Shulamith can still be considered a worthy addition to the band’s back catalogue, even it just doesn’t quite reach the heights of their excellent debut.

While it lacks the finesse of the band's previous work, somewhere in amongst all the bluster, soul-searching, adrenaline and anger, the record carves out a space where everything seems to fit together.

The promise is unquestionable but the songs and melodies aren’t memorable; this is hopefully all part of the transformation and something that will develop as they enter the next stage of their intriguing growth.

Girl Band possess enormous potential and big, big things look to be lying just around the corner for the Dubliners. Whilst this often only remains as potential for this first step, Holding Hands With Jamie is a refreshing change and welcome one-fingered salute to the mundane and safe rock music of today.

Jawbone certainly has an interesting sonic palette, but like most soundtracks it really needs the accompanying moving images to make it complete.

It doesn’t quite hang together in the way that an official Harcourt album does, acting instead as a kind of taster for things to come. Yet as aperitifs go, it’s pretty satisfying.

On the whole, Momentum is a solid slice of radio friendly pop-rock, and sadly, it’s truly deserving of that particular set of epithets.

An all-out disco party record is waiting to be unleashed amongst it all somewhere, but Discodeine's debut is something of a mixed bag.

The dynamic has more in common with Verlaine's best (known) work, even if the drama isn't as fully realised.

It's obvious that they've spent a while cultivating a specific look, but they seem to have only spent half of that time on the album.

There’s no wild pretension and little real originality here, and it’s not going to change your life or make any critics’ Greatest Album lists, but it’s a lot of fun, and sometimes that’s all you want.

In Waves is not Trivium's finest moment by any stretch of the imagination but it does point towards the band having found direction and its own voice for the first time in quite a while.

Things start to become a bit samey three quarters of the way through the album.

Brash, wearyingly loud and very funky, As If certainly isn’t lacking in emphasis, but will likely disappoint if you’re searching for a little more.

Ultimately this is a solid record, if not necessarily one that will change either the world or people's perceptions of folk.

Eyes Open takes the formula of the last album and magnifies it.

It would appear that Tim, Tom and Richard have spent some time at the U2 School of Squillion-Selling Records, their final project sounding more expansive and dramatic than Hopes And Fears ever did.

The album, then, is a bit of a mixed bag but does enough to deliver on its mission statement.

So the songs merge into one, and the parts add up to less than the whole. And taken as a whole Future This is a bit much.

Described as bittersweet feel-good music, The Stoop does pop music with a capital P--in wolf's clothing.

Love At The Bottom Of The Sea certainly has its moments, but Merritt albums now feel like inessential appendices to a great catalogue, rather than fundamental further developments.

Odludek is a mixed bag, then. But it’s to Goodwin’s credit that the bravery he shows in trying to pull so much into one album is more often than not worthwhile.

Despite her albums being snapshots, sometimes a little more diversity in subject matter would be a good thing. Ultimately, while some intriguing risks have been taken, 30 is probably the weakest, as well as conversely the most intimate and in many ways bravest, Adele album to date.

There are some noteworthy moments where brilliance is glimpsed, but this album seems to be maintaining the status quo rather than sparking a revolt.

Neontwang is a successful comeback from a band that have been written off more times than they would care to remember.

Love Is Dead is not a terrible album and it certainly has its moments, but it’s not as engaging or interesting as its predecessors.

At times, it's so relentlessly bouncy and upbeat that you feel like mowing down an entire shopping centre with an AK-47. Yet there's enough promise here to confirm that the hype about Mika is pretty much on the money.

Although The Morning After's mood is distinctly downbeat and does not have the same direct appeal as The Night Before, the songs are often touching and grow more so with each listen.