Reality Killed The Video Star marks Robbie Williams’ overdue return to the pop world, boasting of coolness and consistency absent on 2006’s Rudebox. It finds him working alongside legendary producer Trevor Horn. Though less experimental than Rudebox, Reality Killed The Video Star is more accomplished and generously spirited. The album opener Morning Sun certainly sets the pace musically; a gracefully falling ballad with a brilliantly judged song structure and expansive instrumentation. Last Days of Disco clicks on the very first listen, reminiscent of Eurhythmics and featuring the inevitable line "don’t call it a comeback, I thought it was easy, they came and took it away from us." Playing skillfully with contrasting moods, as he does throughout the album, Williams then hurls us headlong into the guitar-heavy Blasphemy. The current hit single, Bodies, is classic Trevor Horn track, with over-the-top lush layers of keyboards and a massive choir-chanting chorus, "Jesus didn’t die for you/me." You Know Me verges on doo-wop, while Do You Mind begins with classic rock guitar reminiscent of Bad Company. As always Williams’ ever-impressive talent for lyrics steal the show; a gift highlighted in the striking originality found in the restrained Deceptacon.

Best track: Bodies

Worst track: Won’t Do That

For her fourth album, Jones has taken a small but significant stride away from the piano-led contemporary jazz for which she is known towards something rather edgier. The Fall is the first solo album Ms Jones has made without Lee Alexander, her former boyfriend, bassist, songwriting collaborator and producer. Many of her new songs revolve around a breakup that she presents as prolonged and tangled. Concurrently, while Jones’s voice is as beautifully honeyed as ever, she now speaks with a rawness lacking from her earlier recordings. Waiting is a wrought with cynicism, "If I wait, it doesn’t mean you will return." Even Though sees Jones in alt-rock territory with heavily echoed guitars, sparse piano and a persistent drum beat creating a complex atmosphere. Young Blood is an intriguing song, with lyrical references to vampires and arson and a short but alarming chorus. It seems to wash over you but creeps up insistently and becomes an album highlight. You’ve Ruined Me is a simple country-style waltz built on four repeated chords and some poignant harmonising in the chorus. December is the most touching song here, a relaxed melody set to an acoustic guitar over which Norah conveys from the heart, striking a low key chime on her piano. It’s followed by Tell Yer Mama, a scornful put-down in Norah’s sweet voice as she thanks a miserable lover’s parents "for raising you so damn wrong". Man of the Hour, a cute love song, closes the album on a humorous note: "I can’t choose between a vegan and a pothead/ So I chose you/ Because you’re sweet and you give me lots of lovin’/ And you eat meat.’’

Best track: Young Blood

Worst track: Light As A Feather

Stefani Germanotta, from Yonkers, has established herself as a self-created autonomous icon, an avatar of avant-garde fashion and the queen of nu-age electronic dance-pop. Originally conceived as a bonus disc for the re-release of The Fame, the eight-song The Fame Monster is now being released as a standalone album as well. Opener Bad Romance sets the mood, with its whiplash beats, marshy synths, gothic lyrics and astonishingly mannered vocals. While the standard original album has songs like Poker Face that are fun, Gaga takes on a more hypnotic feel with the Spanish inspired Alejandro. With a rhythmic beat, she speaks of a forbidden passion with nothing to lose anymore. For the first time, we are hearing Lady Gaga’s passionate side in the ballad Speechless. When she actually sings with her heart, you can hear a passion she possesses for music with a darker tone in her voice. Dance In The Dark is an 1980s tinged slice of power-pop that strangely resembles Depeche Mode working with Stock, Aitken & Waterman, a mixture that results into a glorious anthem with an updated Vogue-style rap. Another track that deserves attention is So Happy I Could Die, which comes off as being a self-obsessed love song about how happy Lady Gaga makes herself. Then, of course, there’s the much-talked about Beyonc`E9 collaboration Telephone, which proves to be one of the most adrenaline-pumped songs that Gaga has ever crafted. Captivating, eclectic and quite possibly addictive.

Best track: Dance In The Dark

Worst track: Monster

Album of the month
Them Crooked Vultures — Them Crooked Vultures
(Interscope)

It’s hard to call Them Crooked Vultures anything other than a super group — the line-up features Dave Grohl, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Them Crooked Vultures is largely a rock group but the heavy flavours of blues and funk are clearly evident here. No One Loves Me and Neither Do I begins this momentous chapter with Grohl’s effective beats providing the ideal foundation for Homme and Paul Jones to belt out a number of exceptional tracks which set the heart racing. Scumbag Blues is a strong standout, with a serrated verse backed by a strong drumbeat. Mind Eraser, No Chaser is well-done rock effort with Homme imitating Jimmy Page with a thrashing guitar solo in the opening, with the chorus: "All I wanna do is have my mind erased/ I’m begging ya, pleading ya, stop karma teasing us all/ Drug company, where’s a pill for me?/ I call it mind eraser, no chaser." New Fang bounces along with catchy lyrics and a bluesy-rock thump. The funkiness continues with Reptiles, reanimating the jitters that Zeppelin achieved in 1971 with The Crunge. Homme’s vocals dominate most of the record and constantly gives the Queens of The Stone Age feel. The album sounds so balanced and ultimately memorable because each member of the group is precisely where they should be, offering their best side to each other’s talents in a mix that thankfully sounds oddly devoid of ego.

Best track: Scumbag Blues

Worst track: Bandoliers

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