AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,299 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: 15,348 out of 18299
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18299
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18299
18299 music reviews
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    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Making Life Rhyme
    She's blurring the lines between R&B and Brill Building, soul and girl group pop, coming up with a vivid, spirited record that ranks among her very best.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Young Chasers
    The production sound is also very Strokes-esque, with Shudall's vocals often layered with a delicate haze of fuzzy EFX à la Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas. That said, the comparison might be a bit more of a critique were it not for the sheer high quality and infectious nature of Circa Waves' songs.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Should Be Here
    She's clearly making her own way, unafraid to knock suitors down a couple pegs ("How That Taste"), allowing her vulnerability to shine through ("You Should Be Here"), and affirming her individuality.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Clearing
    Rachel Grimes has given us a collection of new pieces that quietly dazzle with their evocative power, intelligence, and strength, and The Clearing is something lovely and truly extraordinary that ranks with the best, most enveloping music of recent memory.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In Colour
    As it moves from reflective to engaging and back again, In Colour covers the entire spectrum of Jamie xx's music, delivering flashes of brilliance along the way.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At.Long.Last.A$AP
    The bold effort unfolds as it wants and deserves.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Have a Nice Life
    Every track here punches with a purpose.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Touch Down 2 Cause Hell
    File this one next to C-Murder's Truest $#!@ I Ever Said as it's a gripping prison album that is embracing freedom upon its release, but know that this is a much more polished effort.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Small Town Dreams
    Small Town Dreams is at least as strong as 2013's fine Never Give In and more sharply focused. His gifts as a lyricist and melodist are prodigious, and his confidence and ambition find equilibrium here.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Before The World Was Big
    Even more than on their first release, Girlpool feel like a unit, totally locked into each other musically and emotionally, and their stark presentation remains a boon to their risky and appealingly human songs.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Last of Our Kind
    Last of Our Kind is the sound of a band unencumbered; it's an album that was probably as much fun to make as it is a joy to listen to.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Algiers
    Algiers, both band and album, offer musical and topical intensity alternately malevolent and passionate in searching and affirming truth, human and otherworldly. All of these seemingly disparate historical musical elements are distilled in such a startling manner, they carve something new from the fragments.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gunnera
    Gunnera is bound to appeal more to Menomena fans than to casual fans of the National, but while it's unconventional, it's even more so enthralling, loaded with worthwhile atmospheres and grooves.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Peace Is the Mission
    Consider it the slow and softer Major Lazer album that's built for headphone listening, but most of all, consider it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Universal Themes
    Hs brilliant musicianship and guitar playing combined with his fascinating storytelling skills ensure that his music is as poignant and life-affirming as ever, and the album is yet another success in his remarkable catalog.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nature
    Transporting and pastoral, Nature is a beautiful culmination of Owens' artistry.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    One Lost Day
    One Lost Day's songs may offer commentary about life's rough adventures but they also express openness, willingness, and tenderness as a result of them.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nozinja Lodge
    Nozinja Lodge is a gleefully frenetic album that continues to broadcast Hlungwani's singular vision to fans of otherworldly dance music across the globe.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Full Communism
    Full Communism would be the perfect soundtrack for the victory celebration--you'd have to go back to the MC5 to find a band that combined purposeful rage and passionate rock & roll energy as well as Downtown Boys.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sylva [Live]
    Musical sophistication meets the gritty danger of live performance; execution matches ambition with crackling energy and soulful expression.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    FFS
    A near-perfect blend of Sparks and Franz Ferdinand's skills, FFS is a collaboration that works very well and offers just about everything a fan of either band could want.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Age Blues
    This is an exceptional addition to Goatsnake's catalog; it's a doomsday boogie album for the ages.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wild Nights
    At first, Wild Nights' shifts from song to song could give unsuspecting listeners whiplash, but even if it isn't as cohesive as Girls Like Us was, its moments of brilliance show how much they've grown.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Don't Want To Let You Down [EP]
    Both strong and vulnerable, I Don't Want to Let You Down is a concise and angst-packed set delivered with emphasis in all the right places.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alternative Light Source
    The lack of urgency is also welcome, with Alternative Light Source slowly unfurling as the most natural and comfortable Leftfield album to date.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Bad Plus Joshua Redman
    Ultimately, The Bad Plus Joshua Redman sounds less like a collaboration between two separate entities and more like the assured work of a unified band.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Home Economics
    This may be Prinz and Horn's most minimalist music yet, but it's also some of their most rewarding.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cold Hot Plumbs
    It may be a side project but Dwyer really put all his formidable talents into Cold Hot Plumbs.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Restless Ones
    These songs capture an outstanding band hitting its stride, and growing more comfortable with the craft of record-making along with singing and playing great, passionate music.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jem
    While they're certainly not the first band in 2015 to reference the swirling dream pop of Cocteau Twins or bleak sonic themes of Portishead, they are far more original and daring than your typical experimental bedroom pop act, using their inspirations as a stepping-off point en route to their own adventures and inventions.
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