Coming from a former punk goof, all this sentimentality feels somewhat po-faced. [Jul 2006, p.84]

The drawback, as ever, is Blunt’s warbly, whining, strangled voice, which sounds increasingly like a bad Weird Al Yankovic parody.

Parts of the album are perfectly serviceable but largely the songs become indistinguishable. [May 2019, p.26]

The first half's schmaltzy flight-themed concept and the cliche-stewn acoustic second half mean that take-off, to labour an already laboured concept, proves indefinitely delayed. [Sep 2011, p.105]

For those of us in love with Something/Anything and A Wizard, A True Star, recent Rundgren LPs have us squinting our ears, trying to locate the genius hidden behind obfuscating layers of electronic bluster. [May 2013, p.76]

That gloriously stupid clod-hopping mash-up formula remains. [Nov 2004, p.99]

Business as usual then--though any choice moments are somewhat let down by Roy Thomas Baker's sterile production and some badly dated keyboard sounds. [Oct 2014, p.80]

It's pleasing to come across a record that not only sounds old-fashioned, but whose author seems like a man of principle. [Nov 2007, p.108]

This is predictably slick and inoffensive stuff. [Dec 2007, p.90]

They cite Wagner as an influence, sharing his bombast but none of the drama. [Apr 2012, p.69]

Hardcore Poco-heads will reshaped group's Alll Fired Up.... The songwriting, though, is mere genre exercise, mostly, and thin on the ground. [Jun 2013, p.78]

Tough and determinedly sexed-up, here you'll find talk of beefs, booty and bitches, rather than brotherhood. Producers Neptunes and OutKast's Mr DJ oversee this exercise in alluringly moderne hip hop. [Oct 2008, p.83]

Most rewarding are the serene "Something to Shout About" and the cascading "Down On The Corner": respectively, the No 1 smash Electronic should have had and the massive hit a reformed Smiths still could. [Mar 2003, p.95]

There's little evidence [of reinvention] on a collection of soul-pop ballad s that sound like Jay Kay singing the James Blunt songbook. [Oct 2011, p.93]

The guitars still kick, but charm is thin on the ground. [Jul 2005, p.89]

The qualities that once made The Verve the nation's top anthemists are recognisably intact on this new effort, from its stately pace to its burnished sense of grandeur. [Feb 2006, p.70]

If the odd clunker remains ('Hostage Of Love' could be a Meatloaf out-take) Slipway Fires largely sees a return to the introspection of debut album "Up All Night."

A dozen songs of unremitting blandness by a man with absolutely nothing left to say. [Oct 2005, p.96]

One-hit wonders no more, White and de Martino now sound prepared for a big pop future. [Mar 2012, p.101]

Pushing The Senses is by no means soppy, but Feeder's young fanbase might need some convincing. [Feb 2005, p.76]

You'd be a curmudgeon on to hate such a soothing, well-produced brew, but an undemanding soul to hear it as more than aural wallpaper. [Jul 2010, p.115]

The tracks are so sparse and lo-fi as to fell half-finished, and Svenonius' smouldering delivery fails to catch fire. [Dec 2017, p.27]

A solid, by-the-numbers Billy Idol album. And that is both its triumph and its tragedy. [Apr 2005, p.99]

Despite some inventive electronic tinkering, the pose wears a bit thin through repetition. [Sep 2003, p.98]

"SuperRandom" might be a better name. [Nov 2011, p.98]

The downhome strum of "Stuck Like Glue" has a certain charm--at least until its horrific cod-dancehall break down--but fails to redeem a depressingly calculated record. [Mar 2011, p.101]

His most visceral album in years. [Jun 2021, p.28]

It's sleek, groomed and genetically engineered to within an inch of sonic perfection, but there's very little that's memorable. [Nov 2004, p.120]