1. Spiralling 2. The Lovers Are Losing 3. Better Than This 4. You Haven t Told Me Anything 5. Perfect Symmetry 6. You Don t See Me 7. Again & Again 8. Playing Along 9. Pretend That You re Alone 10. Black Burning Heart 11. Love Is The End 12. SPLASH SCREEN

Would it be outlandish to suggest that wholesome rugby-shouldered ruddy-faced English piano-pop boys Keane have spent the best part of their two-album career fanning the impression that they exist somewhere between an easy Mothers Day gift and the album it s ok to give your girlfriend back when you split up, just in order to blow everyone out of the water like 80s neon-pop commandos with the boldness of their third? You know, utilising the element of surprise? Probably, but even though their debut (Hopes & Fears) and its follow up (Under the Iron Sea) may have been broader creative successes than many care to admit, it is true that Perfect Symmetry is a synth-brandishing Tyrannosaurus Rex next to those trundlingly melodic Trojan horses. From the moment Spiralling, the single that made a nation choke on its Yakult, erupts like a Top of the Pops volcano with flashes of David Bowie, Talking Heads, Erasure, Prefab Sprout and James, amongst others--with the WHOOOO! interjections impacting...

#Not their best and the mastering is attrocious. (2008-12-04) I have both of Keane s previous albums and they ve always been some of my favourite albums to chill out to. Unfortunately, this is practically impossible to do with the new album. One one hand, the style is quite different to previous Keane albums with the first track (Spiralling) particularly emphasising this thanks to its 80s style. This makes it much more up-beat than previous Keane albums. Whether you like this change or not is up to you. However, the thing about this album which ruins it the most is the abysmal ma...

#Adventurous and ear-catching (2008-11-28) I loved Hopes & Fears before eventually tiring of it after a few months and thought Under the Iron Sea had superb high points with the odd filler thrown in. I bought this album confident that there would be at least 3 or four tracks to throw on my ipod playlist. Perfect Symmetry has totally surpassed all my expectations. Keane have produced a depth to this recording which changes my previous view that they are throw-away artists who wrote only decent if disposable music. The opener Spiralling took me by surprise and I have to admit that i ini...

#Finally a return to goodness. (2008-11-19) It may have taken a while, but they have finally returned back to writing great songs. After a poor second album Keane have returned with a really strong third album. From start to finish this is an outstanding album which has catchy tracks such as Spiralling and Better Than This. It does take a few listens before you can really appreciate it, but with every listen it is growing on me, and I only bought it last week!I ve only given it four stars because I feel it should only have five stars if it is really outstanding!

#Fantastically Different (2008-11-19) It s great to hear a band bold enough to try something different with a third album rather than let it be a marker of their steady decline (e. g. Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight). With Perfect Symmetry Keane pulls off a welcome and surprisingly different return. The 80 s feel is apparent but the album avoids becoming a pastiche. The album makes you think of Queen, Bowie and other greats, but the strong vocals and melodies make it unmistakably Keane. Tempo is generally upbeat throughout, tinged with retro drum machines and synths and unashamedly pop,...

#The Killers copy (2008-11-07) Once again Keane has failed to come up with the goods. After a fabulous first album and a disaster with Under the Iron Sea, Perfect Symmetry slips between the two with several tracks sounding like a second rate Killers tribute band. Why didn t they stick to the distinctive sound of Hopes and Fears instead of diluting their appeal by emulating the top Indie band.

1. Bag It Up 2. Turning 3. Waiting For The Rapture 4. Shock Of The Lightning 5. I m Outta Time 6. Get Off Your High Horse Lady 7. Falling Down 8. To Be Where There s Life 9. Ain t Got Nothin 10. Nature Of Reality 11. Soldier On

Though Oasis are forever fated to live in the shadow of their initial success, they remain capable of producing exciting and touching music, and Dig out Your Soul continues the upswing in their fortunes sparked by 2005 s Don t Believe the Truth. Unashamedly an album of two halves, the first part is heavily loaded with Noel Gallagher s tunes, including the pounding single The Shock of the Lightning, a taut and pacy rocker nearer to the light touch of the Smiths The Queen Is Dead than their usual Pistols-inspired power plod. The rocking Bag It Up shares nothing but a title with Geri Halliwell s already forgotten 2000 hit, while Waiting for the Rapture takes Lennon s harrowing Cold Turkey as a template, with some success. Liam s crude, sparky Ain t Got Nothin holds up his side and his sprawling ballad (the only such effort here) I m Outta Time adds another anthem to their repertoire. Even Gem Archer s To Be Where There s Life, a bracing slice of undercooked psychedelia, is naggingly cat...

#Is this as bad as it gets?!? (2008-11-29) I once heard an interview where Noel Gallagher proclaimed that Oasis, in his opinion, were in the top 3 of bands of all time. On this, and several other albums worth of evidence, it is quite clear that they aren t anywhere near the top 3 of Manchester bands! to say this album is a bit samey is a massive understatement! I was going to re-name them status quoasis, but that would be a great insult to status quo! I would advise anyone to borrow this album before buying, I wish I had, i d be £8. 99 better off now!!

#Music To get Hooked By (2008-11-26) First things first. I would have awarded 5 stars had it not been for the High Horse track which starts like Give Peace A Chance and then proceeds to totally rip off the rock n roll classic Hi Heel Sneakers - wait for the law suit!! Aside from this reservation, this is a really listenable straight forward rock album from start to finish that has been on continuous play in my car for some weeks. Yes there is pure Oasis, pure Beatles and something in between. The opening 4 tracks are as close to pure Oasis as you will get. From then on, the B...

#Their best album since morning glory!!! (2008-11-19) To sum up this album in one word, its fantastic!. Those people that have criticised this album by giving it less than 3 stars dont know what they are on about! Of course you cant compare it to morning glory or definately maybe because music has moved on since the early 90 s and so have oasis. They have tried new stuff on here and its worked a charm. The first 8 tunes are genius and yes maybe they could have done without the last 3. Overall its well worth the money

#The Gallagher Brothers Return with Maturity and Conviction! (2008-11-18) With the critics who are ready to pounce on Oasis weaknesses at any opportunity, it was always clear that this album would be met with greater anticipation than just about any other record of the last ten years. Whilst playing the CD for the first time, many of the tracks seem rather pedestrian. But, listen to it for a third or fourth time and the snarl and bite of Bag It Up and the overwhelming energy of The Turning will hit you like a right hook from the fist of Mike Tyson. No wonder we had to wait for over ...

#Manchester s very own one trick ponies ride again.... (2008-11-18) I don t normally see the point of giving a review for something that seems to be the perfect catalyst to ambivalence, but someone lent me this after I had told them I had always struggled to see the point of Oasis. I had high hopes that this new album would demonstrate a new maturity in their musical ability. However, Manchester s finest one trick ponies have lived up to my previous expectations. With so many fantastic creative bands and artists out there it seems Oasis have always appealed to those who can...

1. Starlings 2. The Bones Of You 3. Mirrorball 4. Grounds For Divorce 5. An Audience With The Pope 6. Weather To Fly 7. The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver 8. The Fix - Elbow, Richard Hawley 9. Some Riot 10. One Day Like This 11. Friend Of Ours 12. We re Away

There are few things in life quite so liberating as the opening track on an Elbow album--they re like airlocks between the plainness of the outside world and the elaborate melancholic heave-ho that you are likely about to submerge yourself in. Following predecessors Any Day Now, Ribcage and Station Approach, Starlings opens their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid rising from a bed of tumbling electronic subtlety like a depressed Atari game loading up, adding bare touches of piano, glimpses of ambient guitar, out of body background vocals, an understated pulse and a wisp of strings, before--EXCELSIS!--a fanfare avalanche of horns crashes the gate and elevates things to gasping palatial heights, before Guy Garvey s inimitable gravel tone and wrenchingly poetic reinterpretations of the everyday announce their arrival proper. It s astonishing, by far the most progressive moment on the album and if anything it sets the bar too high. But even when the pace dips, and songs like Mirrorball and ...

#Very disapointed (2008-11-28) bought this album on the streangth of hearing the single ( last track on album ) and I have to say how disapointed I was with the reat of the album, only buy this cd if your a fan of the group themselves

#My faith firmly restored in the British public - give yourself a pat on the back (2008-11-26) Both the huge support/acclaim for this album and the John Sergeant affair are proof that we should never underestimate our enduring ability to occasionally do the right thing. Elbow are a great band. Never fashionable, no gimmicks, not much fuss but always able to create great music. All their albums are streeta aheads of the wretched Keane, Snow Patrol and Razorlight. Here they move into overdrive. Some of the most wonderful songs ever recorded by a British band are contained on this CD....

#The Seldom Seen Kid (2008-11-25) I bought this album after hearing them live on Colin Murray s show. They played some songs live, and they were so different to anything I really listened to. Instantly loving the songs Grounds For Divorce and One Day Like This , I decided to purchase the album. The music they make is so chilled and calmed but sounds so good! I find this very good to listen to when I revise as I am a student. The album as is nothing dramatic, but rather calm and soothing. Some of the lyrics are very clever and catchy: I can t help loving every song. For £7 this...

#Just one more album....please?? (2008-11-24) This is pure genius from start to finish. I ve just heard this may be ELBOW s final album. . . . . . . One more please Mr Garvey. . . I and many others, judging by the reviews here, have only just discovered you!!

#uncovered gems (2008-11-06) Sorry to say I had never even heard of Elbow until I caught them on TV at this years Glastonbury. Liked what I heard and bought the album (before they won the Mercury prize I hasten to add)Was completely blown away by it. Have since invested in their back catalogue which have been equally impressive. All are highly recommendedIt has certainly restored my interest in music .

1. Keep On Walking 2. She s So Lovely 3. It s Not About You 4. Airplane SOng 5. Heartbeat 6. Elvis Ain t Dead 7. I m Not Over You 8. I Need A Holiday 9. Mountains Of Navaho 10. James Bond

#Oh Dear (2008-11-18) I was a fan of scouting for girls until I got this album then I realised how annoying and similar every song is. Not good.

#Party Poopers (2008-10-26) There s a kind of grim, depressing inevitability about this. It s like the stone thrown up by a lorry that hits YOUR windscreen, or you agonisingly realising that brown lump under your shoe isn t a dropped Mars bar or some clogged up leaves. . . . SFG works like this, something hurtles towards you, you re terrified it s gonna be really painful and bad. . . . . . and it is. Apart from giving me the raving needle, there is SO much fundamentally wrong with SFG . It doesn t work on ANY level, it can t be sympathetically reviewed in any context. It s a ...

#why? (2008-10-24) I remember hearing about police using heavy metal songs to get possible terror suspects to spill their guts. But FINALLY something has come along that could work even better, though I suppose if the suspect was wearing a belt he would have hung himself by the time he got to hearing the second verse (is there a second verse?) of SHE S SO LUVVERLY . I honestly cannot believe that something this bad could be commercially released without fearing for a huge wave of suicides or murders in reaction to said product. Maybe I m being a bit harsh, but after hearing SFG...

#EXCELLENT =D (2008-09-20) This album is by one of the bands that are definatly one of the best around today. This isnt the type f music i listen to but i thought it was amazing when i heard and it gets better every time. Much much better than other bands of this type like mcfly. BUY IT !!!! You wont regret it !!!=D

#Think of the children!! (2008-09-11) This band is THE perfect example of the Law of diminishing returns. When I first heard these guys some months back,I though they weren t bad. But as I heard shes so lovely and subsequent songs I have to say enough is enough. I don t know what it is about them. Is it the fact that they wrap their unbelievably banal lyrics around a melody that barely changes from song to song? Is it that they re so mind-numbingly bland and inoffensive? Or is it that,as one reviewer mentioned previously,supposed teenybopper bands like McFly and Busted did this sort...

1. Sit And Wonder 2. Love Is Noise 3. Rather Be 4. Judas 5. Numbness 6. I See Houses 7. Noise Epic 8. Valium Skies 9. Columbo 10. Appalachian Springs

Warning: the Verve&rsquo,s wittily titled fourth album--the first since their reformation in 2007--is no Urban Hymns Part II. That much is clear from the album&rsquo,s first single Love Is Noise, a punchy-yet-addictive propulsive rocker, but it&rsquo,s a fact underlined several times on the remainder of the album. Taking a determined stroll along the boulevard of experimentalism, the band mix up their slick strings and ringing guitars with dense drums and murky soundscapes for this comeback album. Opening cut &ldquo,Sit and Wonder&rdquo, sets the tone: a lurching, bluesy tune with a loose, jam-session feel that maintains its groove for almost seven minutes. The soaring (and shorter) &ldquo,Rather Be,&rdquo, the dreamy &ldquo,Judas&rdquo, and the plodding &ldquo,I See Houses&rdquo, bring us closer to the classic Verve sound, but the retreat into moody psychedelia continues anew with &ldquo,Numbness,&rdquo, the intense &ldquo,Noise Epic&rdquo, and the kaleidoscopic, Can-like &ldquo,Colom...

#The truth (2008-12-03) It is great to hear new material by the Verve. I do not agree that this sounds like a Richard Ashcroft solo record, it is far superior to that. . . . It contains outstanding songs including Sit and Wonder and Judas. Not sure why this has had negative reviews as the material is pure quality.

#Forget your expectations, chill out and prepare to be taken on a soulful musical journey.. (2008-11-05) Obviously Love is Noise is a great track, certainly the most obvious choice for a single, their stunning live performance of it at Glastonbury was certainly a testament to its energetic, crowd pleasing potential. However, if I had to take a pick of the bunch, I would go for Appalachian Springs and Sit & Wonder as being my favourites, closely followed by Valium Skies and Judas - each one equally as detailed and soulful as the next. So that s 5 tracks that instantly grabbed my attent...

#They got away with a forth? Not on my watch! (2008-10-22) I bought this album last week and forcefully misplaced it. It s not a happy do, this. I listened to it twice just to be sure i was once again medically depressed. We are now in an age where happiness is of paramount importance. This should be the soundtrack to Emmerdale or Eastenders. That would just about finish off the nation! How much more self pity and auditory gruel can we take? How have they got away with a forth? Go spank your stereo, spit it out! spit it out! dirty! Now slip in a bit of Corrosion of Conformity a...

#An album for all music fans (2008-10-09) I wasn t sure whether i would like this album as i bought it without even hearing a single song off it, the cover did it for me, i don t know why but it s just a beautiful image and i imagined that any music contained within would be just as good. The music fits that image well. Out of the whole album there is only one song i m not too keen on but it s certainly not a bad song, the rest i loved on the first listen through and that s a very rare thing for me. I really don t understand people giving this bad reviews, you will not regret buying ...

#Don t listen to the haters (2008-10-06) As a Verve fan I ve listened to the album over & over again on my work PC & in my Car and I rate it highly!Stand out songs for me are Numbness , Noise Epic & my personal favourite Columbo . Great Album. . . . . Buy it!