One US newspaper described it as embracing "everything from country-tinged ditties to Black Sabbath-style fuzzbuckets with the Paul McCartney songbook tossed in to throw the dogs off the scent".

BBC: The White Stripes: Raw Rock Revivalists

Drawing from sources as disparate as Black Sabbath, the indie-instrumentalists in Tortoise and the self-flagellating noise-masters in Swans, Pelican makes instrumental hard rock that whispers as much as it shouts, and teases as much as it pummels.

NPR: Instrumental Hard Rock, Teasing as It Pummels

Last December's Christie's auction in Los Angeles featured one lot that seemed irresistible: a poster for a film of a concert by Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath, two out-of-work heavy-metal rock bands that still stubbornly sell old records to adoring fans.

ECONOMIST: Print graphics