Music : The Age of the Understatement

Rating: - probably best if you like the monkeys
I like Alex Turner's voice so as he sings most of the time he is on to a winner already.
They manage to make the 60s retro sound interesting (Duffy how come you can't). Quirky lyrics well delivered. Not bad at all.
Busy production and orchesteral/big band sounds means it doesn't make it all the way through very often in out house.

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Rating: - absolute quality.......
from start to finish. album of the year so far for me , by a distance. great strings , great tunes , great lyrics.

marks out of ten for each track...

the age of the understatement 9/10

standing next to me 9/10

calm like you 8/10

seperate and ever deadly 10/10

the chamber 7/10

only the truth 10/10

my mistakes were made for you 9/10

black plant 8/10

i don't like you anymore 8/10

in my room 9/10

meeting place 10/10

the time has come again 9/10

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Rating: - An Interesting Side-Project...nothing more
In the crush to acclaim the side project of Artic Monkeys figuregead Alex Turner as some work of genius a couple of points seem to have been lost. There is no way that The Last Shadow Puppets are going to out-sell the Monkeys, and its a dangerously thin line between homage and pastiche.

And however much you make like this album, it's difficult to escape from the fact that it may ape the likes of Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker but it never really threatens to break out from that shadow.

The plus points are that it is a very effective pastiche and, clocking in at just over half an hour, it breezes past without dragging.

Still, as accomplished as it is, it lacks that X-Factor and you can't help feeling that if a unheard of Joe Bloggs presented this to the world the clamour to acclaim it wouldn't be as strong. Still, it will tide you over until Turner unleashes the next Monkeys album.

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Rating: - Big Cinematic Sized Gem
I will be honest and say that I don't know The Rascals but I am all too familiar with the precocious talents Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys fame. Side projects of this type could be dismissed as mere vanity projects. Taking inspiration from the epic soundscapes of Scott Walker's quartet of albums from the 60's should be ambitious beyond reach.

It isn't and isn't so for a number of reasons. Firstly Turner writes wonderfully taught lyrics and here they are given a different setting which seems to make them soar. He also adds some darker tones to his writing which suit the mood well. Musically the wish to make something akin to Scott Walker's album works and this is largely due to the pretty much unhearalded talents of Owen Pallett who, at 21, has already made a name arranging strings for Arcade Fire and Beruit. He emulates the sweeping strings of Wally Stott (Walker's arranger) wonderfully. His work is quite literally the highlight of the record and hopefully this will help elevate his band Final Fantasy into the public conciousness.

The sound is very 60's and fans of the likes of Scott Walker, John Barry and countless other 60's icons will find much to enjoy in this. The production is wonderfully executed and adding the merest hint of echo to Turner's voice really sets the mood of songs. It's not really going to set the fans of the Monkeys alight as this is something quite different.

It is ambitious and sumptuous and rarely hits anything short of its desired for hieghts. Picking out individual highlights is hard as each one of the tracks is a joy. Here's hoping there's more from this trio of prodigiously talented individuals. One of the highlights of the year.

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Rating: - average
every track sounds like a bond theme tune, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. i'm not really into this album, although i am a big fan of the arctic monkeys and i was really looking forward to this collaboration. i like the sort of 60s feel, i just think that the songs, even though they're new and everything feels a little tired and samey

all in all i'd pass. if i could tell myself then what i know now i wouldn't have bought it