Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine noticed that the song is " a tongue-in-cheek, neo-house cover " and picked it as one of the best tracks on the album, alongside the title track and " Have You Ever Been in Love ".

In a retrospective review of the album, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for Allmusic, gave " Dare " a 5-star rating.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for Allmusic, described specifically Culture Club as a new wave band and generically as the most successful pop / rock group in America and England during the 1980s, adding that, " By 1986, the group had broken up, leaving behind several singles that rank as classics of the new wave era ".

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine attributes The Beatles ' shift toward introspective songwriting in the mid-1960s to Bob Dylan's influence at the time.

According to Allmusic editor Steve Huey, the success of his 1994 debut album Ready to Die " reinvented East Coast rap for the gangsta age " and " turned the Notorious B. I. G.

" Allmusic editor Mark Deming dubbed the album " superb material brilliantly executed " and cited it as Newman's " first great album, and ... still one of his finest moments on record.

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor John Bush gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its songs ' " freewheeling arrangements ".

" Allmusic editor Jason Ankeny viewed the album as the band's artistic breakthrough and " ticket to the big leagues ", calling it " an incendiary and insidious set which bridges the gap between the noisy aggression of the band's early releases and the soulful swagger of their later work.

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars and stated, " remains the pinnacle of the Allmans and Southern rock at its most elastic, bluesy, and jazzy ".

A few popular music artists have used elements of the Merry England story as recurring themes ; The Kinks and their leader Ray Davies crafted The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society as a homage to English country life and culture: it was described by Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as an album " lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions "; Arthur ( Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire ) also contains similar elements.

Allmusic editor Steve Huey comments that " the majority of his lyrics concern his own skills and his Islamic faith.

Allmusic editor Ned Raggett noted that the album " showed the band in fierce and fine fettle once more ", describing Cave's lyrics as " a series of striking, compelling lyrics again exploring love, lust and death " and said the songs " showcase the Seeds ' peerless abilities at fusing older styles with noisy aggression and tension.

In a retrospective review of the album, Allmusic editor Steve Huey gave the album five out of five stars and viewed it as an improvement over Paid in Full, commending Rakim's " agile, up-tempo lyrical showcases ".

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as " unabashed catchy " due to its " skittish, rhythmic guitar riff, looped beats ", backing vocals, and " funny " rhymes.

Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Village Green as a " concept album lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions.

Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine concurred, citing it as " possibly the most beautiful song of the rock and roll era ".

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the album as " the beginning of David Bowie's classic period " and complimented its " tight, twisted heavy guitar rock that appears simple on the surface but sounds more gnarled upon each listen ".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor of Allmusic, called the album a " highly crafted piece of dance-pop " and a " relative comeback " for Carey, despite its not being as smooth as it should be.

It featured three songs by the Wu-Tang Clan and nine songs by old school hip hop artists, including The Cold Crush Brothers, Whodini, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five .< ref name =" Witt "> Allmusic editor Chris Witt gave the soundtrack album four-and-a-half out of five stars and noted its old school tracks as the highlights, writing that " The contrast between the life and color of the old school tracks and the unrelenting gloom of the Wu-Tang cuts, produced over ten years later, suggests that hip-hop may have lost something in the intervening years.

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that " I Want You " is the most notable among the three new tracks on Something to Remember.

Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars and praised the quintet's compositions as " memorable, yet open-ended and nervy, setting ( and creating ) standards for modern bop that were emulated well into the new century ".

In a retrospective review of the album, Allmusic editor Thom Jurek complimented its " funky, dirty rock & roll jazz " and " chilling, overall high-energy rockist stance ", stating " Jack Johnson is the purest electric jazz record ever made because of the feeling of spontaneity and freedom it evokes in the listener, for the stellar and inspiring solos by McLaughlin and Davis that blur all edges between the two musics, and for the tireless perfection of the studio assemblage by Miles and producer Macero ".

In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Steve Huey viewed the album as OutKast's " most focused work " and commented that " In addition to the striking musical leap forward, Dre and Big Boi continue to grow as rappers ; their flows are getting more tongue-twistingly complex, and their lyrics more free-associative ".

Although he found " occasional dull and mediocre spots ", Allmusic editor Stanton Swihart called the album " an extremely strong showing " and praised the duo's " inventive sense of rhyme flow " and " mixture of lyrical acuity, goofball humor, Southern drawl, funky timing, and legitimate offbeat personalities.

Leo Stanley of Allmusic attributed its mediocre reception to its lack of energy — not its " jazz-inflected rhythms and hardcore rhyming ".

"' Forever Changes ' made only a minor dent on the charts when it was first released in 1967, but years later it became recognized as one of the finest and most haunting albums to come out of the Summer of Love, which doubtless has as much to do with the disc's themes and tone as the music, beautiful as it is ," wrote Mark Deming in an entry for the online Allmusic guide.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic paid attention to the attempts of Simon in embracing his classic folk sound with Eno's electronic textures, and wrote that " Simon doesn't achieve his comeback by reconnecting with the sound and spirit of his classic work ; he has achieved it by being as restless and ambitious as he was at his popular and creative peak, which makes Surprise all the more remarkable.

" In a review of the band's 2003 greatest hits collection Thank You, Allmusic critic Stephen Erlewine wrote that " STP made music that sounded great at the time and even better now ," and that " this music has stood the test of the time ," calling Thank You " nearly perfect.

Certain critics argue that Christian rock music and its subjects seldom appeal to non-believers: Allmusic wrote that " unless a Christian rocker plans to perform for Christian audiences exclusively, he or she needs to provide music that secular audiences will find relevant -- music that listeners can relate to on some level even if they aren't practicing Christians.

The band's early material was rock and guitar-oriented ; of Super-Electric, Jason Ankeny wrote in Allmusic that " Droning guitars, skeletal rhythms, and pop hooks — not vintage synths and pointillist melodies — were their calling cards ..." In 1992, Stereolab's first full-length album, Peng !, and first compilation, Switched On, were released on independent label Too Pure.

" Thom Jurek from Allmusic wrote: " part of an emotional journey as complete as can be.

The song was highly acclaimed in a retrospective review by Allmusic journalist Ned Raggett, who wrote that it " ranks as one of the best, most realistic portrayals of urban life recorded.

Critical reaction was extremely positive ; Pitchfork awarded the album a 9. 7 out of 10, and Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it was " arguably Yo La Tengo's finest and most coherent album to date.

In his Allmusic review music critic David Cleary called Homecoming " America's finest album " and despite citing the lyrics as sometime banal, wrote that " each song here has something to recommend it.

Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote the album was " Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements ( including strings and horns ), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work.

" Alex Henderson of Allmusic described the record as " disturbing and powerful ," while Joe Matera of Ultimate Guitar deemed the album a slight departure ; he wrote that while the pace was slowed down, it " didn't sacrifice any of the heaviness inherent in Slayer's music.

Not only was Christian metal criticized by non-Christian metal fans, but soon the movement was also criticized by fundamentalists ; Allmusic wrote that " when church leaders were accusing heavy metal of encouraging Satanism, Stryper set out to prove that metal and hard rock could be used to promote Christianity.

Allmusic wrote about Believer's Sanity Obscure album: " Before 1990, the Christian heavy metal genre rarely strayed from generic riffing and poor lyrics.

In his review of the album in Allmusic, William Ruhlmann wrote:

Steve Huey, for example, wrote for Allmusic that " Sabbath's slowed-down, murky guitar rock bludgeons the listener in an almost hallucinatory fashion, reveling in its own dazed, druggy state of consciousness ", commenting that the album featured " plenty of metal classics ".

In Soft Machine's Allmusic biography, authors Dave Lynch and Richie Unterberger wrote:

Allmusic writer Bradley Torreano wrote that " Even if it is a joke, it isn't a funny one, or even a clever one.

Dean Carlson of Allmusic wrote " Incubus ' independent debut is an unremarkable take on suburban MTV funk.

Allmusic wrote that the album " sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid and stunning than its predecessor ... darker and more difficult than White Blood Cells.

Jason Ankeny wrote in Allmusic that:

" Probably the best Roxette album since Joyride ", wrote Leslie Mathew of Allmusic.

Allmusic writer Greg Prato wrote, " For many, Borland was the only Limp Bizkit member who was taken seriously.

" The Allmusic review by Jesse Jarnow awarded the album three stars out of five and wrote that " The music isn't nearly as edgy or angular as his work with Primus, but that's ultimately okay.

Heather Phares of Allmusic wrote " Fabulous Muscles might be the best expression of Xiu Xiu's unrepentantly original music ; even if the world that the band creates isn't necessarily one you'd want to visit all the time, it remains fascinating.