Like everything Drake has been making for the last decade or so, this is undeniably mid, and that just isn't good enough when his career and image needed perfection to restart them.

Bigger is definitely not better, either. Cut the fat, for christ sake.

She was all grown up and wanted to kick at mommy and daddy's dusty car-seats with some "edgier" pop-rocks, but like a lot of the Good Girls Gone Bad, Magenta's hits stop coming when you look beyond the enormous singles, as much as her plays at self-loathing try to give it depth.

Have to confess that I don't like her Love Song very much, and the record has a tendency to bob and dip a little bit, in part thanks to whoever Jessie is, but none of this changes the fact that the title track may be Madonna's magnum opus in both the audio and visual realms of entertainment. When all is rounded off, an incredibly sturdy LP.

Sensuous, shameless, seductive: Ms. Ciccone wears heart and mind on both sleeves. She wants you to know that her book is open and that she will always be who she is. Sugaring the rebukes to her Erotica-era critics with some damn-fine grooves, excellent trip-hop beats, and some really gorgeous vocals, this is Madge at some of her absolute best - creatively, vocally, emotionally.

When push comes to shove, probably the most overrated record in Madonna's varied discography. At times grating, dated, unpleasant (and in the title tracks case, all of the above), this is probably my least favourite of her trilogy of capital-E Electronic efforts from this period. Tracks 3, 8, and 9 are wonderful enough that this LP still has a place, though, as much as her abysmal American Pie cover tries to discredit the pros.

polished? no. smooth performances? nada. charisma? sure. fun? yeah. i'll take it.

girls is so infectious it is *insane*.

update: girls carries, yes, but on reflection, so much of this is cheap in an unfunny way, and i can't help but cringe violently when i hear "you're invited" or "you can never go home". it's also been done before - do we need more of this from brats like this

The best sell-out album since Bowie commanded us to dance with him, it is little wonder with all that is on show that Stefani went it alone the following decade. She all but *was* the band at this point.

pg-rated hozier. x-factor core. there is a reason the only people you've probably heard raving about this man are the ones that played some part in you being born.

to be clear: not the worst thing ever made. but in this current music economy, why would you actively seek it out?

long, but varied. gorgeous vocals, sumptuous dream-pop instrumentals, and v solid lyricism (hi, welsh speaker, etc).

have not really engaged with their work outside of their biggest "hit" in "fel i fod", which is stunning. this mostly keeps up that momentum. really waving the flag for us here. ni, mwy, purdan, and sain are gems.

ms allen is having all kinds of sarky fun on this debut record, and it shows, but it's fairly undeniable that the melodies and the jokes hit better on the Big Singles than they do on a lot of the deeper cuts.

everything's just wonderful gets my shoutout for being a boppy cheerful cynical biter overlaid atop some of the nicer instrumental bits this album carries overall, though.

so many years later and i still haven't decided if i love or hate the album cover, though.

It is not lost on me that Taylor Swift is at her absolute best when she is writing less in relation to her showier universe and instead considers others within her. Huge talent on show from beginning to end.

Probably the best album ever made.

His best? No. But it's still Kendrick Fucking Lamar.

Holds her own here with some bangers , but when even the artist is as low on her most intentionally "commercial" material to this point, I can't really throw it too many flowers.

Baby is pretty close to perfect. A lot of the rest of this is just okay, or even unfortunately mediocre.

Without question, the best thing Charli XCX has ever created. Who knew career-crushing leaks could lead to something so profoundly brilliant?

Fav: Track 10. Duh.

Goes the pop-perfection route without shedding her trippier, funkier skin. Kylie-but-not-quite.

overlong in places and kind of safe - for Murphy, anyway - this is still a testament to her ability to play as hard as the rest of them without completely losing her edge.

some of their oddest experiments and their most commercial heavyweights come together to form an oddly cohesive record sitting generally above the average.

not just the best effort submitted by moloko as a duo, but one of the high water marks of roisin murphy's already pretty glittering career recent controversies not-withstanding.

tonally a funkier dancing on my own, in many ways, with a few more flaws but in some ways more emotionally devastating in places.

As phenomenal as Dolores' voice was and would be, not one person was asking for an anti-smack PSA in tones not far removed from the hectoring of a youth pastor. "Inject your souls with liberty"? Are you fucking serious?

And that's maybe the *least* irritating bout of condescending drivel on this record.

A word to the wise: People enjoying a "violence is bad" track does not mean they're expecting to be told to eat their vegetables for the rest of your ... read more