The Art Of Noise: The Seduction Of Claude Debussy (ZTT)

They're back, they've woken up from their Paranoimia, and now they're exploring the connection between the composer Claude Debussy, the poet Baudelaire, the beauty of the metaphor, and the nature of genius. So it's a concept album, then, with narration by John Hurt, rapping by Rakim, a choir of angelic voices, swirling dream-house rhythms and driving drum'n'bass beats. The latest project by Trevor Horn, Anne Dudley, Lol Creme and Paul Morley sounds a bit like Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds performed by Robert Miles - you keep expecting John Hurt to announce that Debussy has written a new symphony which will save the world from the Martian invasion. No such excitement here, but at least Art Of Noise manage to create an hour's-worth of atmospheric chill-out music to soothe our senses.

By Kevin Courtney

Def Leppard: Euphoria (Blugeon Riffola/Mercury)

As the glitter-stomp third track declares, Def Leppard are back in your face, and hoping to make a final dash for rock'n'roll glory before time finally overtakes them. With their last album, Slang, the Lep tried in vain to create an "organic" feel, so this new album is a return to the clean, Gilette razor-smooth 1980s formula which saw albums like Pyromania, Hysteria and Adrenalize sell by the truckload. But though the pumping pop-metal of Demoli- tion Man, All Night and Paper Sun may put the Leppard briefly back in the spotlight, their appeal has dulled a little bit too much to reach far beyond the hardcore fans who still haven't grown out of their denim jackets and AC/DC t-shirts. To the ageing rockers' credit, there are no embarrassing attempts at rap or drum'n'bass; just some honest, old-fashioned rock'n'roll obsolescence.

By Kevin Courtney

Various: Cream Ibiza: Arrivals (Virgin)

The sounds for that crowd who will be making their way this summer to the island of Ibiza for a week of banging anthems, plenty of sunburn and a couple of late-night adventures to see them through the winter months. You can expect a lot of albums like this as labels and superclubs like Cream cash in the Ibiza experience and find the tunes which will light up the charts in the coming months. This one carefully pirouettes between such beauties as Pete Heller's mesmerising Big Love, Armand Van Helden's epic Flowerz and Shanks & Bigfoot's ultra-cute Sweet Like Chocolate and the directionless and derivative trance which is the current flavour of the month in the UK from the likes of Salt Tank, System F and Paul Van Dyk.

By Jim Carroll