Idolator

- "While the band has taken a good deal of criticism for sounding 'too average' or 'boring,' the ill-suited sonic punch of Wincing the Night Away throws the singular strengths of their previous work into stark relief. The almost-live sounding Chutes Too Narrow left plenty of room for singer James Mercer's excellent vocals to guide its songs both melodically and rhythmically. But on Wincing, too-loud drums and bass distract not only from the elegant movement of Mercer's melodies, but from the delicate harmonic tensions that underlie them." [Pitchfork]
- "The best moments are the more traditionally Shinsian. When he's on, Mercer is a great songwriter, crafting classic pop-rock melodies that leap across octaves and twist in unexpected directions. Case in point is the terrific single 'Phantom Limb,' propelled by a monster buzzing bass line and Mercer's Morrissey-esque crooning, which strikes the ideal balance between old-fashioned guitar pop and the Shins' new sonic experimentation." [Entertainment Weekly]
- "...every new handful of words brings with it a winsome new snatch of melody, until you're not sure where the chorus is, or if there is one...This album is a bit more warmblooded than the first two, full of characters trying to decide between trying anew or giving up. 'Sea Legs,' which has a drum-machine beat and a hint of Morrissey, builds to a half-asked question: 'The choice is yours: to be loved, come away from it empty of ...' Mr. Mercer doesn't finish the thought. And 'Australia' slowly comes into focus as the portrait of a mope: 'Been alone since you were 21/You haven't laughed since January.' " [New York Times]

Taylor Hicks isn't a lock for the No. 1 slot on this week's Billboard 200—early reports have him battling it out with Young Jeezy and the unkillable Hannah Montana for the chart's top spot, which surprises us, because we thought the Idol-winner juggernaut would result in his self-titled debut being a lock for No. 1. Could the lukewarm advance word on his album have affected his first-week tallies? More »

- "Her music is polarized to match the lyrics: either sparsely rhythmic tracks where she chants as much as she sings, or pop songs that aim for choruses as catchy as Madonna's 1980's chart busters. The sound itself stays shallow too; except for Ms. Stefani's voice, nearly every note on the album is synthetic or sampled." [NY Times]
- "Stefani is now a 37-year-old mom...with increasingly distant but nonetheless genuine roots in punk. Yet instead of exploring either of these legitimate identities in her lyrics, which would be both more honest and more interesting, she persists in playing the role of pre-teen mall-rat Lolita so ubiquitous during the late '90s bubblegum-pop boom." [Chicago Sun-Times]
- "Ultimately, Stefani isn't convincing as a dissatisfied diva. She laments a dying affair on the majestic power ballad 'Early Winter,'' but her Orange County-girl voice doesn't seem genuinely sad. And unable to suppress her party-starting nature (or her ambition for big hits) for long, she teams with heavyweights like the Neptunes for half a dozen hip-hop jams. The fuzzed-out ''Breakin' Up'' uses a bad cell-phone connection as a metaphor for a troubled relationship, and it's as gratingly repetitious as those Verizon ads...B-" {Entertainment Weekly]