JLS - JLS

4/5

The UK fell out of love with boy-bands over the past few years, with teenage girls' focus shifting from regimented dance moves to sassy singer-songwriters or indie kids with guitars.

However, with X Factor's help, JLS have reintroduced the tried and tested 1990s pop formula. The foursome's debut album is full of R'n'B pop tunes which will impress their army of fans.

The opening two tracks are the anthemic No 1 debut single Beat Again and its just-released follow-up Everybody In Love. They indicate what the rest of the album holds: up-tempo love songs which will make the 14-year-old girls think the group are singing directly to them.

This album clearly isn't pushing any boundaries, but they pass the pop test with flying colours.

PW

Jamie Cullum - The Pursuit

3/5

The fifth studio album from pint-sized jazz singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum falls short of his 2003 hit Twentysomething.

While opener Just One Of Those Things sounds like a reject from that album, the other 11 tracks are a mix of upbeat pop tunes, virtuoso piano performances and romantic ballads. The overwhelming theme on songs like I'm All Over It, You And Me Are Gone and Music Is Through is break-ups, while there's even a sheepish cover of Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music.

It's an awkward and disappointing album, sounding as though Jamie was going through an identity crisis. With its catchy hook, Wheels is the only redeeming song.

KW

Dame Shirley Bassey - The Performance

4/5

It's Dame Shirley Bassey's first studio album in more than 20 years – and it's wonderful.

Each song is written by different high-profile artists specifically for her.

It opens with the beautiful Almost There, written by Tom Baxter; then comes Rufus Wainwright's up-tempo Apartment, which mixes her trademark style with a world-music backing. This Time, by Take That's Gary Barlow, should be in a West End musical, while Nice Men by KT Tunstall shows off Bassey's vocal range. The compliments don't stop there – After The Rain by Richard Hawley and The Performance Of My Life by The Pet Shop Boys close the album on a high.

It's really a great comeback from the Welsh diva .The Performance deserves a standing ovation.

PW

The Rolling Stones - Live Licks, Still Life, Flashpoint, Love You Live, Stripped

4/5

The Rolling Stones are undoubtedly one of the greatest and most enduring live acts of all time, so they can possibly be forgiven for releasing five digitally-remastered live albums.

From 1995's excellent and raw Stripped album to the more pedestrian and slightly flat Still Life from 1982, all of the Stones' classics get an airing, and consistently come across as both intimate-yet -vibrant and raucous in equal measure.

This acoustic engagement is in part attributable to the flawless production work undertaken on the new releases, something that these albums have always deserved.

1991's Flashpoint and Love You Live (1977) sound better then ever and Live Licks from 2004 incorporates a few of the band's lesser-known tracks, which are certainly make for must-have rather than filler content.

The overall impression is that, both now and in their heyday, the Stones were probably even better live than those unfortunate enough not to have seen them think.

This alone makes these albums worth a listen.

SB

William Fitzsimmons - The Sparrow And The Crow

2/5

Now released in the UK after its success in the United States, where it came out to critical acclaim in 2008, the third album from American singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons makes for a harrowing listen.

After 2006's sophomore release Goodnight, which was lyrically inspired by his parents' divorce, The Sparrow... reflects on the breakdown of his own marriage. He favours sparse arrangements, and the intimacy can verge on the claustrophobic and uncomfortable. The song titles herein – Find Me To Forgive, We'll Feel Alone and I Don't Feel It Anymore, for example – are far from misleading.

JS

Reviews by Polly Weeks, Kate Whiting, Stefan Bonczoszek and John Skilbeck.