Gary Cottier

Another superb Nick Cave record, but I never expected anything less. He's consistently making top quality music at 67. It's staggering. As for the album itself it's reminiscent of earlier Cave releases No more shall we part and Abbotoir blues/Lyre of orpheous, mixed with a sprinkling of the intimacy of Push the sky away. It's a beautiful record and a must buy for any Nick Cave fan. Excellent.

For me, the worst Queen album of Freddie Mercury's lifetime. Is this the same band that made Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera? Apparently it is, but they are a shadow of their former selves here. There's some half decent tracks here and there like I Want It All and The Invisible Man but there is also rubbish like Party (easily the worst opening track in Queen history), Rain Must Fall and My Baby Does me. The title track is okay and Breakthru is an enjoyable song but the band are really starting to sound here like four middle-aged multimillionaires, which is of course what they are but you don't want your music to sound like that. The final track Was It All Worth It adds a much needed bit of bite but overall the album is a real disappointment.

I don't take this release too seriously. It's obviously a stop gap while Larry Mullen deals with his health issues and I fully expect U2 proper to return next year with a brand new album. But in the meantime we have this, a 40 song oddysey of old U2 songs, some 're-imagined', some just plain acoustic versions. There are some interesting moments most notably on Dirty day and Desire but at other times it just sounds a little underwhelming, even pointless on With or without you and The Miracle (of Joey Ramone). At 40 songs it certainly is a little indulgent but it's quite possibly a grower. Even so I do feel slightly disappointed but as I said earlier I fully expect U2 to be back next year with a new album proper.

Great book. The characters are well written and the story is perfectly paced. I enjoyed it immensely.