AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,280 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 32% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 The Marshall Mathers LP
Lowest review score: 20 Graffiti
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15,329 out of 18280
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18280
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18280
18280 music reviews
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    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Rook
    This "calm before the storm" aesthetic dominates Rook, and in another testament to its short running time, works beautifully, illuminating the few straightforward pieces like "Century Eyes," "Leviathan, Bound," and the brooding title track like a centuries-old woodcut, and allowing the tension that permeates the entire affair to ebb and flow naturally, resulting in one of the most heady and satisfying albums of the year.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Watershed
    Watershed marks a new chapter for Opeth, one that promises infinitely more than its predecessors.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Declaration
    Bottom line, this is neither a great nor a poor Ashanti album. It's decent, just like the rest of them.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Bake Sale [EP]
    The release of the Cool Kids' debut EP still radiated sonic excitement, a blast at once sharp, funny and intimate. Here, after all, is a triumph of absolute aestheticism.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Don't Do Anything
    With Don't Do Anything, Sam Phillips has struck out on her own with a work that's among her most challenging to date, and it reveals that she's held on to the gifts that have made her one of the most rewarding singer/songwriters of her generation while adding fresh accents as she follows her muse with commendable courage and clarity.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Real Close Ones
    The more mature and considered approach the band utilizes on Real Close Ones might make for a deeper, more adult sound, but it's hard not to miss the careening thrill ride the band delivered on "Future Women."
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Indestructible
    While Indestructible doesn't meddle with the melodic hard-hitting Pantera-inspired formula that fueled its predecessors, the dreaded nu-metal tag that followed the band out of the turn of the century seems wholly eradicated.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life...The Best Game In Town
    Life... showcases a band that has carefully refined its sound, creating an album that is daring and experimental enough for longtime fans, but accessible enough for anyone looking to discover one of Athen's heaviest bands.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Can Do Anything
    At a time when labelmates (and, in the minds of the UK music press, rivals) the Coral are seemingly at a bit of a musical crossroads, the Zutons have made the album that delivers on their early promise.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This Is Alphabeat
    While the first half of the album is more eclectic, the second half is just as groovy although less varied. Unlike bands like The Maccabees, The Kooks and The Wombats, the album holds up all the way through, never repeating the same formula song after song.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Here I Stand
    Here I Stand is almost exactly the kind of release you'd expect a 29-year-old Usher to deliver in 2008, and while it is seriously doubtful the album will move more copies than the nearly diamond platinum "Confessions," there is plenty to like about it.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lay It Down
    There is no better place to spend 45 minutes than in Lay It Down's dreamy, sensual, gritty, and tender sound world.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Songs in A&E
    Newly focused energy, willfully restrained arrangements, and taut compositions give the set a sheer emotional power that no Spiritualized recording has ever displayed before, making it, quite possibly, their finest outing yet.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bring Ya To The Brink
    Bring Ya to the Brink is one of the more intriguing detours along the way.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dystopia
    Their songwriting and vocals are actually better than Air, closer to Scissor Sisters again in their ability to write great pop songs and deliver them with flair.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Same Old Man
    Same Old Man shows he's learned a lot since then, and you can hear the lessons shining through in this music.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Welcome
    Consistency isn't Pants' strong point, and the latter half of the CD falters with a spattering of sparse instrumentals that feel more like skeletal after-thoughts than fully developed creations. At the grandest moments, Pants accomplishes his mission of re-creating the dance-happy fun funk of Chromeo and Cameo, and the cardboard-spinning electro boogie of Arabian Prince and Egyptian Lover.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
    Rap music has rarely gotten more virtuosic and creative than it does here.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Sun & The Neon Light
    Loyal listeners looking for a more "personal" album from the band will have fewer complaints, but the casual fan will miss the more dynamic and vibrant elements of their earlier work.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fire On Corridor X
    At its strongest, with songs like the archly titled 'Regal Regalia' and 'Papering Fix,' the band kicks up a huge sounding storm while still providing space for the almost preternaturally clean singing boring through the mix--not as an artificially high volume element, more like serenity in the midst of a storm.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Way Down [EP]
    Expanding and improving upon their already striking debut, No Way Down is a stunning accomplishment on so many levels: the amount of care and attention to detail that so clearly went into its creation; its stylistic uniqueness; and its sheer, subjective beauty.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Anywhere I Lay My Head
    Anywhere I Lay My Head doesn't quite work, but it can't quite be dismissed, either.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Lucky Ones
    Mudhoney remain bloody but unbowed, heavyweight champions of fuzz and feedback, and on the evidence of The Lucky Ones, no one with any sense is going to challenge their title anytime soon; they built this strange machine, and they can drive it better than anyone before or since.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Arm's Way
    Arm's Way is the sound of a band forgetting what made them fun and highly listenable and instead grasping for a grand statement that is far beyond their reach.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    II Trill
    This time out, he's a single short and couple songs too long, but his back is strong enough to carry the weight, proving once again he's one of the Dirty South's most reliable voices.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No, Virginia...
    Considering that it's an album of leftovers--one B-side from "Yes, Virginia...," four unreleased recordings, one old demo, a cover, and five new recordings, to be exact--the songs on No, Virginia... are unexpectedly strong.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Crayons
    In-fashion vocal effects, which Summer certainly does not need, detract from a handful of these tracks, but as a whole, the album won't have trouble pleasing fans who just want to hear their queen have a blast and tear it up.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    3 Doors Down
    That's the ultimate irony of 3 Doors Down as they mature: try as they may to pour out their angst-ridden hearts, by riding out their success and smoothing out their music they've turned into mildly aggro background music at malls and movie theaters across the nation.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Re-Arrange Us
    Most of all it will go down like honey for Mates of State fans who have been following the band's progression from an edgy lo-fi duo to the indie rock hit making machine they have so gracefully become.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Freedom Wind
    If you don't like the Beach Boys, you won't like this.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    El Rey
    If you've been sticking by the group for long, you'll be rewarded by El Rey's brutal honesty, hard-won wisdom, and first-rate songcraft, and you'll relish the sound of a band trying to recapture a brilliant sound from their past and succeeding completely.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Swimming
    It's almost impossible to dislike Swimming's pastel beauty, but it's nearly as difficult to work up much enthusiasm about it.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Boo! Human
    The sound is fleshed out much more than Joan of Arc has been for some time, and it's an easy album to be affected by — at least for fans of confessional post-rock, Chicago style.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rockferry
    Butler's production makes her solid voice and intriguing songwriting into an excellent album; although he stays in the background, the occasional guitar flourishes or sweetened strings make Rockferry a better debut than Joss Stone's or Amy Winehouse's.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Brain Thrust Mastery
    There are some solid album tracks that recall the more daring aspects of the debut, particularly the abstract, dark-hued cool of the opener, "Ghouls," and the catchy and energetic "Tonight." But the rest of Brain Thrust Mastery consists of pleasantly tuneful pop songs that barely register with the listener even after several repetitions.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Narrow Stairs
    Narrow Stairs is far from desperate, however, and the album's willingness to steer Death Cab into unfamiliar territory (or, to reference an earlier lyric, "into the dark"), is by far its strongest asset.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Blame It On Gravity
    The Old 97's sound youthful and newly energized, having returned to Dallas and relocated that beloved crossroads between twangy country rock and tight, economic power pop.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
    The nice thing about the soulful shimmer of We Sing is that it's so slick that it's easy to ignore the gibberish spilling out of Mraz's mouth and just enjoy the sunny, easy sound.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Thing Of The Past
    Thing of the Past succeeds on three different fronts. Certainly, excellent song selection is one, inspired musicianship and arrangements another, but the actual sound of the recording is equally important in putting Thing of the Past across.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Brooklyn's Don Diva
    A couple tracks and a few stray lines aside, these verses could have been dashed off by the MC at just about any earlier point in her career.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Directions To See A Ghost
    This is the sort of psychedelia that space rockers and Nuggets fans alike can come together over.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Twelve Angry Months
    This isn't Local H's best album, but it's certainly their most daring and emotionally naked, and the results are truly impressive.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fern Knight
    There's a pronounced chamber music feel to much of the instrumentation, particularly with the liberal use of cello and violin drones, as well as harp accents. Often it's darker and tougher, however, than some other artists who follow similar lines.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tooth Of Crime
    Tooth of Crime is a smart, absorbing, and beautifully disquieting collection of songs that could have come from no one else but T Bone Burnett, and it shows that one of America's best songwriters may be working at a very deliberate pace but he still has some remarkable things left to tell us.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Time Traveller
    Splash's bratty Lil Wayne-meets-Michael Henderson falsetto can wear thin across 66 sprawling minutes (the crew would benefit from a second lead voice), but something far more problematic would have to be in play to impair this stomping good time.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Couples
    It also strikes a blow for taking chances and not resting on your accomplishments, but most importantly, Couples is an exciting, challenging listen full of brains, daring, and plenty of icy heart.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Age Of The Understatement
    Despite all the intensity, the Last Shadow Puppets have a light touch--their songs are short and don't overstay their welcome, and the whole affair is just arty and indulgent enough to make it special.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trust Me
    There was a variety of styles on Trust Me, none of which detracted from its overall sense of cohesion.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nouns
    No Age turn noise into gold on Nouns.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Gavin DeGraw
    Gavin DeGraw won't change things, either, as it pretty much offers more of the same as "Chariot," polishing up the sound, turning it into something bigger and slicker, but not changing his vaguely rootsy, vaguely soulful pop a whit.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fair Ain't Fair
    The pop textures are more evident, the melodies are more hook-laden, and the overall vibe is more laid-back than past releases, varying in moods from positively gleeful to terribly melancholy.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Supreme Balloon
    While The Supreme Balloon's nostalgic synthetic playground is a smaller statement than some of Matmos' other albums, it's still a strong one.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Momofuku
    As it makes these digressions seem funny, not fussy, and that's ultimately the charm of Momofuku: it's captures a loose, natural Elvis Costello, somebody that hasn't been captured on record in years. It's still a Costello that plugs Lexus, writes operas and plays jazz festivals, but here he's not trying to prove anything, he's just making music and that's why it's one of his most enjoyable latter-day records.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Home Before Dark
    Home Before Dark offers aesthetic proof that "12 Songs" was no fluke. This is a much stronger, less "civilized" album.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scream
    Despite the occasional misstep, Scream shows that the bandmembers are ready and able to embrace their growing abilities.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Station
    The bottom line is that this diversity is not a lack of focus, but growth and development that make the band stand out from the pack, making the effort to spin this a few times yield very big rewards.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Speakers And Tweeters
    This is a stunning set, with lots of lyrical meat to chew on, and music to give one chills.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Golden Hour
    It's some of Firewater's angriest, most poignant, and most accomplished music.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blue Lambency Downward
    It will take a minimum of several spins all the way through to even try to grasp all that's going on here. It's fair to say that perhaps you shouldn't have to work that hard, yet there is no real work involved; there is only delight, amusement, humor, and sometimes awe.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shine
    Her second act is ceaselessly enjoyable, one of the finer R&B albums to be released in 2008.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Third
    Here, the sad sounds aren't quite so soothing, but that human element of Portishead gives them a sense of comfort, just as it intensifies their sense of mystery, for it is the flaws--often quite intentional--that give this an unknowable soul and make Third utterly riveting and endlessly absorbing.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kensington Heights
    Even if Kensington Heights is the Constantines' least satisfying album, the band's sound is never less than mighty; it's just disappointing how easy it is to let so many songs here fade into the background
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jim
    Jim is most reminiscent of the Southern deep soul of the late '60s, although recorded so well (and so dry) that it betrays its lineage. Add to that an assortment of unobtrusive guests (including Nikka Costa, Gonzales, Peaches, and Alex Acuña) and the result is a record that reveals soul and sincerity.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Robyn
    Robyn defines what she's all about. Even if it took a few years to put together the label and album (and a few more to get it released everywhere), this is the pop tour de force that Robyn has always had in her.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Hard Candy
    Hard Candy is as a rare thing: a lifeless Madonna album.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Santogold
    This is music that looks outward at the pan-continental landscape while staying firmly adherent to and respectful of its deeply American roots; this is the emerging--and hopeful--face of the new millennium, and an altogether shining accomplishment.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rising Down
    An album that's both revelatory and full of questions, an album that understands its place in the Roots' history and American history, and an album that continues to place the group as one of the country's most talented and relevant in any genre, no calculated crossover necessary.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Smile
    While the American Smile is a worthy follow-up to Rainbow and Pink, it's the Japanese version of the album that makes it a masterpiece.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Evangelist
    Bittersweet and poignant, The Evangelist is Robert Forster's most fully realized, seamless, and masterfully articulated solo record yet.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
    It's a partially successful successor to "Yeah!," following through on some of the overall feel and punch but lacking enough songs to truly bring it across the goal line.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mudcrutch
    All these happy concessions, along with the strong emphasis on instrumental interplay, give Mudcrutch the feeling of a true band effort, and even if it's not perfect--it is indeed possible to amble and ramble just a little bit too much--it's thoroughly winning because of its imperfections, as this is music that's all about cruising down the back roads on a sunny nostalgic day.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nine Lives
    Nine Lives is deeper, heartier, and braver lyrically than anything he's ever done.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This Kind Of Love
    For Carly Simon's fans, this will ultimately be a most welcome return to her songwriting form.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trash, Rats & Microphones
    While Heloise & the Savoir Faire don't come close to the effortless flair that Blondie had with mixing these styles, Trash, Rats and Microphones still has enough, well, savoir faire to make it worth adding to the mix.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Langhorne Slim
    It's not that there aren't any engaging moments here--'Restless' is nicely minor and introspective, and the simplicity of 'Oh Honey' actually works quite well--but there are too many misses in between, enough to mar the good parts of Langhorne Slim, making for a sadly unfulfilling release.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Colourful Life
    Cajun Dance Party aren't doing anything too unique or special here, but they do what they do with conviction and guts--and that's enough to make this a very good debut.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Seldom Seen Kid
    The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow's most self-assured and enjoyable album so far.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Everywhere At Once
    Everywhere at Once is reminiscent of what's already been done, either by the rapper himself or by another artist, almost derivative of itself, and as a whole, altogether disappointing.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mr. Love & Justice
    The scope of Mr. Love & Justice is often modest, but it speaks with grace, wisdom, and heart, and finds Billy Bragg a bit older, a bit wiser, and still committed to fighting the good fight; it's a return to form, a step forward, and a potent reminder of why Bragg's music still matters.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Elephant Shell
    So even though these tunes remain brief and concise (only one song, 'Your English Is Good,' tops the three-minute mark), they're also varied, which makes Tokyo Police Club's official debut seem less like the work of hyper-caffeinated teens and more like the promise of a smart, evolving band.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bittersweet World
    Bittersweet World is the first time that she has made a record that lives up to her happily empty persona, something that's truly fun junk.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Flight Of The Conchords
    The music is clever and catchy enough to give it merit for repeated listens. Buy the DVD first to get the full story and then pick this up for road trip sing-alongs.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
    Hardcore fans will be down with every cold hard minute, everybody else gets a B+ effort, and the hip-hop game as a whole gets a really good reason to save Prodigy's place at the table for the next three-and-a-half years.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    See You In Magic
    Add the Night Marchers to Speedo's roll of triumphs and feel free to rank See You in Magic as one of his finest moments. It's really that good.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    From The Valley To The Stars
    From the Valley to the Stars is a fairly magical trip to the center of heartache.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Liars And Prayers
    Liars and Prayers' only flaw may be that its unflagging intensity is almost overwhelming, given that the album is nearly an hour long, but it's still some of Zedek's most thoughtful and full-bodied work.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cryland
    It isn't a disaster by any means--well-recorded, enthusiastic sounding songs are always a treat--but it's in the end pleasant, not striking.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    E=MC2
    Like so much of "Emancipation" and E=MC2, which is a virtual replica of its predecessor in almost every way, 'Touch My Body' is all about sound, rhythm, and texture and not so much about song, something that helps sustain Mariah Carey's run at the top the charts, but something that also pushes melodic hooks, and in the process singing, into the background.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Saturdays=Youth
    As super-stylized as its sounds and emotions are, Saturdays=Youth always seems genuine, even when it feels like its songs are made from the memories of other songs.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Konk
    Everything about this album shouts masterpiece, a set that will thrill listeners for years, nay decades, to come.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lady Antebellum
    At this point, Lady Antebellum is a group that seems to know the basics of contemporary country but isn't ready to move beyond them or redefine them for its own ends. Still, this is a good beginning.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Raise The Dead
    Even with a few stumbles, Raise the Dead is among Phantom Planet's most enjoyable albums.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
    Despite relying on too many tricks from the Daft Punk playbook, they prove there's more up their sleeve than just vocoders.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Bloody Underground
    Hellbent on pushing the envelope, Newcombe shines as a prolific madman once again and as recycled as the ideas are, My Bloody Underground is a fantastic new direction and a forward thinking album that indicates that however combustible, there is a lot more life left in BJM, in any incarnation.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Live in Liverpool
    It's intriguing that Live in Liverpool is the Gossip's first release for Columbia's Red Ink imprint--it's not exactly an ideal introduction to the Gossip's fiery music, but it is a great testament to why fans are so devoted to the band.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Just Us Kids
    Just Us Kids is an album very much of its time that also speaks to the larger ideas of life in America in an uncertain age, and it's brave, smart, and pithy music that captures James McMurtry at the top of his game.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Spirit
    It's a highly polished, professional sounding debut, with Lewis hitting all the right notes even when she warbles up and down the scale.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    What it all comes down to is that Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is a Bad Seeds record that ups the ante once again.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ghosts I-IV
    It's meant to be taken as surface, perhaps skimmed for samples, but generally to be used as mildly unsettling mood music--a specialty of Reznor's, to be sure, but he's better and scarier when his ideas are more finely honed than they are here.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mountain Battles
    And, though the album covers a lot of territory--13 songs in 36 minutes!--it doesn't feel scattered; scattered implies no purpose, but Mountain Battles' songs land, eventually, exactly where they need to.
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