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 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 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 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.

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 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 retrospective review asserted the opposite: that the album indulged in long and meandering instrumentation more than any other work by Traffic, with even the vocals doing no more than " improvising his melodies over the music, paying little heed to the meaning of the words ".

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.

" Allmusic's Heather Phares called it " a good retrospective of a band that just may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Allmusic's retrospective review deemed Close to You " a surprisingly strong album ", particularly praising Richard Carpenter's original compositions " Maybe it's You ", " Crescent Noon ", and " Mr. Guder ", describing them as superlative displays of both Karen Carpenter's vocal work and Richard's arranging talents.

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 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 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 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 ".

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.

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.

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 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.

Coe's debut album, Penitentiary Blues was described as " voodoo blues " and " redneck music " by Allmusic's Thom Jurek.

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

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 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 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 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 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.

The song was popular with critics and fans ; Allmusic's Amy Hanson called it a " somewhat surprising hit ".

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was not impressed by INXS " playing a competent but unremarkable variation on droning new wave synth pop " but noted that Hutchence " exuded a powerful vocal charisma ".

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 review of the original single argued that the song was the band's " crowning achievement ".

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.

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.