In many ways it's more of the same, but it does seem to improve upon the formula ever-so-slightly.

This album is a swirl of pure emotions and grandiosity, but is never overbearing, never feeling like anything more than your own personal score. Thus, it’s completely brilliant.

For all its inadequacies, Dignity is a solid, cleverly-constructed pop album.

Steingarten is a unique take on ambient/glitch inspired music however it’s lack of musical progression brings it down.

Distinguishing themselves from the shadow of Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and the like without sacrificing too many of the essential elements of their debut album, The Academy Is… have emerged as a band with ambition and the songwriting skill to match.

Myths of the Near Future is no classic- the highs don’t come fast enough to warrant that- but it’s a solid debut release from one of the least pretentious bands around.

Yours Truly, Angry Mob is such a sloppily put-together album that it almost seems intentionally bad.

The production quality is a crowning grace throughout the album in the face of some very dodgy writing and bad musical choices.

What we get is listless by the numbers "latin rock", dull, sleepy ballads, and overblown Diva numbers I wouldn't wish on Whitney Houston.

The massive dip in quality towards the end, including the progressive worsening through closing, bonus and hidden tracks, is disappointing, considering how well the album begins.

The great thing about this album is the same as was great about the last full length LCD Soundsystem album, and that is its effortless blend and execution of mix.

At times, it can be a difficult piece of work and its dark themes may require a few spins to grow on the listener. Irrespective, Drums and Guns is a fine piece of work, Low's best since Things We Lost in the Fire.

It's different, its harder, and its honestly a bit of a disappointment.

Introducing Joss Stone has the sound of an artist who is beginning to go places, not of one coming from somewhere or standing still.

It’s safe to say that, Person Pitch just might be album of the year (so far, at least).

For the most part Hats Off To The Buskers is second-tier British post-punk.

Back To Black is by far the best popular soul album I’ve heard this year.

Bouncy bass and catchy vocals keep it going, but sometimes it seems Albert Jr. has nothing substantial to fall back on.

Most of these songs are melancholy and soft, waiting for a darkened sky to play to.

It's about as good as Funeral and features some truly wonderful songs; although The Arcade Fire have certainly progressed, Neon Bible features everything that made them special in the first place, to even more epic proportions.

Cringe-worthy lines are unfortunately rampant through The Weirdness’s (long) forty minutes.

His conception of melody and harmony is well above the average hip-hop artist, but the album as a whole is very flat and boring.

You, You're a History in Rust is nothing short of an experience; emotional enough to take the listener on a journey, and subtle enough so that not a moment of the record feels contrived.

While the most fitting genre to place Dr. Dog’s latest, We All Belong , in may be Indie-Pop, the 12 songs that make it up don’t sound a whole lot like The Shins or Death Cab for Cutie. We All Belong instead sounds like an album that was buried in Brian Wilson’s backyard for 40 or so years.

While clearly it is their best work to date, the purposefully epic moments of the music just don’t hold the same candle to the ones that were found on their earlier records.

Despite pulling out all the stops towards the end, The Cost is everything The Frames usually eschew: it’s bland, it’s monotonous and it barely achieves a tempo shift across forty-four minutes.

Copia is Cooper’s greatest work to date, but it leaves even more roads for him to take.

A masterpiece of edgy, pop-infused rock composed with intelligence.