Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures (Sony)

This will be brief for a couple of reasons: this genuine supergroup of Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) has already been given wide-exposure, and that in this instance Elsewhere has been running a bit late. (Got waylaid by a Guy Clark album or somesuch)

So the short of it is that this is usefully mature and loud hard rock of the old style: it is chock full of riffs and riffing, thunderous drums, guitar solos, impassioned vocals by Homme, lots of testosterone, density and breadth and weight, and much melodrama.

In short, it is the hard rock album of the year for those who don't mind being bludgeoned but also want a decent and memorable tune as much as tinnitus.

On paper it was always going to be great but that implosion of talent also meant high expectation and the possibly of spectacular failure.

That they have delivered an album of such consistency (still, too long at 66 minutes and they could have maybe lost the head-down riffery of Elephants) must make it hard for Grohl to go back to the Foo Fighters (run their course now) and Homme to whatever he's up to. Jones for his part must feel that after some time in various wildernesses he's back in the frontline and fighting again.

Louderer!