AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,282 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: 15,331 out of 18282
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18282
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18282
18282 music reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A/B Til Infinity
    Think of A/B Til Infinity as a more mysterious version of the project's 2011 LP Bible Eyes, and all the meticulous production, overall album flow, and attractive song structure rules still apply, but this one can be parted out much easier, offering up about four 12"s worth of late-night dancefloor intoxication that are still rich enough tracks to hold up for headphone listening.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Synesthetica
    The making of Synesthetica was a big deal for Radiation City; the result is a big deal to those who like their modern pop smart, fun, and with just the right amount of modernity.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Patina
    Their debut for the label, Patina, delivers another high-quality set of infectious, subtly varied, vintage indie/dream pop for tuneful ears and stirring souls.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pleasure
    Feist has made her sex-and-death record, and in turn she has created her boldest statement yet. It's messy, confusing, thrilling, and of course, filled with pleasure.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wyatt at the Coyote Palace
    It's easy to stand on the sidelines and say that a more streamlined, ten- to 12-track version of the album would suffice, but one of the many things that's helped to make Hersh such a singular talent over the years is her unwillingness to compromise, and on that front, the punishing and beautiful Wyatt at the Coyote Palace doesn't disappoint.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    American Slang
    The prevailing feeling throughout this album is that American Slang represents a more mature sound from the Gaslight Anthem, showing us a band that has grown up enough to start attempting to fill the shoes of their influences.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Music for the Age of Miracles
    The times are always right for music as healing and calm as the Clientele's; the times surrounding the release of this wonderfully peaceful and uplifting album need it even more--and, thankfully, the band has responded with some of its best work ever.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Little Deeper
    The album's a bit more edgy than any of her American contemporaries, but it's still not too far from [Lauryn] Hill and other neo-soul figures.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Under Cold Blue Stars
    Under Cold Blue Ground blazes some new trails for John Rouse, but the quality of his songwriting and the emotional impact of his music hasn't changed a bit; it's a solid and satisfying set from a genuinely gifted artist.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Silence Is Sexy
    They might not be as unsettling as they were in their early days, but they still know how to mess things up.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Since We Last Spoke
    With only a few exceptions though, Since We Last Spoke makes the moody Dead Ringer sound like a piece of flag-waving exuberance; instead of the occasional uptempo track, it's brooding and mellow throughout the record -- very nearly a rap singer/songwriter record.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Tasty
    Despite all the new assistance, Tasty is formatted much like Kaleidoscope and Wanderland, constantly swinging back and forth between bouncy pop and laid-back (not throwback) soul.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    New York Noise
    Another title that demonstrates what an awesome period the late '70s and early '80s was for music.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    In Search [Reissue]
    In Search is outsider art at its best. Guided by Martin's vision and shaped via collective process, it uses familiar forms to create a spaced-out language all its own; it is a listening experience like no other.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heron Oblivion
    On their debut album, they strike a balance between delicate, pastoral folk and heavy, loud space rock, with Meg Baird's fragile, wispy vocals sharing the stage with Noel von Harmonson and Charlie Saufley's crushing guitar solos.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Ooz
    No matter that feeling, illustrated with one distressed scene after another, filtered through a multitude of inspirations and a few bodily fluids, The Ooz is a completely engrossing work from a one-off.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Agora
    With a laid-back pace, the album's slipstream sonic quality may require a couple of listens to fully absorb, but it's well worth the effort. Gilberto has made a career of seeking adventure in her music, but her partnership with Bartlett on Agora surpasses all expectations and creative limits.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Invisible Cities
    The music easily stands out on its own, even without the choreography and high-res video projections.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    One Million Love Songs
    While that song ["No One"] is hard-hitting enough to count as a standout, One Million Love Songs is nothing if not consistent, with 11 gifts for the lonely-hearted.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Melt
    The resulting solo debut, Melt, shares some pillowy musical essence with the Marías but lands somewhere more intimate, introspective, and searching as well as even more dreamily atmospheric.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wu Hen
    Wu Hen is the first mature portrait of Williams. In his integrated approach genre, style, and production techniques all serve as building blocks in the creation of a holistic, spiritually instructive sound world.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Mars Volta
    From the cumbia-inspired opener, "Blacklight Shine," and the skittering "Flash Burns from Flashbacks" to the power ballad "Vigil," the veteran band sound confident and invigorated, adding another surprising chapter to a consistently eclectic career.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Atlas
    The album is bookended by "Abandon" and "Earthbound," the two tracks with Giske, whose presence isn't obvious, submerged and seemingly elongated amid dense constructions. It all resonates more deeply with each listen.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Down The Way
    Down the Way may be a bit long by 2010’s standards--there are 13 tracks here, none of which is particularly short--but the songs are solid throughout.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985 [Box Set]
    Another Splash of Colour is a perfect jumping-off point that covers most of the important players--sadly, no Dukes of Stratosphear tracks were available--and does a great job capturing and defining an almost forgotten scene with the care it deserves.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Build a Problem
    The minimalism of Dodie's songs gracefully juxtaposes their sophistication, helping to illuminate the many revelatory pop moments that can be heard throughout Build a Problem.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Perpetual Motion People
    If you're willing to get on board with Ezra Furman and the beautifully messy world that he celebrates here, Perpetual Motion People is a ride worth taking.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    #8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)
    For serious listeners not content with the original vinyl and/or CD pressings, this excellent and thorough package is essential.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Silence
    Throughout, The Silence doesn't rush, it slowly emerges; it doesn't bludgeon the listener with cluttered instrumentation or sonics, but it is seductively heavy due to spaciousness in the mix, warmth, and colorful imaginative textures.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Always Foreign
    Distilling discomfort into something more palatable is never easy, but with a name like the World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, the band probably knew that going in.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    7
    Throughout 7, Beach House feel more concerned with capturing moments fully rather than conforming to notions of what a cohesive album is. That these songs sound like they came from different albums is ultimately more refreshing than disorienting, and the excitement that courses through each track is palpable.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Acquainted With Night
    For Neale, the grainy imperfections and surreal experiments of Acquainted with Night open her songs up to an unforeseen world of solitary beauty and personality, where the clean, professional sound of earlier work rendered them a little bit anonymous.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Billboard Heart
    The sleek, dramatic title track sets the stage with a lush, grooving indie rock bolstered by shimmery synths, textured guitar effects, and a somewhat oversaturated sound that permeates and distinguishes the album.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Sunlandic Twins
    Sunlandic Twins is an album to leave playing while you're going about your daily business. Then see how quickly you discover its 13 tracks burrowing so deeply into your skull that it's as though you'd lived with its jerking, burbling, and never less than transcendental swirlings for ever.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Left by Soft
    Given the the Heavy Eights' strengths throughout, it makes more sense to say that Kilgour's definitely found his own personal Crazy Horse.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Precious Art
    What they lack in stylistic originality, Rozwell Kid make up for in spirit and craft, delivering a smart and highly entertaining power pop record in an appealingly familiar style.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fever
    What isn't bleak is just as powerful.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
    Their heavenly mix of mix of giddy silliness, pop smarts and pop culture overload makes Hey Hey My My Yo Yo a fun-filled, joyride from beginning to end.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Songs
    While his songs may individually fall into any of these genres, he is first and foremost a songwriter. Thankfully, that is what he does, and he does it as well as anyone in recent memory.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lily-O
    Somehow at once entertaining, comforting, and challenging, Lily-O sees Amidon again pushing his distinctive perspectives through songs that belong to everybody.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Great Chicago Fire
    Great Chicago Fire is that rare collaboration where both sides seem to inform one another equally and derive new strengths from teaming up.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Communion
    A haunting debut, Communion finds Rabit living up to his potential in stark, beautifully ugly and angry ways.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cartwheel
    The album reshuffles a deck of familiar reference points, but it still deals a hand that's engaging and holds a bothered beauty of its own.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dye It Blonde
    Anyone who liked the debut and was filled with apprehension about what would happen next will be pleasantly surprised, and might even end up liking this record more.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    After the Party
    Sure, they're not breaking the mold, but with After the Party, they manage to toe the line between subtlety and vigor, aging into their next phase with another solid release.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Clearing
    A triumph of ambition and heart, each of its songs feels like an epiphany.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hallelujah Anyhow
    Hallelujah Anyhow is another outstanding exercise in record making from Hiss Golden Messenger, and it's recommended to loyal fans and curious neophytes alike.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Last Romance
    [Moffat] exposes a seething rage that was only occasionally revealed on the earlier albums. In the minds of some Arab Strap fans, this is a breakthrough; others, sadly, hear a betrayal.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A House Safe for Tigers [OST]
    The music and images of Hazlewood singing to Axelman's family, running the Gotland marathon, and convincing Swedish children to take sides against Nixon turn both movie and album into a celebration of the enduring friendship between artist and director.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happiness Bastards
    For a band that often got lost in a hippie haze, this all-business approach pays off great dividends: it's easy to hear how the Robinsons are ideal collaborators, tempering each other's excesses and accentuating their shared love for the best of classic rock.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Superwolf
    With Sweeney on hand, Oldham has kept some of his less appealing musical eccentricities in check -- this is one of his strongest and best-focused works in years.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hello Cruel World
    This album comes to the listener as a gift wrapped in tattered paper, making it all the more precious to receive.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hoodoo
    As appealing as the lived-in, swampy jams are, there's a laziness that drifts throughout Hoodoo, apparent in the sauntering rhythms and Tony Joe's mush-mouthed vocals.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Royal Albert Hall [Live]
    This three-disc package is an essential document for fans; it reveals almost all of Everett's dimensions as a songwriter, and how tight and fluid the Eels are. Everett's humor balances the sometimes harrowing narratives in his tunes. All told, most of these interpretations are essential.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lost Time
    If Dave and Phil Alvin want to crank out an album like Lost Time every year until the sun finally sets on them, no one who loves blues and roots music would have any room to complain.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Face Your Fear
    Face Your Fear ups the ante for Harding, bumping him from promising newcomer to major artist, and if you like good songs played and sung with true conviction, you won't want to sleep on this.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Another Life
    Claustrophobic yet adrenalized, Another Life is a goth-rave nightmare transmitted from an apocalyptic future.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Comma
    These are the strongest and most immediate of Prekop's electronic songs, feeling more meaningful and intentional than the interesting experiments of earlier albums. It took him a few records to get here, but with Comma, Prekop finally affixes his distinctive melodic sensibilities and songwriting voice onto his electronic compositions.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Meditations on Love
    By probing the heart's most vulnerable places on Meditations on Love, Susanna uncovers new angles on well-worn feelings and her music alike.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Le Noise
    Its eight songs containing no masterpieces and Lanois' moody noir production reining in Young's messy signature. So, Le Noise winds up as something elusive and intriguing, a minor mood piece that seems to promise more than it actually delivers.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Power Of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities
    The Power of Negative Thinking isn't the whole JAMC story, but it's the whole story behind the scenes and A-side singles, and sometimes the B-sides. Even better.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Swisher
    Swisher may not be as immediate as Blondes was, but these ambitious, accomplished tracks offer ample proof that restraint can be exciting.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tones Of Town
    Tones of Town cements Field Music's place as one of the best pop bands of any kind operating in 2007.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Let the Good Times Roll
    Let the Good Times Roll is definitely the second coming of the rock & roll savior that fans prayed would follow Signs & Signifiers. And as the title implies, it's also one hell of a good time.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Leon
    It has a rustic elegance stabilized by workmanlike drums and lively acoustic guitars.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dirt Farmer
    Dirt Farmer is a hard-edged but compassionate and full-hearted set of roots music from a master of the form, and it's a welcome, inspiring return to form for Levon Helm after a long stretch of professional and personal setbacks.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Morning Star
    The Morning Star is at once brave and solitary, gentle and bracing, provocative and spiritually resonant. It extends Bachman's reach, allowing him to paint the innermost dimensions of the world he perceives and cleave it open for light to flood in and illuminate it for us.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bottomless Pit
    Everything sounds so precise, crisp, hard-hitting, and indomitable. For that exact reason, Bottomless Pit is an ideal effort for longtime fans and newcomers alike. Needless to say, whatever the type of listener, it won't be forgotten.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Overload
    Her most varied and generous LP yet.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heaven Knows
    Even as PinkPantheress explores her deepest, darkest emotions, her songs are vibrant, hook-filled, and wildly inventive, making Heaven Knows just as worthy of repeated listens as To Hell with It, and confirming her status as a pop visionary.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    From a Room, Vol. 2
    It's a collection of moments, just like From a Room, Vol. 1, but that's the charm of From a Room, Vol. 2. Stapleton isn't crafting a major statement; he's knocking out a bunch of songs that work on their own terms--and when the two records are combined, it's clear he's the lifer he intends to be.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Beginner's Mind
    A Beginner's Mind is intelligent and well-crafted, and will appeal to fans of either Stevens' or De Augustine's recent work, but it somehow feels less distinct than the music they create on their own.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    American Football (LP3)
    Anyone over the age of 40 should recognize most of what they're singing about, and even if you don't, the sweeping melancholy and epic presentation should be enough to make this deep dive into relaxed angst a journey worth taking for the third time.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tassili
    Their sound is dustier, more evocative of the landscape they wander; Tassili is as desolate--and as timeless--as the desert itself.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Night Falls Over Kortedala
    Night Falls Over Kortadela is witty, pretty, silly, and wise; and filled with instantly memorable melodies, thrilling moments of surprise in the arrangements, and laugh-out-loud lyrics.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jim Noir
    The only problem with the record is that there are no stand-out tracks.... That could be a fatal flaw except that the overall quality of the record is so high and the sound is so perfect, you don't feel like there is something so terribly important missing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Outside Society: Looking Back 1975-2007
    While Smith fans no doubt have everything contained here -- of the 18 tracks collected , each album is represented -- this disc serves as an excellent introduction to Smith's ever evolving, non-compromising art which combines high-stakes poetry with rock & roll.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Give My Love to London
    Give My Love to London is as complete a portrait of the artist--at least from the late '70s on--as we've ever had. In total, it reveals no abatement in her creative renaissance.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Power
    Ultimately, the album's message is one of fearlessness and self-empowerment, and it's the most inspiring work Lotic has crafted.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Treasure
    The unheard tunes are all first-rate, but what's really notable about A Treasure is that it offers a compelling document of how good the International Harvesters were and, in turn, makes sense of a somewhat murky period for Neil Young.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Believers
    Believers sounds much more like Bondy has simply followed his own muse for a change, and the results reveal his confidence was well founded.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Book of Souls
    With repeated listening it earns shelf space with their finest records.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Oshin
    Oshin is a pleasant listen, especially for anyone partial to Beach Fossils or the Captured Tracks sound in general.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    After Hours
    Tesfaye fills much of this neatly sequenced, ballad-heavy set with penitence and longing. He sets the tone with an escapist fantasy that turns into a nightmarish relapse, and is tormented for much of the duration by seeking and receiving salvation and ruination from the same relationship. Some of Tesfaye's most vivid and piercing lines are herein.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sharpen Your Teeth
    Cuts into raw indie rock with spells of country and folk, while allowing Brock to explore a varying scope of sounds.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live
    Their detuned sound and tales from the darkside are even more sinister and gripping on the concert stage, as evidenced by this 14-track set.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    You Win Again Gravity
    A truly lovely album.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everything & Nothing
    Sonically gorgeous with vocals comparable to Bryan Ferry, Everything and Nothing is a vastly expressive record of 29 tracks lost in the vaults of remixes, time, and creative changes; it is certainly a moving package of lush elevations and underrated wordplay.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dangerous Magical Noise
    The Dirtbombs are a rock & roll band pure and simple, and if you like pure and simple rock & roll with a dash of soul, you will flip over Dangerous Magical Noise.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fabulous Muscles
    Much like the musical equivalent of Todd Solondz or Harmony Korine, Xiu Xiu set out to disturb their audience in pursuit of higher artistic goals.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Us
    MacIntyre's wise abandonment of the kitchen-sink approach would've benefited this album even more if he had kept the running time below 45 minutes or so; at an hour, some of its nuances are bound to be lost in the shuffle.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    What I Do
    What I Do feels like one of Jackson's most assured and best albums, proof positive that he's the best mainstream country singer of this decade.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    One Day As A Lion [EP]
    There isn't any filler here; it's all the aural ignition of a gasoline bomb going off in your ears.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mystery [EP]
    A strong introduction to a band with unlimited potential.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rainwater Cassette Exchange
    At five songs and 15 minutes long, Rainwater Cassette Exchange is a quick tour of what Deerhunter can do and how well they do it, and more proof the band's inspiration is at its peak.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At The Cut
    At the Cut isn't as great a surprise as "North Star Deserter," but if you thought the brilliance of that album was a happy accident, this confirms these musicians complement each other very well and hopefully will continue to do so for a long time to come.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Revolutions Per Minute
    Revolutions Per Minute is an album that’s been a long time coming, and Kweli and Hi-Tek prove once again that there’s more to rap than club bangers, delivering another dose of socially and politically conscious music that’s more about opening people’s eyes to what’s happening in the world than telling them how to feel about it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    WWII
    If you're looking for some great lo fi fun, WWII delivers, but anyone who wants to hear some top-shelf pop-centric rock & roll really owes it to themselves to give this a listen.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Follow Me Down
    Jarosz's talent is wondrous and in no way normal, and her developing musical maturity continues to be a wonder to watch.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Random Axe
    Random Axe the album barely crosses the 40-minute mark and it doesn't bother pleasing the crowd, but it rewards its core audience with a freestyle feel and an uncompromising allegiance to true hip-hop.
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