Cassadaga is everything his fans would expect from him - mournful, moody and full of lovely melodies.

It’s been one hell of a journey for Sleater-Kinney, but Little Rope is a fierce demonstration of a band back on track.

There are no earth-shattering changes to Linkous' studio-warped rock 'n' roll pastoralism. As there was nothing broken on previous Sparklehorse outings, there is little in need of fixing.

Lookout Sea paradoxically Silver Jews' most complex and most accessible work to date. Better yet, it improves with each listen, as more and more nuances and links are revealed.

The Psychedelic Furs needn’t have made anything this good. Many of these songs will grow in potency in a live setting (if we ever get back to that).

Listeners with open minds are strongly recommended to give Pageant Material a try. It’s brimming with wit and wisdom, and it really should have featured on more end-of-year lists.

For the main part, The Life Of The World To Come is so familiar as The Mountain Goats that it seems rather lazy.

World Painted Blood may not be Reign In Blood, but it finds Slayer close to their best.

Simplistic yet perfectly arranged, these songs are quite wonderful and open the way into a dreamworld that is familiar, strange, welcoming and every so often, quite terrifying.

That, however, is before you take into account various Eastern influences that lace themselves around the guitar lines, not to mention some unexpected interludes of funk, hip hop and even swing. As a result, taking the whole record on board in one sitting is an intoxicating experience.

This is at once an enjoyable effort and an opportunity missed.

+ – might be a tad more restrained and less obviously ambitious than its two predecessors, but it’s still a meticulously crafted, consistently melodic and frequently beautiful work from an excellent band.

For now, this is an album that establishes Foals as one of the most exciting and driven bands of the generation.

Processed vocals are a huge presence on Nurture, and the record is infused with a songwriting sensibility that’s cutesy but massively endearing.

These might not be the original performances, but the reworking of them has made them a little brighter and most importantly, they’ve lost none of their original power.

Overall, this is just another Ozzy Osbourne solo album, for better and worse. It succeeds in its rawness, its slapdash cobbling together of predictable riffs and lunatic poetry.

Back to basics and back on form.

Those for whom Enya remains a musical taboo are unlikely to be tempted by Dark Sky Island. More open-minded listeners might, however, find themselves surprisingly captivated.

Compared to Big Conspiracy 3 years prior, Beautiful And Brutal Yard displays more ambition and an admirable desire to experiment, resulting in both career-defining moments and unfortunate missteps.

Ewan Pearson (who’s also produced Thorn’s recent solo works) adds a lovely, warm sheen to many of the songs, giving a classy final touch to an album that has more hidden depths than its MOR surface may suggest.

Marr offers a vision of a more humane, liberal future. While one Smith seems to have lost the plot, another has found his voice.

Chaotic, energised and thrilling, this is Demi Lovato at her very best.

Which brings us to the nub of what makes Death Magnetic such a resounding success. Death Magnetic could have dropped 15 years ago and been a logical conclusion to the "Black" album. Today, it emphatically brings Metallica full circle to an intriguing afterthought: what next?

Genuine Negro Jig is a stunner in every sense. Its music is as fresh and innovative as it is deeply rooted in its time and place.

The result is a staggeringly impressive and confident third album from an artist who has reached the very peak of his powers.

While there are no surprises to be found on A Bit Of Previous – it’s pretty much a textbook example of how a Belle and Sebastian album should sound after 20 years – it’s a warm, comforting return for a band who do what they do extremely well.

Interplay is a consistently fine piece of work, and even though it is a shade too long it has a strong claim to being Ride’s best album since they reformed. Given the quality of the music since that second coming, we can go all out and say they are one of the finest guitar bands in the country right now.

A Different Ship might be the sound of a band often cast adrift, but in Godrich there's now a firm hand on the tiller, his steadying influence streamlining their sound and taking them to the next level.