Overall, Planet Earth is a competent collection of songs that are certainly too good to be given away free.

Gedge and Albini is a match made in heaven, and El Rey is an excellent follow-up to one of their finest works together.

X is more filler than killer.

Let There Be Morning may be all too familiar to some, but with its driving guitars, catchy choruses and infectious melodies, this solid effort ensures that the band is set to become a household name.

It's not quite the tour de force they seem to be capable of.

If the world wants to point at the band's best album it's easily Planet of Ice, but if we're in the business of recognizing a group's ethos, Omni stands as the prime example of what Minus The Bear want to achieve.

Full of derision that the less talented one out of Oasis is going to be found out on his own? You won't be dissuaded.

Songs come and go, often built on little more than O’s voice and the brushed strum of an acoustic guitar, seemingly competing to see which can retreat furthest into the shadows.

A slight whiff of missed opportunity perhaps, but this is by no means a stinker.

While not as groundbreaking as the first Blueprint was, this is nonetheless a strong record, its A-list guests and production tempered nicely by the inclusion of in-the-now collaborators of the order of Young Jeezy and Empire Of The Sun front man Luke Steele.

With Transfixiation now becoming the band’s fourth album, the formula of overwhelming noise was becoming perhaps a little too familiar. There are still elements of their early guise present, but the need for change is clearly reducing the decibel levels.

The album, like their live set, is shot through with fun, infectious wit and a desire to create perfect pop while not taking themselves too seriously.

The collection of 11 tracks are both majestic and effortless--qualities that give the album a feeling of natural progression, perhaps bettering what's gone before.

Despite Kiss Land being The Weeknd’s major label debut release, what was once a breath of fresh air now sounds rather played out.

Quarters is such an inventive, smartly composed album that complaining about its lack of emotional clout feels like nitpicking rather than the exposure of a serious flaw.

There might be a song here entitled Failing At Fun Since 1981, but this album is stupidly good fun and, on top of it all, an unmitigated success.

It may have taken some time to arrive but Two Trains is a strong personal statement that should find wider appreciation.

It’s an undeniably pleasant background to a warm summer’s day. But, like the output of many of the chillwave notables it resembles, once Headroom has finished playing, precious few details remain lodged in the brain.

Overall, Hard Candy lacks subtlety and is overworked and overproduced.

Rockstar is, at heart, a well meaning, fun spirited album. It just pushes the joke just too far. There’s still time for her to make a great rock record, but this isn’t it.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has just abandoned her electropop comfort blanket for a smothering duvet of clichés and ineffectual romanticism.

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.

Perhaps one of the telling strengths of LAX is that despite all star guest appearances from the likes of Ludacris, Travis Barker, Nas and the aforementioned Ice Cube it is very much The Game's album.

Yet despite its flaws, this is still an impressively confident debut from a band that sound far older than their years.

While Tedder can on occasion craft lyrics that strike the perfect balance between simplicity and grandiosity, he flounders a bit too often on Native.

As a collection of songs, this eponymous effort goes a long way to restore the singer to her rightful place as purveyor of some of the most carefree, feelgood pop around.

You’ll gather from this that Shake The Shudder is very much business as usual from !!!, though there is extra spice to their modern disco this time around, an all-inclusive party that gives the middle finger to those who dare to stand in its way. It is a wholly affirmative illustration of music’s unifying power.

Full of lyrical and musical contradictions, such as the exhortation to 'join the revolution' in Yang Yang, it isn't exactly rabble rousing - but has a strange allure nonetheless.

Darker than its predecessors, the harrowing Meds is as close Placebo have come to that perfect album.

Love 2 is a triumph, effectively representing a now veteran act capable of returning to its roots yet managing still to produce novel results.

It adds up to a disjointed, uneasy compilation of songs, with the band seemingly refusing to conform to expectation.

Horses And High Heels is another impressive entry in her catalogue, as genuine as anything she's done since the 1979 classic Broken English.

Lost Sirens makes for a welcome parting shot; a sugared pill to take before slipping away into happy dreams where Bizarre Love Triangle plays from now until eternity.

As a concept Top 10 Hits… is frequently confusing, often brilliant and at times downright awful. Ultimately, it adds up to a very intriguing album by a band that is quite impossible to pin down.

Fans who have been frustrated with recent output will be able to find a lot to like here.

The pedigree of the singles can't be disputed, and they both hit the bullseye--the trouble being that the nine tracks that follow are too often found on the outer reaches of the board.

For all its archness and sophistication, the music here has a very clean, mainstream sound too.

The ingredients might be mixed correctly, but the cake hasn’t quite risen.

Domesticated is a blissful trip, managing the enviable feat of being inventive and comforting at the same time, and is highly recommended for all electronic music fans.

For all its merits AIM is a muddled record, and her divisiveness is sometimes counterproductive.

As interesting as Garratt seems on the surface, his debut is constantly attempting to straddle the line between being edgy and different and achieving widespread appeal. Ultimately, it is the latter that wins through and the end result is a record that is highly accomplished, but lacking in any real adventure.

Overall, Rice has produced a release which equals and perhaps even surpasses his debut, a album that takes you through emotional highs and lows you are unlikely to hear anywhere else this winter.

If much of this is catchy, however, you can’t help but miss the Noah And The Whale who could be emotionally devastating.

Around is low-key, yes, but revealed to be full of those cries and swoops, flutters and chimes that are unmistakebly Verlaine, and weirdly engaging.

This is not an album that you're going to come back to again and again. It's tuneful in places, but ultimately pretty vapid.

Vision Valley doesn't really offer anything new or exciting.

It is odd that something so standard provides the denouement to this album, trying to span over a decade of fan loyalty. Will they buy it? Undoubtedly. Will they like it? Who knows.

If anything they're more powerful this time.

Yes its weighed down by some empty dancefloor tat, but it's probably the strongest record work Tricky has put out this decade; definitely much more of a comeback than Knowle West Boy was.

Here I Am is the epitome of cheap and cheerful R&B, 40 minutes of precision-tuned pre-club glossiness--without a doubt perfectly serviceable.

It doesn’t have the timeless quality of her classic material, but it’s good to have her back nonetheless.

Even if you weren't expecting much from everyone's favourite four part harmony-peddling pension queue, this record would be something of a mixed bag.

These songs show him in a newly redemptive prime, and will satisfy both short and long term devotees.

She [Louise Wener] sounds more at ease in her delivery, and the knowhow is natural. On occasion with their less successful single releases you felt Sleeper were trying a bit too hard, but here it is refreshingly instinctive. The addition of more power to the lower end is very welcome too.

It's Robbie The Rogue's least immediate album and needs several listens to get to grips with, but Intensive Care feels like Robbie has allowed himself freedom of expression, even if he doesn't always know how best to use it.

In the context of a studio recording, Cage The Elephant's premiere isn't far off insufferable.

Tender Opposites is undoubtedly a solid, cohesive and enjoyable first album from the Montreal band.

It’s warm, delicate; a real feast for the ears.

It might be damning with faint praise, but Hotel Surrender would suggest that Murphy is at his best in shallow artistic waters, and ventures further out at his peril.

It is impeccably produced and sheened, but it sounds polished to the extent of being soulless.

Battle Born is music played in the past tense.

What you do get with Dr Dee is a fleetingly beautiful record that is baffling and bewitching in equal measure, and one that should inspire people to see the accompanying opera as it tours this summer.

Forget the furore around Fifty Shades Of Grey; this is Tellier's Fifty Shades Of Blue, and it is a whole lot sexier.

One hopes that the Austin band takes lessons from both the successes and failures of Fellow Travelers: taking risks here and there often pays off, but don’t mess with a vocal formula that works.

Some thrills and spills, then--like West Ham--and the first fifteen minutes are as good as you could hope for from a band coming back to life after an extended period on the sidelines.

They are a band who want to form a real lasting connection. Diver only sporadically does this, but this is still an album that shows vast promise.

As its title implies, Return To Ommadawn is nothing new of course, but it is a happy reunion that will please Oldfield’s fans greatly. It may not necessarily introduce him to a new audience, but it leads those in the know to a familiar place they know well.

If you love Snow Patrol, Wildness will please. But while it has moments that can be thoroughly enjoyed in increments, if you’re expecting developments--especially given the seven-year gap between released--then you’re out of luck.

Prism gives The Orb a youthful complexion, its heady brew of musical ambience, songwriting substance and sample-based humour bringing a hefty dose of positivity. Strongly recommended.

Naysayers may argue that none of the tracks needs to be as long as they are (at 16 minutes and two seconds, We Dream Free is the shortest) but sounds as subtle as these need room to spread out just as a fine wine needs room to breathe.

Crimes Of Passion finds Crocodiles in scintillating form and is full of the kind of carefree rock that should make them more popular than they are.

It’s hard to believe that The Strypes can make such an old-fashioned style of music cool for a younger generation but they give it their best shot in this fully committed album.

This is an album that, once consumed, lies dormant in the mind of the listener, ingrained but not at the forefront, playing in the subconscious; more demanding than background music, but short of immediacy.

Sisyphus is a compositionally superb production that adeptly mixes the members’ unique styles.

In short, this is another very good album.

Brian Eno famously stated that "ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting". The problem is that, whilst Regional Surrealism certainly succeeds in providing a pleasant musical backdrop, it is rather more the former than it is the latter.

There does seem something a bit rushed and unfinished about No No No though (which is ironic, given its long gestation period).

Shout it from the rooftops though--with this record, Broken Records could well have a contender for album of the year on their hands.

Like any prospective chartbuster, it frontloads its biggest bangers and lets anything more interesting linger in the later stages of the record, when the more passive listeners have tuned out. But those forays are occasional at best, and as an artistic statement this debut album is somewhat limited.

There’s a lack of maturity on Soft that is at odds with the stellar showmanship that Soft so desperately seeks to demonstrate.

It has some great moments but is probably one to listen to when you want to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Violet Cries isn't an easy album to get into, and it may well prove too impenetrable for the casual listener. They may not signal a Goth revival, but there's enough promise here to justify keeping an eye on this Brighton trio.

Danger In The Club exudes an appealing spontaneity but frustratingly the songwriting still seems a bit haphazard, with the lyrics in particular remaining underwhelming.

Kings Of Leon's newfound pop sensibilities often feel at odds with their southern-rock instincts, and while this may result in fewer immediately recognisable radio hits, it makes for a largely enjoyable batch of surprisingly invigourated tunes from one of American rock's most unlikely mainstays.

Obviously all is still not perfect in Britney's world, but Circus still does more than enough to remind us of why she's one of the world's most iconic pop stars.

Love Goes wallows too much in its comfort zone to be truly memorable.

When it comes to partaking in pop, MDNA has easily set itself out as 2012's go-to drug of choice.

A debut album of soaring highs and some affecting melancholic soundscapes tempered slightly by just a few forgettable lulls.

Whilst Boats appear more polished, the energetic ramshackle anthem of Great Skulls seems keen to remind everyone that it’s not precision, but feeling that is important.

Yes, Love Undercover does sound a bit different from The Coral’s material, with a more soul and R&B influence, not to mention Merseybeat, but there is nothing particularly distinctive in the music.

It may not be entirely successful, but it could well be looked back on as the acorn from which a bigger tree grew.

The Melodic’s busy, busy style just doesn’t work with non-dynamic mixing. And the album can hurt the ears to the point of irritation.

The only trouble is that the good tracks are matched by the nondescript filler.

Protest Songs is not likely to prove as much as a career renaissance as their last album Encore did, but it’s an interesting and moderately successful little detour from a band who are probably well overdue their ‘national treasure’ title.

There may be nothing on here Funplex that will challenge the likes of Rock Lobster or Love Shack, but Funplex is a consistently brilliant party album from a band that knows the value in simply having a good time.

Tre! is more whimper than bang.

Korn have succeeded in bringing mainstream producers to inject freshness into their songs, without entering into a Faustian bargain and compromising their music.

Comparisons with Older are revealing, for Robbie sounds a bit world weary here at times, and the orchestrations are layered on thickly in an attempt to bring some brightness to the grey. Sometimes this works--with the electro swagger of Bodies a case in point--but other times the colour is a pasty, codeine white.