Press Reviews of Upcoming New Albums

Reviews are trickling in for high-profile album releases over the next few weeks:

Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. Reviews appear to be mostly positive, however not as glowing as they were for their debut or second albums. Spin gives it a 3.5/5, calling it the band's "boldest attempt at a full-on disco record." The Guardian is less enthusiastic, giving it 3/5 and saying "You sense that compromises have been made between the desire to do something artistically challenging and the desire to retain both continuity and fanbase, and that, often, the compromise reached is the wrong one." EW gives it a B+ and says "New sounds show up gradually over the course of Franz Ferdinand's third album," but "those flourishes never add up to a radical reinvention."

Working on a Dream - Bruce Springsteen. RollingStone gives the album 5 stars--a rating that no new album received last year, in fact the last album that earned 5 stars was Bruce Springsteen's Magic. RS says the disc is "the richest of the three great rock albums Springsteen has made this decade with the E Street Band"--the others being Magic and The Rising. Spin isn't nearly as kind, giving it 3 stars and saying it "plays like the sunlit counterpart to (Magic)," but "bliss isn't the Boss' bag."

It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen. Finally, The Observer posted a very early and very flattering 5-star review of Lily Allen's new album, saying "It's Not Me, It's You is a wonderful record, and, better than that, a pop album brave enough to have a go at defining the times."