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 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.

" 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 ".

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.

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 Adam Greenberg described Slack Key Dreams of the Ponomoe as an ambient album with an " easy listening " sound accented with slack key motives.

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 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.

According to Allmusic's reviewer, Johnny Loftus, " the band's hard-hitting, gristly sound -- led by Ox's vocal seethe -- caught the interest of American majors ".

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 ".

According to Allmusic's Richie Unterberger, the very first use of feedback on a rock record is the introduction of the song " I Feel Fine " by The Beatles, recorded in 1964.

" 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 ".

" 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 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 ".

" 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 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 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 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 Greg Maurer's found " a fascination with the dark, ( self -) destructive side of religion is more than evident in his later work ...

Allmusic's Jason Anderson awards four-and-a-half stars out of five, and called it a " classic by the group's fans " and that it " is often mentioned as the pinnacle of the East Coast thrashers ' recording career.

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 ".