Mostly, Donkey is undone by a dearth of really memorable, infectious tunes.

Too many tracks sound like tired Wu cast offs saved from the studio floor to prove that he's capable of doing this in his sleep.

The psychic bruising Okereke has sustained playing the East London fame game during the past 12 months has produced self-pitying lyrics that frequently state the bleeding obvious.

An effective, but ultimately generic, pop album.

Calvin Harris does nothing out of the ordinary, but still, he does it well.

What we are given this time round is a rather boring queue of unmemorable songs.

Rowland's big problem is that she has the lungs but not the voice, at least not if we take that to mean something distinctively her own.

Emergency isn't quite the great leap that was expected but does at least carry a few optimistic signs for the future.

It would be unfair to dismiss the record completely, however, as there are definite highlights.

For fans, a job well done, and surely appreciated. For the rest, digestion of any of Luna's five studio albums may be advisable first.

The full band approach seems to weigh things down so heavily you can almost see the red welts on the shoulders of its two leaders.

Could 'Blood Pressure' restore The Kills fortunes to their early glory days? It would seem that Hince's luck might be running out.

Given their youth, it does indeed promise much, but please, hold off on that honours listing for a while yet.

While Relapse is a slightly more energised record than the listless "Encore" (despite a Dr Dre production that is, for the most part, tired and dated), it's hardly the comeback many hoped for.

Where once Macca seduced us with great melodies, simple songs and great musicians, here the musical sledgehammer is on show too often.

While one could be forgiven for dismissing American VI as the scrapings of a barrel, the truth is that five of its ten tracks are worthy additions to the Cash canon; no more, no less.

A long 14 tracks, it's fairly unfocused and though the pair have done enough to prove that they're not just out to annoy, there is still something fundamentally unsatisfying going on here.

To be fair, "The Loon" stops short of pastiche, but it is too transparently a paean to Tape 'n Tapes' heroes.

Girls And Weather is so cloyingly cheerful and eager to please that it might as well be "Big Brother" audition tape.

While she's been guilty of gluing sure-fire singles together with rotten fillers on her previous two albums, Britney uses this opportunity to take the odd risk and adds a welcome edge to her sound.

Imagine "Hello Nasty" if it had entirely consisted of "Three MCs And One DJ" and you're close to understanding exactly how "To The 5 Boroughs" sounds.

The change is clear from the outset with 'In The Mode' sounding like an album made by an act that no longer feels the need to pamper its audience. Gone are the gently loping double bass grooves and feathery vocals, replaced by a feverishly paced percussive assault that challenges both vocalists and live instruments alike to keep up.

Lazily accomplished without ever truly igniting, a classy update on a slightly dated hip-hop sound.

This is the first Muse album to sound - brace yourself, outrageous melodrama fans - ordinary.

He's spitting distance from a brilliant concept album about love and suburbia, but he keeps pulling back.

It's New Order-lite.

Much more of this and Shakira will surely take over the whole world with her mix of unthreatening pop / rock, lovingly naïve lyrics and cute tummy.

It's an album for well-mannered emotional crises in front of log fires, a soundtrack for quivering bottom lips.