The problem with A Perfect Circle now is that Keenan and Howerdel basically follow whatever creative whims that grab them. After a particularly soporific instrumental track, the album enters its most experimental phase, with unsurprisingly scattershot and lacklustre results.

All in all, Voyager is both a pleasant surprise and an addiction.

Not only does Orbit not overstay its welcome, it leaves you wanting more.

For the year's most contagious artist, Fetty Wap's debut formula reads as follows: 20 songs x 4 billboard singles - 90% filler ÷ 1 melody = 1738. And somehow, that doesn't add up.

The laziness of lyrical passages, directionless structures, odd lyric rip-offs ('Goon Line' and 'Void' are culprits), and poor mixing works together with the band to hold this record down much lower than its potential.

Despite remaining dutifully authentic to his own back-story and expressive temperament, the album, at times, sounds like it was written and recorded years ago, offering outdated production trends and repetitive content.

Nili Hadida may not attract legions of pop fans, but then, it hardly feels designed to. Hadida is clearly enjoying stretching out on her own at long last, and the album plays a bit like her testing her sea legs on a maiden voyage, finding her footing, and her independent voice, as she goes.

Despite its depth of ideas and imagery, AQUARIA starts to feel a little thematically one-dimensional until you get to 'Only', a straight ahead piano-driven, introspective slow jam.

This is an album that is adaptable for any mood or setting, so long as the listeners go with the flow and let the music take control.

What made M83 so great was its inclination to look forward as well as backward. Unfortunately, DSVII —like Junk— looks backward without bringing anything new to the table.

There are a few truly memorable riffs, notably on 'Hum for your Buzz' and 'Bitter Fruit', it's just that overall, this music feels that bit too slick to deliver the 'unease' and 'winking ennui' that the record label copy promised.

Sometimes challenging, other times comforting, Inventions encourage you to step inside the imagination portal and dream.

The standard of hook is pretty consistent for the whole album, and there's very little that could be described as filler. It's just that, considering that the whole seems like an exercise in similitude, it's not that easy to get excited about.

Longtime fans of the band will not find a rebirth in Critical Evaluation but you made find an upbeat improvement on recent efforts.

Compared to Heartbreaking Bravery, My Best Human Face feels looser, more effortless and this makes for a more engaging experience throughout.

Communion may be the end result of years of refinement, but you can't help but feel it was reached on someone else's terms.

In spite of its sequencing, every song on Cemetery Highrise Slum is individually good.

While it is never an easy listen, it often feels necessary to wipe Lee Spielman's spittle from your cheek, such is No Peace's front row ferocity.

Ward proves that there's still room for him to make his mark on the genre--producing an album that feels fresh and bright. Not a bad way to start the year.

Perhaps the relentless vitality and vibrancy of their sound might not be welcoming to all listeners, but for any willing to take the plunge into Althaea, there’s a whole alternate realm to be explored.

Cuco might not convert naysayers this year, but he clearly isn't overly concerned. He's delivered an easygoing, often charming set of songs, and that's a mission statement fulfilled.

There are not many people out there doing retro-sounding albums that aren't a mere repetition of something that's already been done several years before (and probably better), but Diane Coffee manages to be hopelessly nostalgic without sounding déjà vu.

What’s also new about this particular Dave Portner is that the overflow of ideas, lyrics, and themes doesn’t turn spastic and blurry like it has on records past. Eucalyptus, though adventurous, is down to earth and focused. It’s by far the most spiritual Avey Tare has ever sounded (except for the transcendent love on AnCo staple ‘Fireworks’).

The new sound stands up straight as the original iteration, but is backed by the depth of his previous work.

Black Moth are a young band who are improving fast and although they've got a lot of catching up to do with some of their contemporaries, the potential is there and Condemned To Hope is one of the better heavy British records of 2014.

Liquid Cool has a raw honesty to it that comes from stripping back the instrumentals.

While, undoubtedly, it took a lot of time, work and engagement to put it together, it still comes across as a throw-away release in their catalogue. It sounds like a band just switching on the recorder and jamming for a little while, then putting out some tracks.

They felt that they had run their course and wished to bow out on a high note. They have done exactly that.