Paul Evans
Balance is pro forma pomp rock — but with VH in top form, power aplenty remains in their slick machine.
10y
The Crowes are classic rockers simply in their unholy worship of the groove.
11y
Nowadays, when most funk comes out of cans, Jamiroquai's live spark glows.
11y
Assertive rhythms and quirky production ... save Portishead from languishing in any coy retro groove. Instead they manage yet another — very smart — rebirth of cool.
11y
The South Carolina band, together since 1989, lends an unapologetically love and peace worldview to fat, folk-derived, group-written guitar rock; their absolute lack of irony is as refreshing as their sing-along hooks.
9y
Music for the Jilted Generation thrills initiates with a political buzz Americans might miss. But the Prodigy's hard-core techno generates universal dance fever.
10y
With one of this year's best albums, they realize their cheeky ambition: to reassert all the style and wit, boy bonding and stardom aspiration that originally made British rock so dazzling.
11y
Vulgar Display of Power (1992) solidified Pantera's huge fan base – an unholy alliance of flannel-shirt thrashers and old-school headbangers. The megawatt nation will no doubt find Far Beyond Driven even more enthralling.
11y
A rock opera that both echoes and undercuts his classic.
10y
Black Tie White Noise brings the Thin White Duke back with one of the smartest records of a very smart career. It’s also Bowie’s blackest sound yet.
11y
This is the members of R.E.M. delving deeper than ever; grown sadder and wiser, the Athens subversives reveal a darker vision that shimmers with new, complex beauty.
11y
Free-for-All is catchy, but its quirkiness consistently surprises.
2y
Musically, Sweet is equally adept at balancing the tough and the tender ... and as a writer, he's a one-man factory of hooks.
11y
With X and its sharp mix of passion and expertise, INXS is a band keeping faith with its long history – and finding its own ripe time.
7y
On Kick, the band's most successful album, Hutchence applied his telegraphic Lyrical style to "New Sensation" and "Devil Inside." With "Never Tear Us Apart" and it's gorgeous synth-cello undergirding, INXS proved themselves capable of delivering a truly lovely ballad.
6y
