In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote ; " Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies — any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment.

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 ".

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 ".

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.

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.

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 ".

Allmusic's Bret Love wrote, " Hofstetter effectively rebels against the mainstream by positioning himself as the antithesis of the world's most popular comedian.

In his review of the reissued album, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that " the thought of a group of Insane Clown Posse protégés isn't exactly inspiring ", the album " may take you by surprise ... Mostasteless actually works better than most ICP records ," that " Twiztid often is more convincing than Dark Carnival colleagues ," and concluded that " if you don't buy into the whole comic book-horror schtick, Mostasteless ... will be irritating, but if you've bought into it, you'll enjoy this record as much, if not more, than most ICP albums.

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.

" 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.

Allmusic's Ashley S. Battel wrote " it will take you on a musical journey ," while describing the song's vocals and instrumentation.

" 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.

" Allmusic's Stewart Mason wrote that " it's one of Squeeze's finest singles, marrying one of Glenn Tilbrook's most memorably McCartneyesque melodies to a typically wry and clever Chris Difford lyric.

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 top-marks review states " The Chemical Brothers ' sound is big on bombast, replete with screeching guitar samples and lots of sirens and screaming divas.

" 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 William Ruhlmann gave Worship and Tribute a positive review, noting " Cosmopolitan Bloodloss " an AMG Track Pick.

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 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.

" 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.

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 Ned Raggett also commented on the emo connection in his review of Yank Crime: " Perhaps even more than the debut, Yank Crime solidified Drive Like Jehu's reputation as kings of emo.

Allmusic's retrospective review showed a subdued reaction to the material, concluding " There aren't any forgotten gems on Empty Sky, but it does suggest John's potential.

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 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.

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.

A retrospective review by Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was still mixed.

Allmusic's retrospective review echoed this sentiment with greater emphasis, declaring " Duke showcased a new Genesis ... but Abacab was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own.

Allmusic's retrospective review gave the nod to the band's mix of progressive rock and boogie rock as being unique, but contended that it also makes them less interesting than other progressive rock bands.

Allmusic's brief retrospective review dubbed the album " a competent but ultimately unnecessary live album that fails to live up to the standards of Supertramp's studio material.

Allmusic's review was resoundingly positive, noting that the album's thematic exploration of Cold War tensions " is dated and hasn't aged very well ... but the music is a pleasure.

Allmusic's brief retrospective review dismissed the album as " a colorless and tuneless collection of prog rock meandering ".

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

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

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 ".

Allmusic's Greg Prato awarded the album four and a half out of five stars and called it " one of Cooper's very best ; it remains one of rock's all-time, quintessential classics.

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 ".

" Kerosene ", one of Atomizer < nowiki >'</ nowiki > s standout tracks, is viewed by both Azerrad and Allmusic's Andy Kellman as the band's peak performance.

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 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 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 Stanton Swihart comments that " no one sounded like OutKast in 1994 " and that the album showcased Organized Noize as it " began forging one of the most distinctive production sounds in popular music in the ' 90s ".

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.

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 ".