Dark Was The Night is not a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination, although there is enough on offer here to warrant a purchase.

Those fiercely loyal fans will be very pleased with In Your Dreams, a pit stop in her canon of rock folklore.

This new direction from Tussle will disappoint some older fans, but it's going to reel in plenty of new ones. Time and patience are both required, but this album is worth plenty of both.

The songs lack the emotional pull of the duo's debut. Seeds of greatness are still evident, but this direction just seems like a dead end.

The feeling remains, however, that Ivory Tower the album will be at its most effective when the visuals come in to play. Many of its instrumentals lack an essential element of either melody or art, so it's safe to assume they will come to life better on screen.

Just when you think the album is sinking into mediocrity, Borrell and company respond with two of the best tracks they have ever put their names to.

At its best it's a wonderful homage, at its worst it's a vanity project.

Cookies is a fairly typical debut album, in that it sees a band define their style and stick to it. No doubt in time they'll develop their sound, but in the meantime if you're after a good soundtrack to a party grab this album, kick off your shoes and get your rocks off.

It’s true that he’s certainly earned the right to pursue his artistic vision. It’s just a shame that this only partly inspired slog isn’t a little more, well, entertaining.

Despite some intriguing musical excursions though Views is very much the Drake record in excelsis. It’s staggeringly long at 20 tracks and 80+ minutes, and is a grind for even the most ardent fan to get through.

It's undoubtedly an acquired taste, and you can't imagine actually wanting to listen to it all that much, but there's definitely much to admire here.

While Angels & Airwaves are pretty good, don't pick up We Don't Have To Whisper expecting a revolutionary sound designed to shatter your worldview and change your life. On the other hand, if you want something to fill the gap while U2 are recording are their new album, look no further.

Due to the short duration of many of these tracks, it all feels a bit lightweight and insubstantial.

This is an album packed with promise but which tails off somewhat at the close.

It's speaker-shakingly loud yet somehow far too chilled-out to be anything but background music.

Ultimately, Bitter Rivals is a mish-mosh of songs: some good, some of high quality though tempered by and succumbing to poppiness, and some that shouldn’t have made the final cut.

Boots Electric rarely comes off as transcendent, only really succeeding with prior knowledge of Jesse Hughes' image.

The Bells is a mixed bag of accomplished piano pieces that could do with a bit more subtlety in those passages where the intensity rises. It's those softer, more intimate asides that have the greatest impact.

The dabbling with country music overall, however, is rather hit and miss and the distinct lack of variation over several tracks won’t help sell this album in large quantities. There is enough here though to satisfy those die-hard fans.

4everevolution is a multi-faceted, varied album that will not please all the people all of the time.

Casual and smartly-attired passers-by alike may find little to separate this excursion into meta-pop from the last.

Donkey is not the greatest thing since the peanut Kit-Kat, yet there's some indie-tastic fun with a hint of electro punk, a bit like The Gossip but swapping the Ditto scream for Lovefoxxx's sultry, breathily seductive whisper.

It's All True, although slightly patchy, has a generous handful of these moments of inspiration.

There are some songs, such as Deadly Valentine, that just seem to fall a bit flat, and considering that’s there’s only 10 tracks, it seems to be an oddly lengthy record. Yet, like most of Gainsbourg’s work, it oozes class and, at times, it becomes startlingly beautiful.

Vision Valley doesn't really offer anything new or exciting.

25 is very much Adele playing safe.

Although there are some memorable moments here, none of them come close to tracks such as Mars or The Dozens.

All this variety and uncertainty does become a little wearing in places, and the vocals in particular often fail to live up to the music that accompanies them.