AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,310 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: 15,355 out of 18310
  2. Mixed: 2,929 out of 18310
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18310
18310 music reviews
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    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Be Myself
    Most of the record's 11 songs are graced by provocative sounds lurking at the margins of the mix--something that sounds like a music box on "Halfway There," a saloon piano on "Rest of Me," all the compressed guitars as percussion--that help elevate this set of strong, sophisticated pop into something special.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Waiting a Lifetime
    Waiting a Lifetime is the end result of a lot of hard work, experimentation, and craft, yet it still sounds alive and full of emotion.
    • 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.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Humanz
    The album seems pleasingly scattershot as it bounces from guest to guest.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gargoyle
    On first glance, Gargoyle doesn't feel like an album full of surprises, but after the second or third spin, the fuller and bolder sound of the arrangements and production becomes clear, and it all serves Lanegan's talents in a way his last few Mark Lanegan Band albums have not.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    async
    Async is certainly not one of Sakamoto's most accessible albums, but if the listener is willing to devote several listens until it all makes sense, it ends up being quite powerful.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All This I Do for Glory
    This set bears all the hallmarks of Stetson’s artistic singularity--athletic, circular breathing, polytonal and harmonic exploration, focused composition, vocalizing from the horn.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    God's Problem Child
    There isn't a hint of fussiness and the songs and the performances are so understated, they only seem richer with repeated spins.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Still Life
    Ultimately, with Still Life, Little Cub have managed to capture the '80s synth moment, bringing it to life with tactile, analog lyricism.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Shape
    Though No Shape shows how much his music has expanded since the Learning days, it also proves he hasn't lost any of his ability to connect with listeners. Instead, it reveals him as a sonic adventurer and truth teller who's made some of his most compulsively listenable music.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Snow
    Taken without context, Snow is a gorgeous collection of slow-burning, neatly groomed songs and perspectives, always introspective but never without joy. When viewed as another chapter in the ongoing lineage of the Kadane brothers, it takes on a deeper gravity.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everything So Far
    Ranging from lo-fi rock epics to strummed acoustic numbers that blend lonesome rural tones with desperate suburban ennui, Everything So Far is a testament to a band that sounded original out of the gate.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This Old Dog
    In all, This Old Dog is a logical continuation of DeMarco's musical explorations, but the maturation of his songwriting is what gives it gravitas.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pussycat
    Hatfield is protesting Trump because he offends her personally, and the specificity of her outrage makes Pussycat an unusually powerful protest album.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Best Troubador
    Best Troubador does a splendid job of showing how right he is about Haggard and his songs, and you'd have to go back to 1994's splendid multi-artist disc Tulare Dust to hear as sincere and affecting a tribute to this most American of artists.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Joan Shelley
    The 11-track set is loose, yet never directionless, with melodies that are less stately, though no less comforting than those found on the album's predecessor--Shelley's voice itself is a marvel of sonic palliation.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For Crying Out Loud
    Simply put, For Crying Out Loud works because the band knows exactly what its listeners want.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    From a Room, Vol. 1
    As good as each of these songs is individually--and there isn't a bad song in the bunch--what's best about From a Room, Vol. 1 is how it holds together. There's no grand concept here: it's just a collection of good tunes, delivered simply and soulfully, and that's more than enough.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Compassion
    With all of his projects, Barnes continues to challenge himself and his audience, and Compassion's fascinating mix of power and atmosphere is the most finely honed version of Forest Swords yet.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Halo
    [Halo] feels like a logical snapshot of her ongoing journey, presenting 12 new tracks that are as eccentric as they are inviting.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Versus
    Verses certainly seems like a project that was labored over for such a long time, and it ends up being entirely worth it. It sounds seamless and organic, and avoids the novelty aspect of Jeff Mills' Blue Potential.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rosewood Almanac
    With existential lyrics about hardship and fate (including reference to his own successful cancer treatments following 2014's Gray Lodge Wisdom), the singer's calm delivery manages to convey gratitude, understanding, pain, and affection across the album and even within single songs.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Modern Kosmology
    The Silver Globe was Weaver's coming-out party; Modern Kosmology serves notice that she's here to stay.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Real High
    An artful mix of focus and atmosphere, Real High may be Nite Jewel's finest moment to date.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Goths
    After over 20 years of writing fine songs and making great records, John Darnielle and the Mountain Goats are actually getting better and more interesting, and Goths is a genuine triumph.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Imperfect Sea
    Penguin Cafe have created a charming world within The Imperfect Sea that gently seduces the listener through the restless and captivating collection of songs within it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Routines
    Throughout, though, the sound is so consistent, alluring, and distinctive that it's hard to believe that they have all three members contributing songs here.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    After Laughter
    Where 2013's Paramore found the group tentatively transitioning from their pop-punk roots toward a multi-layered '80s synth-pop sound, After Laughter reveals them having beautifully completed the transformation.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everybody
    Keeping track of whether Logic's writing from his own or someone else's vantage can be a challenge, but one doesn't need to be that familiar with his work to realize that this contains some of his most personal rhymes.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All the Beauty in This Whole Life
    Ali returns with All the Beauty in This Whole Life, a record that never shies away from facing injustice but focuses on a different aspect of activism: inner transformation. That's not a new age slogan but ancient wisdom carried from Tao to Gandhi to MLK; Ali brings it down the pipe with the hammer of compassion.
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