"Mad" has echo-laden guitar and grizzled Neil Young style vocals. The delicate guitar gives way to heavier riffing. "Afraid" soon joins the party, with more delicate guitar. An unexpected synth gives this song an 80s feel. You can't call a song "Mercenary" without including throbbing guitars. There's a hint of Ian Astbury to the vocals, as Rundgren casts himself as the titular protagonist. The slow passage – two minutes in – gives the song weight and depth.

There a bar room boogie feel to "Gun". I don't know anything about Todd's political affiliations so I can't be sure, but I detect an element of irony in the lyrics, which relate a character's relationship with his firearm: 'This is my gun/This is for fighting and this is for fun.' Elsewhere I can't quite make my mind up about what makes "Courage" sound so 80s. Can it be the generous amounts of reverb? No matter, the song is a tuneful towering monolith. "Weakness" has a Joe Cocker vibe. It's an unconventional love song, with Mr Rundgren admitting: "You are my Kryptonite!" The song ends abruptly, in a jarring manner. Maybe Todd decided he had been too soppy and needed to inject some testosterone into proceedings, which comes in the form of "Strike". This song asks the question: 'Are you ready to rumble?' There are some Led Zeppelin-style guitar heroics.

A highlight of the album is "Pissin" which contains the memorable line, 'This used to be a nice place/And now your dick is in the mayonnaise.' Remind me not to have the salad next time I eat there. An instrumental break sounds crowbarred in, but it's so good you don't mind. It's a mix of "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" and the sounds of guns being cocked. What a strange impression I'm getting of the world that Todd lives in.

I have to check the synth sounds during the beginning of "Today" aren't a ring tone from a fellow train passenger. There's a funky bass line, which recalls that of Bjork's "Human Behaviour" at double speed. "Bardo" starts with a liquid guitar sound. Todd's voice is under a welter of effects giving the song a trippy feel. I'm not sure if Todd is the sort of person you should be dropping acid with, but this song has a wonderful woozy bluesy feel. With "Mountaintop" we're back in the realm of the bar room boogie. There are enough 'wooh-ah's to keep the average Bon Jovi fan happy. "Panic" is forgettable, but "Manup" has a wonderful Neil Young feel. A flurry of guitar brings the album to a close.

You can listen to it on repeat, without getting bored. There are catchy tunes, driving guitars and more. It's a mature and measured record, but it hasn't forgotten how to have fun. If you like 'classic rock' then Arena is the album for you.

Kicking off proceedings is "A Nation Fit For Heroes", which paces along with kick-ass energy and style. It's very Stranglers sounding, and has a bit of an anti-war-anti-monarchy-anti-establishment theme. It's punk rock for Observer readers who can tap their foot along while drinking that vintage Shiraz. Well, not everyone liked gobbing, some of us were brought up proper, you know.

"Under The Wheels" is much of the same mould – but then – BY GOD – have The Damned spent their collective savings on a West End show season ticket? Because "Dr Woofenstein" has one of those big sing-a-long choruses, a dramatic piano sound, and would be fantastic as the music to the puppet show in Forgetting Sarah Marshall or anything involving The Muppets. You've got to hear it to believe it.

"Diamonds" has an irritatingly catchy tune, melody, lyrics, very nearly OCD-inducing. 'Can you call it love without diamonds?/I don't give a stuff about shallow diamonds.' And some band called the Fletcher Munson Curve has something to do with it too... The other ear-itch on this album is "Little Miss Disaster" with more sassy lyrics, and a poppy melody. I wonder if the title will make it to the next generation of Roger Hargreaves books? e.g. Little Miss Disaster Bunks Off School.

The one tune on the album that induces the involuntary gag reflex is "Maid For Pleasure". 'She cleans/And she scrubs/But it's not enough'. On first listen it sounds like a dubious sadomasochistic relationship based on doing housework, but oh, is it a man dressed up as the 'wife'? Oh well, that's OK then. You can put the paper bag away now.

But it's back to the West End for "Nature's Dark Passion", a gothic ballad that's guaranteed to give the Goth girlies a fit of the vapours until some absinthe is wafted under their noses. But its lyrics of unrequited love are succinct, clear and defined: 'I lie here awake/Did I make a mistake?'

The CD finishes up with a tribute to Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett, "Dark Asteroid". To explain – Barrett went 'rock 'n' roll' and was diagnosed as paranoid following excessive amounts of intoxicating substances, hence the album's title. "Dark Asteroid" is also a tribute to The Damned themselves. Singer Dave Vanian's versatility shines here, singing in a far higher register than expected – or was that the Vicks Sinex? It's psychedelic pop whimsy that skips along – and then goes spiralling off into an instrumental tangent, with Captain Sensible invoking a seagull and a Moomin or two with his guitar sound acrobatics. So, Who's Paranoid? Well, The Damned have no reason to be – it's a damn fine listen.