It's grisly. [Sep 2009, p.90]

The results are risible but the joke is no longer funny. [Feb 2003, p.77]

[A] fruitless bid to affect euphoria. [Apr 2005, p.97]

At its best, Margins is unobtrusively impressive. [Nov 2010, p.101]

Tourist begins earnestly... and continues through 11 torpid ballads, drained of all their earlier quirks, seemingly laboratory-designed for those who find Keane too edgy. [Feb 2005, p.83]

Ten years on, that Britpop hangover won't shift. [Oct 2008, p.81]

It almost works. [Nov 2011, p.84]

It's harder to fault the tunes, however, smeared thick with QOTSA sludge or pretty 'Dakota' clones 'It Means Nothing' and 'Daisy Lane.' [Nov 2007, p.123]

Some old punk hands (notably erstwhile Black Flag guitarist Dez Caden) conjure up some acceptable punk bubblegum. [Dec 2011, p.90]

[They've delivered] a spawling 70-minute opus devoid of drive or inspiration. [Oct 2008, p.83]

Her music is similarly annoying, with her sugar-fuelled rockabilly-pop, she's the female Jack Penate. [Jan 2008, p.93]

While nothing else here is quiet as astonishing, ["Junior Dad" is] a perfect ending to the most extraordinary, passionate and just plain brilliant record either participant has made for a long while. [Dec 2011, p.80]

Maybe they should have bigger ambitions. [Spe 2009, p.79]

As he mostly prefers to copy the sound of the original guitarists rather than stamp his own unique style on these over-familiar songs, you have to ask what's the point? [Dec 2010, p.105]

Shapeshifter features mostly stockpiled instrumental pieces characteristically driven by Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. [Jul 2012, p.82]

Sadly, Blunt's warbling renders most of them unpalatable. [Jan 2011, p.83]

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]

The best you can say is that it's a great marketing ploy. [Dec 2005, p.112]

A rare and fascinating glimpse into the raw stuff of the creative process. [Jan 2004, p.103]

For the most part, For Now is characterised by a lack of personality and charm. [Apr 2009, p.80]

Gimmicky moments are plentiful, but it's the box-fresh pop songs like "Misery" and "The River" that benefit most from their renewed sense of purpose. [Apr 2007, p.100]

This painful exercise in manufactured soul-baring Is a genuinely grim proposition. [Apr 2012, p.82]

This fourth offering crams 14 tracks into half an hour and sounds like a sketchbook of ideas rather than a fully formed expression of any kind. [Nov 2008, p.128]

Laced with grime squelches, riot-inducing raps and dark dub, it tackles gun crime, political deceit and terrorism--but also features enough tunes to sugar the pill. [Mar 2009, p.87]

Every note, lick, snarl and spit on this album is precisely no more and no less than might be expected of a Lynyrd Skynyrd album. [Oct 2012, p.84]

The problem with The Weirdness is that it shoots its bolt immediately and has nothing left to offer. [Apr 2007, p.93]

It's primitive, geezerish stuff but lacks, say, the finesse and humour of contemporary Mike Skinner's work. [Oct 2005, p.112]

An unctuous solo album mixing flaccid new songs with slick retreads of classics. [Jan 2018, p.24]