly out of step in 2010, harking back to a time at the turn of the millennium where Tortoise and Tarwater were still the names to drop, but you can nonetheless appreciate its glistening geometry. [Mar 2010, p.84]

Very much string-drenched business as usual: sometimes lovely, sometimes perilously close to self-parody. [Jul 2003, p.129]

Another melodic, meticulous, faintly redundant restoration job. [Jul 2006, p.90]

A likeable, modest debut. [Oct 2007, p.101]

Luckily, the music, a tapestry of harmonica, bass clarinets and bamboo flutes, is a florid, textured joy. [Jan 2011, p.86]

Clanging rockers, elegant ballads, and yearning epics are testement to their diversity, while James Walsh has almost managed to lose the bleat in his voice that used to drive Starsailor's critics to distraction. [Apr 2009, p.99]

Some of the beats do feel a little dated, and sometimes veer toward the rigidity of trip hop. [May 2012, p.69]

For the Black Crowes, this is an inspired move, maximising their virtues (virtuosity, passion, guilelessness) and minimising their principal flaw (the fact that it all starts to feel a bit silly if you stop to think about it).

Fear is best when Cowgill strips things back. [Jul 2014, p.6]

Heavy Blanket should weed out the part-timers. [Aug 2012, p.73]

It can feel a little slack-jawed, its dreaminess concealing slight lack of substance. [Sep 2014, p.71]

Happily her rugged individuality matches up to the grandstanding platform. [Oct 2013, p.71]

The overwhelming sense is of a group needlessly hobbling themselves. [Jun 2006, p.110]

Live may well be the best place to encounter them. [Feb 2007, p.73]

Essentially this is Korn returning to their familiar discomfort zone. [Dec 2013, p.70]

The lack of variety and formulaic production give this a wholly generic flavour. [Apr 2018, p.27]

Without recourse to crossover tricks, it's arguably more consistent than 50's last outing, although topics--guns, beef, money--may leave you wondering what rap has become. [Oct 2008, p.90]

Although it's hardly Green's fault, Mark Ronson's retro-soul ubiquity makes this record sound less fresh than it otherwise might have. [Jan 2011, p.86]

Where once were "chat-up lines and stairwells" ("Take Me There"), beige luxury apartments now stand. [Jul 2018, p.24]

There are some great passages of live-wire electronica, but more often it's strangely lacking any aura or elemental spark. [Oct 2016, p.39]