All those self-consciously avant bits of the two previous albums have been ditched along with Jeff Tweedy's laughable lyrical abstractions in favour of tuneful, direct songs that at least seem to carry some emotional weight.

Try as they might to sound different, or even to touch on issues bigger than their own narcissistic garbage, LP still sound like they're stuck back in 00, which is where they should have stayed.

A well-considered 10-track song cycle of mostly shorter and tighter compositions that combine the catchy, guitar-oriented pop aspects of Ta Det Lugnt ... with the darker freak-folk stylings of 2002's Stadsvandringar.

Fans might find it a fascinating revelation, and Madonna will likely swipe a few ideas, while everyone else is left wondering what happened to the tunes.

It's lacking the melancholic darkness that added substance to Strange Geometry.

Too few of the two dozen half-developed tracks here do justice to Smith's talent as a songwriter.

The weird, nuanced Rhode Island-based MC burns his references, punchlines and cold truths through a batch of X-acto-sharp beats, focusing his strong opinions, sense of imagery and lyrical abstraction inward.

When they're flowing about anything but shooting people over the expensive-sounding synth-goo production, the record could pull a school bus with its teeth. But aimless, boring gunshot-laden tracks like 9mm and Gun Blast find Bone unable to let go of their dated murda-isms.

Ambitious, high-concept albums are one thing, but Posse's just a boring mess.

Baby 81's not nearly as original or as interesting as their past releases – including Howl.

That the music of Beyond rocks so righteously in a way that sounds like a conscious progression from where they left off with Bug, rather than a misguided attempt to recreate the past, makes this unlikely recording comeback all the more incredible.

Feist is now that rare artist in complete control of her talent.

Tears Of The Valedictorian is the band in top form, with Spencer Krug binding meandering tales of post-postmodernist artistic anxiety with wiry keyboards that echo Mercer's morphing vocals.

In typical Rush fashion the compositions tend to feel coldly scientific or laboriously calculated.... Nevertheless, it's a solid record.

It appears Patti Smith could've benefited from an outside observer when choosing songs.

Where the Monkeys come up short is in their compositions, which are beginning to sound formulaic.

An album that's high on good intentions but low on spark.

Her great success is making these protest songs personal, and she does it in a most profoundly moving way.

The lyrics are brutal.

Thematically it's overboard and at 16 tracks over 60 minutes repetitious and ham-fisted. But musically, Year Zero offers moments of industrial brilliance.

The unexpected bit is that there are a couple of tracks where the Junkies appear to be making a move from their brooding ballad comfort zone toward brooding bluesy shuffles that very nearly get funky.

Once our boy Nick begins his bellicose bellowing, there's no mistaking Grinderman's amped-up scorch for anything but another of Cave's darkly humorous creations of magnificent malevolence. Long may he howl and snort.

Oberst's political criticism is most effective when he's humble and straightforward, yet his overwrought poetics seem laughable, childish and blinkered when applied to world affairs.

23 is fundamentally a more interesting album than 04's Misery Is A Butterfly, neither as cartoonishly bleak nor as sonically pristine.

It's all about throwback synth melodies, programmed beats and melodramatic bellowing about non-specific relationship trauma, sorta like Human League, Spandau Ballet or maybe the Associates.

Kings of Leon often seem torn between their stadium rawk impulses and their hip underground aspirations.

Fans of the Mary Chain's Suicide-meets-Shangri-Las hijinks will have an immediate connection to Sister Vanilla's sweetly sinister sound, particularly when Jim or William steps up to the microphone to add his droning vocals.

The album's overall bad rip-off of early Britney/current Chantal Chamandy sound is a huge step backward.