lifer

Aside from the glorious Trains To Brazil and Made Up Love Song, which we've all heard before anyway, this album is so underwhelming. Really indulgent and completely unfocused. Disappointing

Winnebago Deal are pants

Loved Young Liars, thought the first full-length was massively over-rated, but this is just sublime. One of the best albums I've heard in a long, long time and one that gets better with every listen. 'Playhouses' and 'Wash The Day Away' the two best for me, but pretty much everything on here is exceptional. Untouchable.

I really like the album, but you've hit the nail on the head. Really don't understand why everyone's gone mental over this – 5/5 in Q and Kerrang, 9/10 in NME and on here. As a whole, I'm not sure it works together as well as Absolution, but I much prefer the production on this - when it kicks in, it REALLY kicks in. 8/10 record.

It's a very average album. I'd be amazed if any of them broke a sweat writing or recording it, so Prophets-by-numbers is its duration.

At least 'Start Something' was a step on in terms of production and structure, however commercial and compromising it sometimes felt. This is just 'Start Something' Mark 2 minus the really killer tunes.
It doesn't have an ounce of indentity to it, it just sounds like everything else.

I find the fact that Kerrang gave this 5/5 the funniest admission by a magazine ever - ie we write about stuff we know is going to sell, rather than what is good. All consumer magazines have to think this way to a certain degree, but to give this the same rating as, say, And Justice For All or Vulgar Display Of Power, is frankly laughable and rips a big hole in any kind of journalistic integrity the metal comic had left.

Shame on you. Their Manchester Uni date in 2000 (if mind serves me correctly) was one of the best gigs I've ever been to, even if they did keep asking the crowd to stop moshing.

Now, a cross between Plan B and Rock Sound, that could be an interesting prospect.

Rock Sound may look and read like a fanzine and gives far too many good marks, but the enthusiasm is there for all to see.

I like enthusiasm, it's so much better than arched eyebrows and sneers.

I'm with Mike on this - nice tactic, but no way was it intended to finish. It would have been like, "Mission accomplished! Now… The Prequels." Or something.

I, for one, find Plan B pretty wanky, for want of a better word, much as I did Careless Talk. Nice idea, good bands covered, looks cool, but with writing of the most self-indulgent order that tells you more about the writer than it does the band.

There needs to be a middle ground, I feel, between the mass-market populism of NME/Q and the 'elitist and proud' likes of Plan B. The US mag Skyscraper does it very well, which I believe you write for Mr Diver, but that isn't monthly and is a web almanac.

So who knows…

It sounds a definite side-step rather than the bold step on the single suggested, but I still like it.

Starlight is the next single, yes, though the band want to release Knights Of Cydonia, apparently.

Album's really not THAT good. 8/10 record, very good but they've done better. Is a step back in terms of production, and some of it is Muse-by-numbers, but when they hit their stride (ie this single, Map of the Problematique and Knights of Cydonia) it's untouchable.

Supermassive Black Hole is great, and it's an equally strong album. Occasionally comes off as Muse-by-numbers, but still better than most

Genuinely interesting piece with not even a hint of 'I want to be a music journalist so hard it hurts' about it. Well done, more please

What a fall from grace, but it really isn't a very good album. The title track is great, but as you say, after that it's very mediocre. Who would have thought this as the band who made Gotham? Still think 3/10 is a little harsh, it's not necessarily bad, just not very good.

I don't agree. It's a very stong album, that no matter how many collaborators he hooks up with, and how many twists it takes, sounds immediately and unmistakeably Patton. Found it much more cohesive than the General Patton album.

Not quite sure why a return to 'pop' and working with Norah Jones would suggest it was to be his most enjoyable work for some time either, unless you're coming from a Woolworths stockist's perspective. Suspended Animation was endless fun.

Oh, and comparing it to The Real Thing is also really very silly. That record was made by a different man entirely. It's like comparing Stadium Arcadium to The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

It does sound a lot like Depeche Mode. Except Pig Heil Jam, which is Nine Inch Nails. And great. Pretty good album though, I thought. 7/10 is a fair mark. Has this been delayed for ages or what, though? The promo for this has been knocking about for over six months

It's mediocre, with some nice touches on occasion, but still hopelessly in thrall to Kurt Cobain (whatever the review may say - they may not be in the same league, but that's clearly the inspiration). It's their best album to date, but that isn't really saying much. I'd go more 6/10, but if you like them as a band, you'll lap it up.

Wow, talk about not being able to take criticism.

Gonzalez's version isn't as good, granted, but it's still lovely, and different enough to actually warrant being made, unlike so many covers out there. The point made was a perfectly good one and didn't deserve abuse.

Give Gonzalez a break. And learn how to write an interesting review while you're at it. Insulting your readership will get you nowhere you tool