AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,344 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: 15,386 out of 18344
  2. Mixed: 2,932 out of 18344
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18344
18344 music reviews
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    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Spontaneous Music Live
    SML are a powerful formation, and Spontaneous Music Live is an incredibly fun document of the group in their rawest state.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Armagideon Time: When Punk Met Dub 1978-1984
    The entire compilation is an incredibly fun listen, reaching into a multitude of unexpected directions to find rough-edged, rule-breaking material.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Public Luxury
    Public Luxury is a howl of musical and verbal liberation that comes from the heart and the mind. America needs more music like this, and it's good to have Downtown Boys back.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Do That Again
    The follow-up to his full-length debut, Sweet Boy, Do That Again finds Malcolm Todd continuing to bounce between guitar pop, insular bedroom pop, and quasi-smooth-soul balladry, although his intentional mischievousness is not quite as charming this time around.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Wow! Signal
    On The Wow! Signal, they've harnessed that emotion and paired it with their most solid songs in ages, reaching for something more in that great beyond. It's a seamlessly executed and proudly over-the-top experience.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    bitknot
    The title bitknot and its wired-matrix cover art were meant to represent memory storage as well as the idea of interdependence, a notion under threat in the era of hyper-individualism. This conflict is also reflected in the record's juxtaposition of catchiness and dissonance, although its artfulness lies in a balance that favors the former without neglecting the latter.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Electric Love
    While his writing and some of his mannerisms might be a shade too familiar for die-hard fans of classic R&B, Wallace has a voice that leaps from the grooves with a particular grain that sometimes evokes a hybrid of Otis Redding, Johnnie Taylor, and Rance Allen.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    New Self
    Considering how good this music is, one can't help but wish there was more of it, but that's the only serious complaint that can be levied against New Self, which shows the Bobby Lees have come through a difficult time stronger than ever.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Cry Baby
    Staples is fearless and confident on Cry Baby, one of his absolute best -- and most important -- works.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love
    While Rodrigo's emotions may be all over the place, she expresses them with some of her most cohesive songwriting.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Castle Park
    All of Castle Park hangs together nicely, evoking a kind of celebration of the '60s mod rock that influenced him, and by extension Coxon's own British pop legacy.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As Time Explodes: The Live Album
    Even on songs like these that have appeared in many versions over the years, the character of the Chrome Hearts -- the emphasis of the organ and keys, the drawn-out interplay between the guitars, the thoughtful and generous communication between the players -- makes even these well-worn tunes sound new.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    in grief or in hope
    The result is the most texturally detailed, sonically overwhelming BIG|BRAVE record to date. Nearly every moment is bristling with blown-out distortion, yet it's shaped so that there's enough space for all the elements to breathe instead of cancel each other out.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Songs Of Personal Loss And Protest
    Songs of Personal Loss and Protest is one of his best-realized projects in some time, a bit more subdued than classic JSBX but a superb evocation of what he does best and a sonic second wind from one of indie rock's great wild-card talents.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    EI8HT
    While Ei8ht is less focused than some of the band's earlier rock-oriented work, it's interesting to hear them stretch out and experiment at this stage in their career.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    BODY SOUND
    BODY SOUND is an immersive effort that finds magic and wonder in common objects and situations.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Setting
    There’s awe and sadness in certain passages, but the primary reflections Setting uncovers are ones of joy, contentment, and gratitude. Tuning in deeply to their music inspires similar feelings.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Demand To Be Taken To Heaven Alive!
    Horse Lords' music is both demanding and rewarding, and the group continues to innovate while remaining hopeful and celebrating life.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Snowdrop
    Snowdrop doesn't reveal much that is new about Mono; that said, it does portray them at their creative, committed, focused, best.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Florescence
    A warmer, softer album that mostly sets aside the sleek pop surfaces and driving rhythms of her previous material.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bingo!
    Throughout, Bingo!'s highly saturated live sensibility takes listeners into the dance club, and even on tracks with titles like "Power Snoozer" and "Chill Pill," its tempo never drops below 120 bpm.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Precreation Percolation
    Precreation Percolation is a welcome reminder that Super Furry Animals were one of the most interesting, consistently surprising, and always worth hearing bands of their era.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Eyes Full
    Unpredictable and gripping across its 13 tracks, Amba and their well-chosen collaborators have delivered an album that's bursting with authenticity and the emotion of things too-long gone unsaid and underrepresented.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Roses
    Their discography is still remarkably consistent, but Roses might be the point where Widowspeak becomes a classic band instead of one inspired by them.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    aethermead
    Results may vary on whether listeners find the lyrics cathartic, cringy, or neutral on the relatability scale, but it is Of Montreal's most consistently strong and musically accessible group of songs since at least the party album Ur Fun (2020) and arguably as far back as Lousy with Sylvianbriar (2013).
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    BITCH
    On BITCH, she's trying to find her footing.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Somewhere Good
    Not too many groups took this kind of dark trip during the trip hop era, maybe none of them and that was why they genre soon faded out. Tara Clerkin Trio bring it back here with a vengeance and give it the kind of imaginative, dark, moody, and meaningful reboot it desperately needed.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Spatial, No Problem.
    Of all of Perry's posthumous releases, Spatial, No Problem. is one of the truest, most joyous tributes to his endlessly imaginative spirit.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fantasia
    Fantasia might not register as a simplified reading of Slift's progressive heaviness, but at times it offers the clearest view yet of their intense vision and precision technical abilities.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Doctrine Of Love
    "Anyone in Love" sets the tone for a first half where Ngonda dispenses a lot of wisdom and a little admonition. .... The second half is more personal, generally more impassioned and conflicted.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An Eraser And A Maze
    Offers some of the most emotionally poignant songs of the band’s career.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    I Built You A Tower
    Their hardest-rocking and emotionally urgent set in a while, I Built You a Tower is a strong reminder of why Death Cab have touched so many hearts over the decades, still refusing to rest on their legacy with this liberated, creative flash that pays off in droves.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Music For Pulse Meridian Foliation
    Despite its gentle presentation, Music for Pulse Meridian Foliation offers music that questions time, space, and dimensionality, and ultimately points to questions as yet unspoken.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blumenfantasie
    Xylitol's music approaches jungle from a unique perspective, channeling the experimentation and hypnotic power of kosmische music while fully understanding the exciting impact of heavy bass and explosive breakbeats.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    MAID OF HONOUR
    It’s the most accessible and fun of the triad of albums and represents Drake at his most interesting and least lazy.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    HABIBTI
    Habibti, though the most replayable entry of the trilogy, is more about atmosphere than content.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    ICEMAN
    Iceman gets tedious quickly. Drake tries hard for vindication and righteousness with almost each of the album’s 18 tracks, but it all ends up serving as a reminder of why he lost the beef that he still can’t get over.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Born To Kill
    Ness and his band remain faithful here to their trusted melodic punk rock sound.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Time
    Time is a welcome studio reunion between Mahal and PBB, and a superb reworking of the original album while juxtaposing styles, sounds, and rhythms with joyful abandon.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Moment In My Eyes
    The songs here are always tender if tangled, and the record closes on the quasi-acoustic, more clarified "A Moment in My Eyes," a bookend that parts ways with the album's swirly, fuzzy, knotty headspace and floats listeners back down to earth ("Black-and-white photos/Spillings of a dream").
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Dancing On The Wall
    While the group are not strangers to sociopolitical subject matter, Dancing on the Wall is their most overtly so yet.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Inferno
    An album that demands and rewards close listening, Inferno remains true to the world Boards of Canada have created while engaging with the world at large.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Be Sweet To Me
    This album is a great starting point for Grohl, who proves she can handle both aggressive alt-rock blasts and hazy shoegaze escapes on the journey to hone her own sonic perspective.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Boys Of Dungeon Lane
    McCartney's gift for hummable pop songcraft endures and more than one of these songs is likely to pop into your head days after listening. Yet, it's all those little moments on The Boys of Dungeon Lane and the way McCartney brings his past to life that makes the album one of his most affecting.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Crawlspace Of The Pantheon
    Crawlspace of the Pantheon sounds like the work of a band that still has plenty of gas left in the tank, regardless of how long they've (or he's) been at it. Play it loud.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Beauty Land
    Mendez's gentle vignettes have carried an outsized emotional heft, but his wistful melodies are just as likely to bring listeners back.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter
    There’s a newfound lightness here, and even though the amps are still maxed out and the songs aren’t exactly chipper hymns of optimism and renewal, there’s a sense that Iceage is finding hope within the chaos for the first time.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Middle Of Nowhere
    The overall sound of Nowhere doesn't veer too far off course from her warm and welcoming approach in the past decade, but thankfully adds some life back into the mix after two relatively subdued efforts. Her observations are as sharp as ever.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Philadelphia's been good to me
    On these songs as with so many before them, Vile is just walking us through the strange side streets of his mind, moving from one circular riff to the next and guiding us through the weird haze with a knowing smile.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wild At Heart
    Whether or not Wild at Heart stands as Diamond's final album, it completes a tidy trilogy of Rubin-produced records that are among the most satisfying of his long career.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heavy Water
    Heavy Water is unique in its sonic remembrance of a more modern tragedy, one whose environmental and emotional repercussions are still being felt today.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Great Divide
    Another accessible set where listeners can imagine meeting him in a bar to chat about the old times and catch up on the new.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kehlani
    Lyrically and vocally, Kehlani exudes more warmth here than ever, and the album's additional echoes of '90s/2000s contemporary R&B is enhanced with the featured artists.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It's Been Awful
    IT’S BEEN AWFUL is the sound of Rashad breaking lock after lock open, and letting everything bundle out into the open; on the late-summer air, his flurried thoughts spread into a stunning whole of growth and selfhood.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    They Came Like Swallows
    Kramer and Moore interact with each other's fiery and ungovernable sounds effortlessly, often finding anger and peace within the same tune. They craft an atmosphere that stays in this tenuous balance for the entirety of the album, acknowledging suffering and universal loss while always keeping the hope for something better as a guiding light.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Let X=X (Live)
    It's her most purely satisfying live set to date.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gravity Freeze
    Gravity Freeze may lack some of the unhinged excitement of previous albums, but the depth and feeling they put on display is impressive and makes the album a detour well worth taking.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Anthology Of UnAmerican Folk Music
    As an artist, Anderson's own contributions to American independent music are significant, making her sharp rebuke of nationalism and xenophobia even more powerful.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    the color of rain
    Anguished, inspired, and exceptional album.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    everyone for ten minutes
    The ever-present -- and ever-changing -- blend of grief and joy within Bleachers' music is always heartfelt, but it's rarely sounded as rousingly real as it does on Everyone for Ten Minutes.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    388
    It's another triumph, albeit a low key one, for one of the best bands of their era.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Counting Sunsets
    Their music is soothing, rustic, lonesome, and ethereal all at once.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    THE HORIZON SPIRALS/THE HORIZON VIRAL
    OOIOO and Lightning Bolt both make adventurous, awe-inspiring music, and their split LP feels like a triumph for both acts.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bitches Blues
    Bitches Blues is the sound of a band experimenting with and developing a language distinctly their own; it is at once physical, fluid, wildly creative, and deftly spacious, revealing a striking 21st century approach to the guitar/keyboard/drum trio.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    American Stories
    At the time of American Stories' release, striving for harmony was a rare thing. It's still a noble goal, and on these songs, Rostam achieves it beautifully.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    HOPE!!
    Hope!! may be bursting at the seams, but its communal power is also life-giving.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Train On The Island
    This glorious weirdness was present in Harding’s earlier work but feels like the main event on Train on the Island. It never intrudes on what can be enjoyed as fantastically crafted songs, but accentuates the beguiling personality that makes them more than that.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Detached From The Rest Of You
    James' own lyrics are plainly stated and confessional, as on tracks like "The Book of Self Doubt" and "Seems Like I," though she often embellishes them with pitched-up accompaniments. The tracks with guests are often the most successful, as they offer a bit more tonal and melodic counterpoint.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happy Today
    It's brimming with invention and exploration offered with generosity and creative openness.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lavender Networks
    Lavender Networks almost feels like a successor to Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy because of the way it juxtaposes surreal aggression with a softer, more sensitive side.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Johnny's Dreamworld
    Often riveting and never boring, and with credit to the band's charismatic leader, the album makes for an exciting and noteworthy debut.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Musick
    It's hard to decide what to make of Musick, a genuinely baffling release that offers some interesting social commentary, but also isn't quite as fun to listen to as it wants to be.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    MAITREYA CORSO
    While this experimentation is sometimes seamless, sometimes fun, and sometimes distracting, Hawke's distinctive, vulnerable rasp, wispy melodies, and perceptive lyrics keep the album on track.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.
    Raye affirms that she's a virtuosic vocal dynamo, belting, crooning, and providing spoken exposition, and even her lowest moments of self-abasement are related with clever wordplay showcasing her flexibility. For all the bereft emoting and chemical self-medication that occurs throughout the sequence, Raye's desire to soothe, heal, and instill hope in broken-hearted listeners is apparent.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Forever Ends Someday
    Altogether, their work is intricately detailed (if never overstuffed), vibrating with unease while somehow welcoming the listener with a sense of comfort.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Badges
    Much more than just more of the same, Badges is a step forward for the group. Sounding more confident and comfortable, it's clear that they've gotten over the shock of being together again and have settled into being the kind of thoughtful and dramatic indie pop group one always hoped they would be.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Peaches!
    They don't try to reinvent the wheel here, largely sticking to the rootsy punk vibe of blown-out speaker vocals, overdriven guitar twang, and thumping drums. Yet, there are still some ear-popping moments.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cost Of Living Adjustment
    It’s another album of subtlety and intriguing songwriting choices from Cola, not reinventing their sound by any means, but bringing in new ideas that keep things engaging and confounding in equal measure.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Croz Boyce
    It’s a mellow experience without being a simplistic or obvious one, and this relaxed environment creates easier points of access for ideas that would be too weird for some listeners if they weren’t couched in welcoming chimes of guitar or smiling synths.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Look For Your Mind!
    Look for Your Mind! is a relatively more romping set of Lemon Twigs songs, but the performances remain airtight and the song construction is as intricate and involved as any of their previous work, keeping them one of the most intelligent and infallible bands making power pop in the 2020s.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Poem 1
    Roxanne's music is still spacious and immersive, but Poem 1 feels realistic rather than dreamlike and abstract.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Hoopla
    Between the Joe Jackson snarl of "Pay No Mind" and the Beatlesque punk riffing of "Little Strange," there's a satisfying balance of smart pop songcraft and rugged power that suggests he's found the sweet spot.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sweat
    Decades into Melanie C's storied career, Sweat is one of her best.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley [EP]
    Loose yet consistently engaging, i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley is the work of a band in its element.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    American Football (LP4)
    No doubt there will be those who do want to hear all the gory details and be surrounded by big, billowing sounds and LP4 will be just what they need. Anyone in search of the sparse beauty and icy textures of their early work will no doubt be left reaching back to give their first two records a spin and give this one a pass.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Sol.Hz
    They’ve been honing something so unique for so long that the new material emphasizes how timeless the older material is, and how it’s all been part of the same strange and beautiful continuum.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    FENIAN
    For all the hype and controversy Kneecap has received, it feels like the group is simply getting back to basics and doing what they do best on Fenian, resulting in their most accomplished effort to date.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Long Wave Home
    Mostly playful in tone despite its timely, often serious topics, Long Wave Home makes for another strong entry in Hoop's catalog.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    In Times Of Dragons
    The vital In Times of Dragons whisks Amos back to hallowed days, penetrating the soul and shaking foundations in a manner that hasn't been heard since Pele, Choirgirl, Scarlet, or Posse.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dandelion
    Dandelion functions as both a sequel and an appealing fresh start.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live Forever
    Produced by the aforementioned Johnny Wilson, Live Forever is full of warm and gritty textures and includes just enough crowd noise to transport listeners without competing with the music.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Easter Lily EP
    This set veers more toward the earnest and inspirational stadium-singalong-anthem part of the band's personality (think "City of Blinding Lights," "Where the Streets Have No Name," "I Still Haven't Found..." and that ilk).
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    What A Day For A Daydream: The Complete Recordings 1965-1969 [Box Set]
    While it may be enough for most people to look for a best-of compilation, there are many delights to be found on this set.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Requiem
    A meditative work reflecting on loss and commemoration, as well as nature and the environment. The slowly unfolding composition, divided into two parts, is intended for deep listening.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Orange
    While the production still has bite and the danger of unpredictable straight-to-tape recording, the songcraft is completely in focus. It's where the long-germinating seeds of White Fence's psychedelic excellence finally bloom into their full glory, and these songs are among the best the group has ever put to tape.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Vol.II
    It might take a few listens or views to wrap one's head around what Angine de Poitrine are doing, but their music is actually a lot more accessible than it may seem at first, and their second effort is an incredibly fun record.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Piss In The Wind
    Piss in the Wind is fairly depressing at times, offering just a few short moments to perk up the 21-track runtime, which shouldn't surprise longtime fans of Joji's wounded, narcotic beauty.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    News From Planet Zombie
    The band leans into their music's humanity with a strong folk influence that feels cozy and encouraging, whether on the lonely campfire songs "Projectors" or the lullaby-like cover of Neil Young's "Red Sun" that showcases Markus Acher's yearning vocals.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Superbloom
    Although the album lacks the emotional punch of Ware's preceding dancefloor-oriented albums, it's always entertaining, full of stunning vocal performances.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Confession
    The driving "Alone with You" might seem seductive and romantic, but it's about much more than just physical pleasure, as dal Forno sings about building a future with a partner and "lock[ing] away bad memories together." The dreamy, lo-fi "Gave You Up" is particularly entrancing, with dal Forno's sighing vocals meshing perfectly with the hypnotic guitar strums. Throughout the album, instrumental tunes act as curious segues between moods.
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