Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor (Album Review)

When promo shots of Marilyn Manson wearing  (what we assumed was) bacon on his face emerged prior to the arrival of 'The Pale Emperor', the worry began to set in. Just what is he trying to be these days? Nihilistic menace, Hollywood headline botherer or purveyor of art films? More importantly, can he reclaim his corrupt crown with this, his ninth full-length?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Monday, 19 January 2015

Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Album Review)

Photo: Brigitte Sire Sleater-Kinney’s return has made it it all too easy to grasp at low hanging fruit. They are “comeback queens”, this is the “return of riot grrl”. But, despite that, the truth is that the trio have completely blown all expectations out of the water with ‘No Cities To Love’.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 16 January 2015

Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper (Album Review)

It’s a good idea to arrive at the door of a new Panda Bear record expecting the unexpected. Noah Lennox has been twisting and turning under the name since the late ‘90s, while populating the fringes of the mainstream with Animal Collective weirdness, and ‘...Meets The Grim Reaper’ is further evidence of a restlessly creative mind.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Wednesday 13 - Monsters Of The Universe: Come Out And Plague (Album Review)

There are many things Wednesday 13 excels at, and horror punk, outlaw country and puppet shows are all sordid strings to his bow. But concept albums? Aren't they exclusively for, like, balding prog-rockers and Cradle of Filth?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Maddie Jones - Vita Brevis (Album Review)

Maddie Jones’ ‘Vita Brevis’ may have slipped under your radar at the end of last year, but this is a debut worth rewinding the clock for. In the 12 months ahead, Jones is primed to make her mark.

Written by: Dave Ball | Date: Friday, 09 January 2015

Lapsley - Understudy (Album Review)

Låpsley. Remember the name. It shouldn’t be too hard, given the number of publications queueing up to anoint the teenager as one to watch in 2015. The hype, so often unwelcome, is entirely justified. The ‘Understudy’ EP is a confident, emotionally intelligent bow from an artist that we’ll be hearing a lot more from.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Thursday, 08 January 2015

D'Angelo And The Vanguard - Black Messiah (Album Review)

How many times does someone have to jump out and shout ‘surprise!’ before the shock wears off? Not too many, I’d wager, given the recent diminishing returns as big names have snuck big records out into the world. But, then, along came D’Angelo to change all that. The arrival of ‘Black Messiah’, that fabled third album, just before Christmas was a glorious shock to the system.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 06 January 2015

The Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments To An Elegy (Album Review)

Augmented by prog bluster they might have been, but the songs that underpinned the Smashing Pumpkins’ rise to the alt-rock throne in the mid-'90s still stand mighty and proud 20 years later. Since reviving the band in 2005, though, Billy Corgan has pursued his own muse and perhaps delivered more bluster than winning tunes. Until now, that is.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 12 December 2014

Foreigner - The Best of Foreigner 4 & More (Album Review)

Photo: Bill Bernstein If Foreigner received frequent flyer miles every time they travelled into their back catalogue and plundered its contents for another not-so-new release, they'd be able to jet around the globe for the rest of their career without paying a penny. Take recent live albums, Best Of compilations or acoustic reworkings of their hits - while the quality of the music is beyond reproach, their frequency and necessity is beyond questionable.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 09 December 2014

Mogwai - Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1 (Album Review)

‘Rave Tapes’, released way, way back in January, found Mogwai in a good spot. It was tightly-wound but just that bit adventurous, with their guitar workouts complemented by dashes of menacing synth and surprisingly warm melodies.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 04 December 2014

Kiesza - Sound Of A Woman (Album Review)

Performance is an aspect of music that doesn’t crop up in the discussion of records as often as it perhaps should. It’s something, though, that is impossible to overlook when you’re dealing with ‘Sound of a Woman’, the debut by Canadian dance-pop star Kiesza.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

AC/DC - Rock Or Bust (Album Review)

Anyone expecting AC/DC to respond to the retirement of founding member and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young – who is receiving treatment for dementia – with a bleak, introspective and tortured hangover of a record clearly doesn't know AC/DC. Ever the proud general, Malcolm demanded the band continue and by making a record that affirms the uplifting power of rock ‘n' roll, they've paid tribute to him in the best way possible.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 01 December 2014

Mary J. Blige - The London Sessions (Album Review)

Reinvention is the savvy pop star’s secret weapon and, sometimes, a gateway to new relevance in a world that will pass you by in heartbeat. So, with Mary J. Blige 22 years removed from ‘What’s The 411?’, she’s turned to some fresh blood on her bold new record, ‘The London Sessions’.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Wednesday, 26 November 2014

The Amsterdam Red Light District - Gone For A While (Album Review)

Punk never died and it's not sleeping. Whether Rancid, Misfits or Gallows are your tipple of choice, music's snottiest genre has been in fine shape for just about 40 years. But, it's a style that has been plundered many a time, so can it still offer anything fresh?

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Chumped - Teenage Retirement (Album Review)

On first spin, Chumped’s self-titled EP didn’t leave much room to think about the future. Once it had you in its giddy grasp, the ramshackle guitars and Anika Pyle’s melodies were too sweet, too immediate to allow anything as big as that to intrude. But, over time, things changed. It became about escaping, about routines and looking for a spark or something different.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 24 November 2014

Bryan Ferry - Avonmore (Album Review)

With the book closed on Roxy Music (again) the emergence of a new Bryan Ferry solo record is, at the very least, emblematic of the man’s creative drive. ‘Avonmore’ follows a fun diversion in ‘The Jazz Age’, offering up a hefty, albeit sedate, wedge of romantic melancholy.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Friday, 21 November 2014

TV On The Radio - Seeds (Album Review)

Pop songs differ greatly from one another and TV On The Radio have been finding new ways to interpret them for over a decade. But never have they sounded so content to keep things simple as they do on ‘Seeds’, their fifth album.

Written by: Matt Williams | Date: Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Various Artists - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 OST (Album Review)

The music business is awash with sentiments that mean little to nothing. ‘Curated by’ is often one of them; a handy way to attach meaning or a star name to a project in need of a little momentum. Lorde’s involvement with the soundtrack to Mockingjay - Part 1, the latest instalment in the Hunger Games series, is the polar opposite of such an empty gesture.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Pink Floyd - The Endless River (Album Review)

The conclusion has been reached: too much importance is afforded to a band’s final statement. Had ‘The Endless River’ been a thunderous dud, which it isn’t, then Pink Floyd would still have ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ to parade around as medals. It’s better to think of this record as the late Rick Wright’s 'swansong', as the band have done, rather than the end of something that was, at one point, all consuming in in its scope and popularity.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Thursday, 13 November 2014

Machine Head - Bloodstone & Diamonds (Album Review)

Machine Head's 'The Blackening' is a modern masterpiece. A sprawling, hour-long epic, it threw down the gauntlet to other heavy metal bands back in 2007, and they have thus far largely failed to match its intensity. Neither have Machine Head, though, and 'Unto The Locust', that album's follow up, was peppered with mixed reviews.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 13 November 2014