With The Animal Years, he's made an album that sounds simultaneously deeply personal and in tune with confusing times.  Full text...

He finally has the sumptuous, sweeping arrangements to go along with his ruminative road stories and stream-of-consciousness, Dylanesque folk.  Full text...

His voice - think Springsteen without the gruffness, or maybe a meat-eating James Taylor - is more intimate than ever: a haunted whisper in Idaho, consumed by the darkness of the open road in Monster Ballads.  Full text...

The album is often beautiful, frequently laidback and as intelligently crafted as some of the best efforts in Ritter’s acclaimed back catalogue.  Full text...

On "The Animal Years," Ritter--always critically triumphed as both an inventive and talented songwriter--transcends the usual song and dance of "lone male with guitar/add fills here" with tasteful production that enhances both the album's overall sound and Ritter's lyrical content.  Full text...

Ritter is a talented songwriter with a loyal fanbase—particularly in Europe—but Animal Years is not likely to be the breakout hit his many fans anticipate.  Full text...

On the whole, Animal Years seems dashed off. Of course, dashed off by a clever songwriter with a helluva voice makes Animal Years a decent album.   Full text...

Problem is, he forgets any of the emotion, realism, or originality that would make anyone care.   Full text...

Ardent fans will adore this, of course, and it will probably sell by the barn-load; but it simply doesn't have any of the rough country charm or the atmospheric pep that his debut The Golden Age of Radio was profuse with.  Full text...