American music reviewer Robert Christgau referred to Shep Pettibone ( who mixed Pet Shop Boys's biggest hit, " West End Girls ") as ' Pet Sheppibone ' in his review.

In his mixed review for Hard Rain, Robert Christgau criticized the Rolling Thunder Revue as " folkies whose idea of rock and roll is rock and roll clichés.

However, critical response of the era was generally unfavourable, with Robert Christgau giving the album a C − as well as, in a clearly exasperated tone, calling the album " a dim-witted, amoral exploitation.

The album's reception was generally positive, with Entertainment Weekly and Robert Christgau both giving the album a positive rating.

Conversely, Robert Christgau likened the album's songs to Bruce Springsteen cast-offs, with Lynott's lyrical ideas as " boring ", and Gorham's guitar lines as " second-hand ".

" With an " A -" rating, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice praised the album's sexual content.

On November 22 of that year, Christgau launched a blog on MSN, " Expert Witness ", which would only feature reviews of albums that he had graded B + or higher, since those albums " are the gut and backbone of my musical pleasure ;" the writing of reviews for which are " so rewarding psychologically that I'm happy to do it at blogger's rates.

Throughout Christgau's career at the Voice, every poll was accompanied by a lengthy Christgau essay analyzing the results, and pondering the year's overall musical output.

Christgau readily admits to disliking the musical genres heavy metal, art rock, progressive rock, bluegrass, gospel, Irish folk, and jazz fusion, but in rare instances has recommended albums in most of these genres.

Robert Christgau gave the album a C grade, writing " The musical parsimony, cultural insularity, moral certitude, and histrionic affectations of these lo-fi artier-than-thous promise indie ideologues whole lifetimes of egoistic irrelevance.

The album was well received by critics ; Robert Christgau felt that her voice, raw and imperfect, free of " technical decorum ", would liberate female singers while Jon Landau in Rolling Stone felt that King was one of the most creative pop music figures and had created an album of " surpassing personal-intimacy and musical accomplishment ".

" However, not everyone was complimentary about the change in musical style, with Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stating " If you thought they were bad when they were cute, or even that they were cute when they were good, believe me, you don't want to hear them mature ," and NME with the even harsher verdict: " But damn those cruel hormones – Hanson's collective balls have MmmDropped, and the giddy rush of adolescence seeks to mutate Mercury's finest investment into a trio of crack-voiced hulks.

In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave The Cookbook an A-rating, indicating " the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction ".

Christgau called it a " benchmark album " and commented that " Elliott showcases the musical health of African American pop [...] Elliott's disinclination to give it up to gangsta's thrill cult or black pop's soft-focus porn, plus her proven ability to work a good beat when she gets one, leads her naturally to a collection that ebbs and flows, peaks and dips, and pokes fun at any canon of taste you got ".

" Critic Robert Christgau commented that " Anybody who thinks rock and roll is alive and well in the infinite variety of its garage-boy permutations had better figure out how these Hitler Youth rejects could crush the competition and quit simultaneously.

Robert Christgau liked the album better than the debut, describing it as " more muddled conceptually than In the Court of the Crimson King " and commented that " they're not afraid to be harsh, they command a range of styles, and their dynamics jolt rather than sledgehammer ".

Critic Robert Christgau also commented in a similar vein: " The difference is that Browne shouldn't be doing this ... he's a pop star who's stretching his audience and endangering his market share merely by making such a statement in 1986.

" Critic Robert Christgau commented that the best songs were the ones Browne did not write.

" Georgia Christgau of The Village Voice commented that " Although sometimes her reliance on mood threatens to get the better of Worldwide Underground, Badu remains faithful to the old school of flow, a blend of drums and rhythm designed to service soul's best instruments: its vocalists.

Christgau dubbed it " a great one " and commented that " all the flash of Bitches Brew coalesces into one brilliant illumination ".

In addition, Robert Christgau commented on the band's growth from previous efforts, stating that while the group is " devoid of intellectual thrust ," they're " onto something ," and " when it works, it suggests a nice paradox -- relaxed and exciting at the same time.

Christgau commented that " the beats prove Teddy Riley New York's answer to Jam & Lewis " and stated " For credentials the next big love man proffers beats on the slow ones and lyrics whose seduction strategy is never to offend ".

" Christgau wrote that the songs " sure do boogie ", although he ultimately found it musically aimless, stating " even if Duane Allman plus Dickey Betts does equal Jerry Garcia, the Dead know roads are for getting somewhere.

Can you imagine working for a fucking year, and you get a B + from some asshole in The Village Voice ?” Christgau rated the album C + and wrote in his review, “ I thank Lou for pronouncing my name right .” Similar angst came from band Sonic Youth in their song " Kill Yr Idols " ( at the time known as " I Killed Christgau with My Big Fucking Dick "), in which they sing " I don't know why / You wanna impress Christgau / Ah let that shit die / And find out the new goal "; Christgau responded by saying " Idolization is for rock stars, even rock stars manqué like these impotent bohos — critics just want a little respect.

Green Light earned Raitt her strongest reviews in years, with critic Robert Christgau writing that " on The Glow the present-day female interpreter refused to die, and now she does even better by the suspect notion of good ol ' you-know-what.

" Robert Christgau wrote " The only way they're Dismemberment Plan punk anymore is that there aren't very many of them and that none of them seems to be playing a keyboard even though most of them can.

" Christgau viewed that the tracks eschew the thug persona of his previous work for " sensitivity " and stated, " Surrounding outtakes that were just outtakes is back-in-the-day recommended to Tim and Missy ( even has some pronunciation in it ) and four autobiographical pieces.

The album did have some critical support, particularly from Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, who wrote " To my astonishment, I think Under the Red Sky is Dylan's best album in 15 years, a record that may even signal a ridiculously belated if not totally meaningless return to form ... It's fabulistic, biblical ... the tempos are postpunk like it oughta be, with Aronoff's sprints and shuffles grooving ahead like ' 60s folk-rock never did.

Rhino Entertainment released Hit by a Train: The Best of Old 97's, an eighteen track compilation of songs from the band's beginnings through 2001, featuring liner notes and an essay by rock critic Robert Christgau.

Robert Christgau appreciates the songwriting, feeling that some songs " are as great as songwriting ever gets "; though he feels that on the whole the album concentrated too much on the technique of songwriter, and as such the emotion is literate rather than heartfelt-so the finished product is " pretentious ".

Westing has sold 63, 000 copies, and was praised by Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine for making songs previously found exclusively on vinyl available on compact disc.

Robert Christgau felt that the band wrote good songs, but he was unsure about the authenticity of their country roots so what they produced was " suave and synthetic -- brilliant, but false.

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote, " Daniel Lanois's understated care and easy beat suit casual ways, and three or four songs might sound like something late at night on the radio, or after the great flood.

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice described it as " two middling-to-excellent new Dylan songs, four good original Bobby voices, and a lot of Schmylan music ".

Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B grade, writing " Even as he lists toward the pretentious and the vague, the reflective evenness of Browne's delivery sets up an expectation of cogency that on this album is satisfied only by such relatively unambitious songs as " These Days ," " Red Neck Friend ," and the charming " Ready or Not.

Widely considered one of her strongest works, it was praised by critic Robert Christgau for " conveying songs from Calypso Rose and Martha Reeves Vandella into the women's music of the ' 70s.

In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the single CD a one-star honorable mention (), picked out two songs, " Fume " and " Alcohol ", and stated that it's Beck's " greatest hit, an album demo, and two-for-three prime odds and ends ".

" Robert Christgau also applauded the strong variety: " The many good songs span styles and subjects in a virtuoso display ... And the many ordinary ones are saved by Todd's confidence and verve.

In his Consumer Guide column for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote, " At best's achieved the professionalism he's always claimed as his goal ... he's certainly talented enough to come up with a good bunch of songs.

Robert Christgau in particular only liked a few of the songs.

Robert Christgau awarded a B + grade and called it Cooper's most consistent work.

Late in 2007, Christgau was fired by Rolling Stone, although he continued to work for the magazine for another three months.