For instance, Allmusic's Alex Henderson described the album as " one of the strongest albums of the 70's " and " EWF's crowning achievement ", and Billboard Magazine called it " a very tightly produced and performed package ".

Giving a 4 / 5 star rating, Allmusic's Alex Henderson noted the varied styles despite the album's heaviness and that King's X " addresses spiritual concerns without trying to force its beliefs on anyone.

" Allmusic's William Ruhlmann considers that the band's follow-up to # 1 Record " lacked something of the pop sweetness ( especially the harmonies )" of the debut but captured " Alex Chilton's urgency ( sometimes desperation ) on songs that made his case as a genuine rock & roll eccentric.

Allmusic's Alex Henderson described it as " an album in which moments of intense brutality are followed by hauntingly melodic passages.

" Allmusic's critic Alex Henderson wrote in his review that " Black Earth was a promising debut for Arch Enemy and is among the Swedish combo's more consistent and memorable efforts.

Allmusic's Alex Henderson gave it three stars out of five, and said that " the band's sound hadn't changed much, and time hadn't made its sledgehammer approach any less appealing.

Allmusic's Alex Henderson awards the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, and claims that Testament " delivered its best offering ever " and describes it as " every bit as brutally forceful as The Legacy.

As Allmusic's Richard S. Ginell writes: " Hands down, this epochal concert ... was the crowning event of George Harrison's public life, a gesture of great goodwill that captured the moment in history and, not incidentally, produced some rousing music as a permanent legacy.

Speaking of second-generation artists emerging around the same time, Allmusic's Jason Ankeny wrote that Wainwright " deserves to be heard regardless of his family tree ".

" According to Allmusic's Thom Jurek, the album is a " triumph not only for Henry — who has set a new watermark for himself — but for American popular music, which so desperately needed something else to make it sing again.

Allmusic's Richie Unterberger critiqued what he referred to as the " growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humor that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work ", but said that " Those who like his late -' 60s / early -' 70s work [...] will probably like this fine ".

21 And Over remains highly regarded by critics such as Allmusic's Nathan Rabin, who calls it " perhaps the quintessential West Coast party album ".

Allmusic's William Ruhlmann sums up the album as balanced, and notes that the three hit singles were penned by Frey and Henley who would later go on to dominate the band.

The album received a 4. 5 / 5 rating from Allmusic's Matt Carlson, who commented on the album's " explicit exploitation and genuinely disgusting humor ", and described it as " thirteen songs full of general punk sloppiness and distortion performed in 14 minutes ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine estimated that Cantrell was a reluctant solo artist who would prefer his work to be published through Alice in Chains.

Allmusic's Sean Carruthers observed that Revell " was in a period of transition ... omewhere between the industrial noise of the early years and his later soundtrack work ".

* Allmusic's Greg Prato gave the album 3. 5 stars ( of 5 ), saying they " had improved their songwriting and strengthened their focus and musical approach.

Allmusic's reviewer, Ned Raggett felt their early work had been " as goth as it gets ", while this album saw them " plunging into a wider range of music and style ".

Allmusic's review praised the performances of Jeff Porcaro, David Paich, and Steve Lukather in passing but dismissed Isolation as " a Journey clone album, minus the aching ballads that had made Journey such a success.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Heather Phares wrote in Allmusic's biography of Pavement that, with Demolition Plot J-7, Pavement " had begun to forge influences into its own signature sound.

" Burning Times " and " Stand Alone " were also some of Allmusic's track picks.

Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia described Disembowelment as " till revered in underground circles as doom-grind pioneers ... works remain genre classics ".< ref name =" Rivadavia "> Justin Donnelly of Metal Forge declared they were " the legendary unground Australian doom / grindcore / ambient act " and " often referred to as merely a doom band, the sort of music ... is actually far more than eclectic and broad sounding than simply labelling them to one particular genre ".

" Allmusic's Robert L. Doerschuk gave a somewhat positive review but emphasized the band's retro influences, stating, " A guest shot by Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis on " The Key to Gramercy Park " reminds listeners of the band's currency, but it's easy to mistake Commencement for an ' 80s artifact.

Allmusic's retrospective review was largely negative, particularly criticizing the solo sides of Keith Emerson (" on the level of a good music-student piece, without much original language ") and Greg Lake ("" C ' est la Vie ," the featured single, says little that " Still ... You Turn Me On ," from their previous album, didn't say better and shorter ").

Allmusic's retrospective review was resoundingly positive, marking every aspect of the band's transition from a jazz-influenced vein to a more experimental one as a complete success.

Allmusic's Jeff Tamarkin wrote " Skipping merrily from alt-rock crunch to hip-hop beats, landing on reggae / ska, Latin jazz, and points in between, Two Shoes is clever and brainy, danceable and absorbing ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three stars out of five and said that " Sponge's sense of alternative rock goes back as far as Pearl Jam, or maybe only Stone Temple Pilots, judging from the hit single ' Plowed.

Allmusic's Sean Hickey says, " According to the composer, Density 21. 5 is based on two melodic ideas — one modal, one atonal — and all of the subsequent material is generated from these two themes.

Allmusic's retrospective review reported that when it was released, Machine Gun Etiquette was " deservedly hailed as another classic from the band ".

Allmusic's Ed Nimmervoll said that the band distanced themselves from the boy band generation, comparing them to Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.

Writing for Billboard, Michael Paoletta chose " Through the Rain " as a top pick from the album, as did Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

Allmusic's Heather Phares described it as " a pretty good overview of Grandaddy's evolution from shambling, fuzzed-out indie rock to the more ambitious, spacy sound of their later work ".

In his review of the album, Allmusic's Brad Mills wrote that " this kind of music appeals to a small sector of hip-hop listeners and will probably do well within niche market, but the average hip-hop listener will just have to understand that this is a different kind of album.

The album garnered the admiration of critics, with Allmusic's Rob Theakston referring to the album as an " outstanding record " and Steve Jones of USA Today remarking that on the album EWF are as " vibrant as ever ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Vaughan as " the leading light in American blues " and developed " a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre ".

Allmusic's Steve Huey said that it " brought back some of the pounding speed of Reign in Blood for their third major-label album ", and addressed it to be " their most accessible album, displaying the full range of their abilities all in one place, with sharp, clean production ".

" Complete with anthemic choruses, spoken word story lines, and plenty of bombastic power metal punctuating every dramatic turn ", says Allmusic's Vincent Jeffries, " Nightfall in Middle-Earth is perhaps Blind Guardian's most triumphant ".

Allmusic's John Bush felt it was " noisy record basically guitar feedback, synthesizer distortion and rigid drum programming ".

Allmusic's Steve Huey declared Paid in Full one of hip hop's most influential albums and " essential listening " for those interested in the genre's " basic musical foundations ".

Allmusic's album reviewer, Mike DaRonco, felt " the first two songs are great in that catchy, playful pop-punk sort of way, but the rest ... fall under the trap of having all their tracks sounding like one big, long song ".

Allmusic's Jason Elias criticized the remix for having " too much hardware ".

In 2004, Allmusic's Jason Birchmeier considered Pausini's sales " an impressive feat for someone who'd never really broken into the lucrative English – language market ".

The album received negative reviews upon its release .< ref name =" PM "> Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album one and a half out of five stars and wrote that the album has " gone down as one of heavy metal's all-time greatest disappointments ".

In Allmusic's retrospective review of the album, the website gave it five stars out of five, calling it a " shambling wreck of an album " while at the same time " among the most harrowing experiences in pop music ; impassioned, erratic, and stark " and " the slow, sinking sound of a band falling apart ".

Allmusic's Bruce Eder praised the album, saying that it was better produced than their debut, but he also said that it " doesn't tread enough new ground to precisely rival In the Court of the Crimson King ".

Allmusic's Mike DeGagne felt Hidden Things showed " Paul's genius for telling stories behind the jingle of his acoustic guitar is pure and plentiful throughout ... story telling can be likened to Harry Chapin's, except Kelly leaves more to the imagination, adding a sturdier foundation for pondering and analysis ".

Allmusic's William Ruhlmann felt " it provides a good sampler of his work, accompanied by a full band rather than recent acoustic sets " and that its style was " melodic folk-rock with electric guitar for bite and often caustic lyrics ".

Allmusic's Bruce Eder, comparing Lizard to its two predecessors, described the songs saying " are longer and have extensive developmental sections, reminiscent of classical music ".

Allmusic's Ned Raggett review of Live Seeds noted that " some fans consider many of the songs on album to be superior to their studio equivalent – a testament to its overall quality ".

Allmusic's Steven McDonald was mostly positive towards the album, rating it three stars out of five and stating that " while not perfect, the album makes a nice alternative compilation ", noting that it shares the television series ' " blue-light glow of twisted mystery ".

Allmusic's Zac Johnson called the album " spectacular ", " brimming over with Wainwright's trademark popera and young romantic wishes ".