Its high-beam intensity and near relentless drive triumphing over the niggling familiarity of some songs. [May 2017, p.30]

The band maintain their impeccable standards for muscular riffage and structural sophistication while still making the occasional flourish that further confirms their shame-free allegiance to prog. [May 2017, p.35]

Mental Illness is as elegantly dark as a wrought iron gate. [May 2017, p.35]

Bewitching. [May 2017, p.30]

A generous and expansive set of sensual pop. [Apr 2017, p.39]

This version has been remixed and remastered to beef up the sound and integrate Chris Cornell's glorious vocals more fully into the songs. ... Six demos, recorded on eight-track the previous year, give a good idea if where the band were coming from. [May 2017, p.52]

The Jayhawks provide a diverse, autumnal foundation that amps up when needed. Stace's deceptively winsome voice, meanwhile, delves deep into memories, dreams, relationships and life's absurdities. [Mar 2017, p.40]

He's at his best on the more downbeat moments. [Apr 2017, p.35]

All are delivered with a raw and earthy folk spirit that eschews prettiness, laced with electric guitar tropes of which Richard Thompson would be proud. [May 2017, p.28]

Overwhelming and beautiful. [May 2017, p.35]

They're as seductive as when they first saw light, with "Arthur" capturing the aquatic oddness of Russell's finest productions. [May 2017, p.36]

A complex, powerful crossover record that still manages to feel awesomely authentic. ... The English-and French-lanugae cuts are less successful. [Apr 2017, p.25]

A rare rock record with the rage, urgency, wit and shattering of complacency usually found in grime. [Apr 2017, p.32]

An album filled with similarly delicious moments. [Apr 2017, p.22]

Not every track is killer, but even the filler fascinates.

His avuncular, keep-it-moving approach prevents things from getting too deep. [Apr 2017, p.39]

The few weak moments on their third album stray into rambling hippy-busker terrain. But standout tracks, like the fuzzy0warm collective singalong "Friendship (is a Small Boat in a Storm)" and Right Off The Back," sound like relics of some lost jam session between Curtis Mayfield and Carlos Santana. [Apr 2017, p.25]

Finn maintains his novelist's eye for detail throughout. [Apr 2017, p.28]

Interplanetary Class Classics smears Saoudi's nihilistic euphoria across throbbing new-wave and singalong Glitter Band boogie. [Apr 2017, p.35]

The Haze is a good go at [spontaneity and sense of fun], maintaining the propulsion while tying songs to sharp pop hooks. [Apr 2017, p.37]

A stodgy production job from Patrick Carney of The Black Keys means his songs tend to blur into one. [Apr 2017, p.26]

Cinderland is undeniably, suitably eerie. [Apr 2017, p.30]

This self-produced fourth still has many charms. [Apr 2017, p.39]

A star in the making. [Apr 2017, p.37]

Their gem-like guitar pop songs start meandering a little. Altogether, though, In Mind feels like a collective exhale. [Apr 2017, p.37]

The expanded palette, majoring on warm, Dylanesque waltzes and rolling country-rock, brings out the colours of the songs even if, at 17 tracks, it trades in the focused intensity of Ruminations for something looser. [Apr 2017, p.35]

Mayall proves that playing the blues is seemingly impervious to age. [Apr 2017, p.35]

Condition sits somewhere between the two [previous albums Dying and Dead], obscuring lovely melodies with disjointed electronica on deliberately self-destructive tracks like "Dissolve," the willowy "Colour Me Out" and "Coping Mechanism." [Apr 2017, p.39]