double-disc masterpiece and many a generation has been defined by them. In my youth in the late 70s most HMVs were a battleground as Out of the Blue waged bloody war with London's Calling for control over popular culture. But as the major labels tighten their belts, dropping new bands and scything away at their payrolls with furious abandon, is the double album the latest industry dinosaur to face the chop?

I mean, you'd expect the Cure - a band with past double opus form, thanks to 1987's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - to be able to release a double album, right? Er, sadly not. Their new album 4:13 Dream is the "light" first half of a double collection, with the second "dark" half to be releasedSellotape the two "episodes" together.

Is this the (disappointingly thin) shape of things to come? The noughties have seen a notable decline in the standard of doubles – Speakerboxx/The Love Below was fatally lop-sided, American Idiot brutally crass and Stadium Arcadium, well, a Red Hot Chili Peppers record. Instead the likes of Muse, prime candidates for gatefold glory, are promising to release batches of songs on the internet rather than crowbar them onto a single CD. Will our burgeoning young artists now be robbed of the chance to make their White Album?

There is hope for this endangered rock species. This week Patrick Wolf announced that his next album would be a double – one "light" half and one "punky, aggressive" half – featuring Alec Empire from Atari Teenage Riot.