AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,293 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: 15,342 out of 18293
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18293
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18293
18293 music reviews
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Forfeit/Fortune
    An 11-song set of dusty, horn-laden, highway driving, drink-spilling heartache that stands as the group's most solid piece of work to date.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Temper
    At times, Temper's focus means it doesn't have quite as much sweetly mysterious atmosphere as Pioulard's earlier work, but when the final track, 'Hesperus,' evaporates like waking from a dream, it's proof that there are plenty of moments to get lost in here.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Receivers
    An open-minded rock record that relies on a wide array of familiar signifiers but never once sounds like it could have been recorded or released any earlier than it was.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alegranza
    El Guincho's debut album Alegranza is as bright as the feathers of the parrot, as sparkly as the fireworks, and as warm as the palm trees that adorn the cover.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Double Night Time
    Ultimately a modest and compulsively listenable set of nocturnal electronic lullabies, Double Night Time's use of two- and seven-year-old tracks is not unwarranted.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Landing Gear
    Devin's target audience, on the other hand, embraces sleaze, porno, weed, and hip-hop with plenty of memorable stingers, and seeing as how Landing Gear delivers on all counts, fans of Texas' most blunted rapper will once again be pleased.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Little Joy
    A laid-back and easy to digest album with no grand statements to absorb or deeper meanings to dig for, it's made up of simple songs recorded simply and sung sweetly.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rio
    Not only are each of the songs on Río unique; they're all impressive, adding up to a complete full-length album experience filled with highlights.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chinese Democracy
    It's a good album, no less and no more.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fearless
    Swift's gentle touch is as enduring as her songcraft, and this musical maturity may not quite jibe with her age but it does help make Fearless one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Convivial
    For its lack of rush-inducing highs and novel sounds, the album is immensely pleasurable, with fleet keyboard vamps and percussive effects that stab and flick ricocheting off pliant, bounding basslines.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
    Taken together, they position Love Is All as one of the best post-punk revivalist groups, and arguably the equal of their influences. Whether you stand behind that statement or not, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night is as good as indie rock gets in the late 2000s.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sycamore Meadows
    Compare 'Here Comes The' with 'Vessels,' a breakup tune that eschews inconsolability for bright key changes and high anthemic vocals, and you get the full spectrum of Walker's songwriting ability, which is as razor-sharp in 2008 as it ever has been.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Soul
    What makes Soul an overall success isn't just Seal's caressing vocals and obvious knowledge of how to interpret these songs faithfully without drifting away; it's the subtle yet effective production work of 15-time Grammy-winning producer David Foster.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fordlandia
    Beautiful, thoughtful, and sad on a grand scale, Fordlandia is nearly as ambitious as the stories it tells, but unlike its source material, it's another success for Jóhannsson.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Love Is Overtaking Me
    This is one of the finest chapters yet in Audika's continuing retrospective. Let's hope there is still more where this came from.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The BBC Sessions
    Of course, the songs are amazing, but just as impressively, Stuart Murdoch's vocals are heartbreakingly sincere and soulful, and the band definitively belie their image as shamblers by sounding tight and together.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sunday At Devil Dirt
    Devil Dirt is almost a carbon copy of Broken Seas in every way (except for the decidedly cheap looking album art). This similarity could be problematic and make the album less impressive or desirable; fortunately, the formula is strong and worth revisiting.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Day & Age
    The nice thing about Day & Age is that not only is Flowers' voice relatively buried, the Killers are unwittingly comfortable with their ludicrous, outsized pop, which turns the album into terrifically trashy pop. Not the serious rock they yearn to be by any means, but these fashionable threads fit them better anyway.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heavy Rotation
    Despite its occasional lapses into schmaltz and generic R&B, Heavy Rotation is still a charming and versatile record that has her unmistakable voice and personality stamped all over it.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Maestro
    Maestro never sounds the least bit unfocused. Being eclectic comes naturally to Mahal, who sees to it that Maestro is a consistently engaging celebration of his 40th year as a recording artist.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Droppin' Science Fiction
    The only thing that stops Droppin' Science Fiction from being an instant masterpiece is that Lateef and Gift of Gab don't do quite enough to make these tracks shine; great productions and great rapping still need a few big hooks (vocal or musical) to snare listeners right from the get-go.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happy In Galoshes
    Happy in Galoshes isn't quite as textured or bright as "12 Bar Blues"--the smaller budget is evident in its muted colors as well as Weiland's sleepy delivery--but it has the same emphasis on churning psychedelia and clomping glam.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Parallax Error Beheads You
    Mannered English eccentricity never sounded so deliriously thrilling.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In A Town Called Addis
    Strongly recommended to all adventurous dub fans.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dark Developments
    Fans of Chesnutt, Elf Power, or smart and adventurous pop music in general should put this one on their shopping lists.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Day By Day
    He's come into his own carrying on the tradition of Afro-beat, but putting his own beautiful signature on it as its original heir.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Silence Is Wild
    Silence Is Wild is a solid step forward for Frida Hyvönen and a record to check out if you like singer/songwriters with a unique approach to be singing and songwriting.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Emeritus
    Emeritus is not the usual, very serious good-bye record, but in so many ways, it's a typical Scarface record. It's just better than usual with the rapper sounding liberated by his decision to move on.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Folie A Deux
    Whether intentional or not, there's a certain glee to FOB's pop absurdity because their cheerfully careless genre-bending has no reverence: fitting all these sounds and jokes into a pop song is all a game and it's one listeners can share, whether they're playing spot-the-allusion or just succumbing to the sugary hooks clustered within one track.
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