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 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 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.

Allmusic's Steve Huey called the songs " Battery " and " Damage, Inc .", " two slices of thrash mayhem ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four stars out of five, and said that it saw the band " strip back their music to the basics " and was their " strongest and most vicious record to date.

" In its review of True Blue, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that " she is using the music to hook in critics just as she's baiting a mass audience with such masterstrokes as ' Papa Don't Preach '.

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 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 William Ruhlmann was less favourable and said " was familiar folk-rock, with Kelly singing romantic lyrics over acoustic and electric guitars and a rhythm section.

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 ".

Allmusic's Heather Phares praised Cibo Matto as " Fresh and funky ", and said of the album, " Viva!

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four and a half stars out of five, and said that it " delivers a set of similar rockers and a handful of power ballads, including a revamped version of Harry Chapin's ' Cats in the Cradle '" and described the music as a " mixture of fizzy, fuzzy riffs, sing-song melodies, and calculated obnoxiousness isn't that offensive.

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

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 Andy Kellman said it was " a daring way to introduce himself to the masses as an MC " and it " couldn't have forged his dual status as underdog and champion any better.

To quote Allmusic's review of the album, " Third Day has stripped away the shine and gotten back to the grittiness of being a rock & roll band.

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

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 Heather Phares wrote " La Foret may be more delicate and less immediate than some of Xiu Xiu's other work ( especially Fabulous Muscles ), but at its best, it may have even more impact because of that.

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.

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 ".

Allmusic's review reflected on the album as a major change of direction for Toto, commenting on the anguished and highly vague philosophical lyrics and the focused, bluesy musical style.

" 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 later retrospective review was only slightly more forgiving, summarizing that the album " is more interesting for what it points toward than what it actually does.

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 John Bush praised the album, writing " Despite all attempts to sabotage his songwriting and production with innumerable experimental tidbits, songs within a song, and ( seemingly ) tossed-off arrangements, Damon Gough has to face the fact that he wrote and produced over a dozen excellent songs of baroque folk-pop for his album debut, and the many gems can't help but shine through all the self-indulgence.

Allmusic's retrospective review generally praised the album for its emotional poignancy and relevance, and summed it up as " a group of simple, heartfelt songs played in spare arrangements on acoustic guitars and keyboards and driven by a restrained rhythm section.

Allmusic's employee Ned Raggett gave the album a two and a half star rating, noting that " Live Undead isn't really necessary except for the hardest of hardcore fans in the end, especially in comparison to Decade of Aggression ," and saying that " Evil Has No Boundaries " was the best performance of the seven songs.

" 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 Bret Love wrote that " The group's high testosterone and volume levels, and virtual lack of funkiness, ensure a somewhat limited appeal, but for angry young men with too much pent-up energy, the powerful aggression of < nowiki > Snappin ' Necks </ nowiki > must be close to heaven.

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 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 Matt Collar stated the album " plays like a K-Tel commercial for Gen X sad sack-ism ", calling it " pretty cool ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated Pretties for You three-and-a-half out of five stars.

Rolling Stone describes " Scenario " as " the ultimate posse cut ", and in Allmusic's review of " Scenario " they say, " not only did Tribe make history on The Low End Theory by putting together one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, they also opened up a hole in the sky for the emergence of the ever-unique and talented genius of Busta Rhymes ".

* 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 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 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 consisted of a single sentence: " A record that ELP released only because they owed it to their original label, and that's all one needs to know.

On 25 April that year Crime and the City Solution issued their second album, Shine, which Allmusic's Ned Raggett felt was " a touch less classically smooth and arranged, more rough around the edges and jagged, especially with Bonney's delivery ... his lyrics come across as distinctly unfriendly to a usual verse / chorus structure, sounding like a spoken-word recitation sung a line at a time ".

" Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine says " it doesn ’ t just ride the coattails of VU ’ s legacy but deliberately co-opts their achievement -- but it ’ s listenable, something its

Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia named it an AMG Album Pick, noting that it tops its " brilliant " predecessor by " taking their unique sound to unprecedented heights of invention and inspiration.

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 ".