The album feels like a series of diminishing returns. [Feb 2003, p.93]

Levi seemed to have a great idea for Never Never Love, but didn't execute it as well as he possibly could have; so in practice, the record does not flow as well as he may have liked it to.

Pennington’s soaring, Rufus Wainwright-esque croon may be the most distinctive element of the record but also one of its greatest weakness.

Albums such as Wake Up! – best intentions aside – run the risk of coming across as entirely cheesy and contrived. Unfortunately, John Legend and The Roots are no exception to the rule.

Eschews gauzy isolation to embrace the heartfelt immediacy of chiming, breezy pop in a Big Star way. [Jun 2006, p.119]

You've heard it before and frankly, you've heard it better. [Jun 2004, p.90]

No one can deny the Los Angeles group's enthusiasm. However as for Mika Miko's album, their creativity seems numbed by monotonous repetition.

Finds a band in utter denial of what is precisely its appeal. [Sep 2006, p.143]

Surfing The Void unfortunately isn't a break-through or even a repeat of the past success.

Too often Mr. Beast is dire sounding and dull, and nearing deadweight. [May 2006, p.86]

It's nice that a singer/songwriter can fit comfortably on a label known for abstract techno and heady hip-hop. It's not so great when she sounds like Dido. [Apr 2005, p.109]

Dissolver is a serviceable pop-rock record that would have benefited from being subject to more of the band’s experimental tendencies, a missed opportunity for the trio to release a cutting-edge yet accessible set of music.

Superfluous, the extra weight drains the raw intensity of the Furnaces’ famed live show and often leaves Remember sounding like a cheaply recorded album, rather than a live celebration.

From the get-go the album announces itself through insidious emotive aural effects, which through a blistering barrage of time-travel sounds, encompass the listener in a feeling that although intense, evaporates rather instantly.

The Saints' talent seems lost in the mix as they fall victim to their signature technique and sound. [Sep 2001, p.154]

While Hello Everything is everything you'd expect a Squarepusher LP to be, therein lies the problem: It's exactly everything you'd expect a Squarepusher album to be. [Oct 2006, p.130]

A hard one to wrap your head around. [Oct 2005, p.84]

Sam's Town is bloated with verses that helplessly swipe at capturing something, anything, significantly American. [Oct 2006, p.129]

Walk It Off does offer a few highlights, but it fails to yield a comprehensive sense of T&T's sound, and blatantly lacks any cohesive progression.

Much of the album fails to make sparks. [Nov/Dec 2001, p.142]

As a whole, Colonia takes on a very operatic, larger than life, almost ABBA-esque quality, which grows a bit tired as the album winds down.

Too much of Wood lumbers on and on and on... [May 2006, p.95]

Overall, Listening Tree is all about Tim, and his deep closeted skeletons and inner demons, which are far too abstract to be even remotely relatable or fun to sweat it out to their exorcisms.

With hardly a breakbeat in sight, RJ's sophomore effort plays like an homage to '80s-era easy listening.... An ambitious effort, but a failure all the same. [May 2004, p.86]

Their vocals sound more unenthused and bored than detached or sinister. [Sep 2003, p.101]

With a handful of good moments, and one standout track, this sophomore effort by one Sally Shapiro and her producer Johan Agebjörn, is mediocre.

While it’s commendable, if unnecessary, that Whitney and Votolato are exploring new musical areas, there’s no denying the fact that if Take Me to the Sea ever ran into Hologram Jams in a dark alley, Hologram would be down for the count.

An album full of interesting possibilities, but only a few memorable songs. [Mar 2002, p.120]