Cornell's voice might not be as tight as it was back in 1994, but it remains a formidable instrument - and lifts this collection well above that of an average live album. It's the lack of variety that stops it from becoming truly great.

Silent Treatment is an album that is certainly bursting with ambition, but that ambition seems at this point in time to be to the detriment of the songs.

The songs are stronger than ever, and the production remains recognisably the work of Hamilton’s hand.

While there’s nothing on Electric Lines to match the heart-stopping brilliance of Gabriel or even be as sheer fun as much of The 2 Bears record was, it will satisfyingly sate anyone who feels they’ve been waiting too long for a new Hot Chip album.

It’s a conflicting record, filled with swells and dry spells, but the forecast is generally clear in all directions.

Not every song on . works, with FREEDOM.’s disco-ish production feeling decidedly amateurish and the songwriting on TOO HARD. leaning towards generic, but there’s still space for a highlight like RED FLAG.. .... Indeed, tracks like this could be the start of a new chapter for Kesha, with more creative freedom and her infectious sense of fun intact.

Where Newcombe continues to find inspiration from, who knows, but the music still keeps on coming. And the world is a better place for it.

If the album has flaws, it has great and unique strengths. Difficult, maybe, but captivating.

Old Friends New Friends sees the artist settle his legacy thus far and clear the way before he gets stuck into another project.

A warm, quiet and graceful listen, Watch The Fireworks is definitely reminiscent of Pollock's former creations in its beguiling melodies, beautiful harmonies, soothing vocals and soaring choruses which seemingly seep out of nowhere.

Disjointed, hyperactive, experimental, whatever. Angles is the album to beat this year.

It desperately needs some kind of visual accompaniment to, at least, add a cinematic legitimacy to the sound's sporadic mood swings. Worthwhile? Probably. But the world waits for the proper return of Bon Iver.

This is an album of varied pleasures: it doesn't grab you by the scruff of the neck but it pulls insistently at your arm until you have to take notice.

Join The Dots is a very good album, derivative maybe, but much more than the sum of its parts.

This might not be the album that sees them break through, but it is a fine body of work from a pair of musicians embracing the thing they love most.

The only problem is that, at 20 tracks, it’s far too long, and while there’s nothing particularly bad here, the weaker tracks seem a bit like filler.

Homosapien at its best creates a refreshing sense of vitality in a genre often defined by its synthetic nature.

Now there is an extra dimension, an extra frisson, for like their contemporaries this year (Erasure, Depeche Mode) OMD are bringing some raw feeling to the studio.

While Wonderful Wonderful certainly isn’t The Killers’ best record--or even their second best--it is a welcome return to form after some time in the wilderness.

Gardot's wistful, breathy voice belies her youth and the unobtrusive competence of this album effortlessly belies the difficulties she has striven to overcome.

Though the band sound in reasonably good form and the album shows how much Burgess has developed as a singer over the years, overall the songs themselves are just not strong enough. The Charlatans don't touch us this time.

Rudimental have already shown on their tremendously successful singles that they have that special knack for making exciting and diverse pop. Sadly on Home it is a knack that we hear too little of.

It’s well crafted and well paced, and features more than enough discordantly catchy riffs (at least two corkers in Beat alone) to sustain the listener’s interest. But for all that, it’s an album dusted only lightly with genuine greatness.

While Any Port In A Storm is unlikely to make a superstar out of Dermody, it definitely feels like the arrival of a new cult hero.

It is at once assured and endearingly self deprecating. It has an open hearted appeal that just might make Withered Hand a household name.

Sleepy Sun have managed to come up with an album that is beautifully entrancing, and doesn't encourage the listener to go to sleep before the mid point.

Nite Jewel has blossomed into a something not too far removed from a genuine pop star. Yet you feel One Second Of Love is a promising step forward rather than the finished article.

The Bachelor sounds like another attempt by Wolf to perfect something that he got pretty much right on his first album.