While the melodies are stodgy and predictable, the lyrics don't help a great deal.

Oh, inverted world, you’re not as much as fun or as interesting as we hoped.

This is music that originates from the soul, but it is delivered in an entirely soulless fashion.

Throughout ARTPOP signifier upon signifier is piled on top of sometimes brilliant melodies, creating enough room for breathless readings of Gaga’s ‘art’ certainly, but failing on the more basic level as engaging pop music.

At the moment, though, it appears as though this is one twee-pop album that simply doesn't pop.

The album is somewhat redeemed by a duo of commercially viable singles [Broken Brights, Wooden Chair]... As for the remainder of the album, there's little to recommend.

There's no personality here, nothing to cling on to and love.

There’s little going on beneath the skin here and it’s an unfortunate if sadly inevitable fact that other significantly more talented musicians from Iceland will never attain Of Monsters And Men’s levels of popularity.

There’s obviously still an audience for Muse, given by the size of the venues they still sell out, and this will definitely please the die-hards, but most of Simulation Theory simply fizzles out without leaving much of an impression.

Yet another unimpressive, tedious release.

Partly cartoon, part Sesame Street, and with a healthy dose of consequence-free childish threats and violence, A Cold Freezin' Night is a welcome distraction to the meandering electro-drone that populates the rest of the album. But from here on in, it's a case of the law of diminishing returns.

This is basically the sound of 2003 with the addition of up-to-date electronics. There’s nothing you won’t have heard before, which is a big part of the problem with Collapse.

It's a moment to rejoice on an album that just feels flaccid in comparison to the youthful debut.

Sadly, expert guitar playing cannot carry an album. Moreover, it is too sterile and obsessively arranged, and the majority of the vocals lack that rock fierceness. Everyone is playing it too safe, with the production geared towards something mainstream and pop-oriented rather than experimentation and reinterpretation.

The reality is that Glitterbug just doesn’t excite or leave any lasting impression.

With the beginnings of what could be a cult following over the pond after enviable live support slots that've received much praise, it is a shame that such positivity could not transfer to this recording.

[Jet] are making a career out of sounding like a Small Faces tribute band covering The Beatles in the style of Oasis.

It’s not that it’s terrible--and credit should go to them for being so adventurous--but this might just be a makeover too far.

It will no doubt be the soundtrack of the summer for many people, but the lack of originality, warmth and soul may well leave some feeling rather underwhelmed.

While it's admirable that they're supporting indie label Bright Antenna, their songs run like sold-out singles with all the real hooks replaced with lesser ones. The annoying screaming that Lopez completely misuses comes off manufactured and whiny.

While there are resemblances Spiritualized, what should be a slow burning record, white hot in its intensity, is laid to rest sounding rather limp and uninspired.

There’s nothing outright bad on Bouquet, but it’s more that it’s all so insipid and safe. Love and marriage are to be celebrated of course, but on this evidence they don’t make for the world’s most exciting music.

The songs often seem underdeveloped, two brief verses buried between more noteworthy hooks.

Fink stays close to the sonic templates of both Now It's Overhead and Azure Ray, but has less impact than either.

It’s another long album – if there’s one conclusion to be drawn from this record, it’s that Justin Timberlake desperately needs an editor – but it’s a return to the slinky RnB pop that made his name. The problem is that there’s not much of the sparkle that was evident about 20 years ago.

With its insipid, limp first half this is most certainly not the record to do it. The listening experience is made all the more irritating and frustrating given the sudden improvement in the final third of the record, but no part of it will ever be described as life changing or world-shattering.

To be blunt, much of Smoke + Mirrors is horrible to listen to. And yet, one can’t help but admire the band’s ambition and, on occasions, their apparent lunacy.

there are occasions on Girl Talk when we get glimpses of what another, better Kate Nash indie rock album would have sounded like.... Unfortunately, moments such as these are the exception, not the rule, on Girl Talk.