Aside from the album not standing out from the competition the individual tracks have trouble standing out from each other.

Most of the songs have plenty to give in these spheres, so for fans this can be viewed as a qualified success, if never quite approaching previous highs.

A bit more edge would have been good to distinguish this from the wide range of comfy female songwriters out there right now.

For an enjoyable 'kickaround' of an album this is a cheeky little blighter that will continue to tickle ears, raise a smile and brighten any listen for a while yet.

It's enjoyable, fast-paced and delivered with an undeniable amount of skill. But it isn't memorable enough.

A nice Christmas present for that hardcore Killers fan in your life, but most casual observers will be happy to give this a miss and wait for the third album.

Tom DeLonge does have talent, and maybe one day he'll make an album that deserves all his self-proclaimed hype. This, however, isn't it.

Shotter's Nation has no stand-out moments. Delivery is about the best of the bunch, but it's no rival to anything The Libertines ever did.

Anyone looking for another 'Hurricane' will be disappointed--but, for sheer eclecticism, the record hits a number of highs.

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.

The album has undoubtedly been an opus of dedication but essentially there is no spontaneity.

He hasn't quite developed the dexterity to match his grand designs yet, but there is enough on show here to suggest he soon will.

Although Brown is to be commended for braving topics that other songwriters would fear to tread, he has a habit of expressing his sentiments in the most laughably simplistic terms.

Ripe is a disappointingly bland affair. None of the songs have any edge to them, the tunes are predictable and the lyrics are mundane.

Playtime Is Over is miles forward from the Wiley of 'Wot U Call It' and 'Who Ate All the Pies' but it sits uneasily behind Sway's One For the Journey and Kano's The Mixtape projects

Hayes has hedged his bets, and it shows. Somewhere amongst these 25 tracks is probably a halfway decent album. It's just swamped.

It's a roots record alright, with a few crumbs of hope amidst the looming sense of armageddon.

While Roots & Echoes has some ace moments, it steps back from the brink of insanity in a way they've never done before.

Cookies is a fairly typical debut album, in that it sees a band define their style and stick to it. No doubt in time they'll develop their sound, but in the meantime if you're after a good soundtrack to a party grab this album, kick off your shoes and get your rocks off.

There are enough excellent moments on War Stories to judge it a success, but there's another sense of missed opportunity hanging over the album.

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

There are too many tracks on here that seem unfinished in a way, content to noodle around for far too long without making too much of an impression.

While you may know what you're getting with a Chemical Brothers album, they remain damn good at what they do.... You get the impression that their next album may have to be a bit more adventurous if they're to survive.

By producing a more polished, more accomplished sheen while The Killers have roughed themselves up and forgotten to shave, the two bands have moved towards a middle ground where they're virtually indistinguishable.

A record which stares back at you with the appeal of an ex you'd rather not have bumped into.

It stops short of SMD's effort by quite a way, but it's a fine and much welcome showing for a pair of self-professed amateurs.

Right at the end, they redeem themselves with a romantic little pop ditty that strays into Colourfield territory, with Clarke's scowling, angry young man tones wrapping themselves as well as they can around gentler, less confrontational sentiments. It's the most interesting thing on the album and if they can harness this flexibility a bit more in the future, they might just find themselves lasting the course.

Whilst Ash's signature energetic punk-pop pastiches are very much in evidence in the shape of "I Started A Fire," "You Can't Have It All" and "Princess Six," it's fair to say that they have managed to explore acres of new territory.