AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,325 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: 15,369 out of 18325
  2. Mixed: 2,930 out of 18325
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18325
18325 music reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Garden of Delete
    As dense as R Plus Seven was cleanly sculpted, there's a lot to unpack within Garden of Delete, including its title: a phrase that suggests the meticulous task of editing music as well as the union of creation and destruction (and shortens to G.O.D.), it's the perfect mission statement for an album that combines past and present in surprising, and surprisingly organic ways.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    First Comes the Night
    While First Comes the Night doesn't break any new stylistic ground for Isaak, it also doesn't hurt his reputation, and deftly reinforces his image as a glamorous, charming torchbearer for traditional pop songcraft.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heart Blanche
    The breezy Isley Brothers/Free Design hybrid "Race Against Time," the perseverance anthem "Music to My Soul," and the disco-soul/soft rock compound "Better Late Than Never" are all decked out, and are among Green's craftiest work.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings
    Montage of Heck largely doesn't consist of early drafts; it consists of scrawls waiting to be turned into a first draft. While that's interesting for a while, at a certain point--and it arrives rather quickly--the fascination curdles and it's hard not to feel unclean, as if you're snooping through your beloved brother's desk.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Made in the A.M.
    Their songwriting shows growth, their vocals remain flawless, the production team continues to throw the occasional curveball to go along with the softballs, and there are plenty of songs that sound like the best pop music has to offer in 2015.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Purpose
    A bumpy, oddly compelling restart, Purpose should hook open-minded pop fans who previously paid him no mind, and it could even win back some of those who wrote Bieber off years ago.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Alone in the Universe
    At 32 minutes, Alone in the Universe is remarkably devoid of excess--notably, it's just five minutes longer than his breezy 2012 covers album Long Wave--but it doesn't feel shrugged off, nor does it feel especially attached to its time.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Miraculous
    As a composer, singer, and sound sculptor, Hausswolff is in full control on The Miraculous, balancing harshness and intimacy, heaviness and airy melancholy. It's an uncompromising view, but it's also welcoming.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Beings
    All in all another strong outing from the Newcastle band, it dwells in a cloudy blend of dreams and creeping nightmares, unsettling yet captivating.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Damn Country Music
    Even during his '90s heyday, he looked over his shoulder while living in the present, happily threading in trends while seeming impervious to them. This skill is difficult to acquire but Damn Country Music, like so many other Tim McGraw albums, makes it seem as simple as breathing.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Country Agenda
    His pleasantly cracked voice is supported by plenty of rich harmonies and the mellow organ and guitar tones give the record an inviting, organic feel.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Ork Records: New York, New York
    Ork Records: New York, New York is a superb evocation of a vitally important time and place in American rock & roll, and it's fun, eclectic listening to boot.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dillatronic
    While the collection doesn't come with the purposeful feel of Donuts, it flows extremely well for a beat tape, and one released nine years after the artist passed.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    30 Seconds to Mars
    30 Seconds to Mars has managed to record an album that breathes life into the empty shell that corporate rock has become, and in reanimating an avenue of musical expression that has for many years been on its deathbed, has quite possibly offered the single best rock experience of 2002.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Def Leppard
    This record can still dazzle with its pyramid of overdubs, intricate details that never sound fussy. Most of Def Leppard stays firmly within the band's wheelhouse.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Documentary 2.5
    "The Ghetto" with Nas and will.i.am does not disappoint, leaving the album's numbering system the only thing to complain about, as 2015 is the Game's second-best year ever, and there's nothing ".5" about it.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Documentary 2
    Great news is The Documentary 2 sounds effortless and winds up awesome because of it.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    St. Germain
    Approach it as a much more relaxed, refined, and ethnobeat version of St. Germain.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    All We Need
    Like the EP, it frustrates almost as much as it charms, but Raury's energy is ceaselessly positive, and his potential is abundant.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pylon
    The album's widescreen sound and bone-fracturing impact leave no doubt that Killing Joke are still deeply committed to what they do, and it's genuinely remarkable that they're still sounding this furious and effective 35 years after their debut album.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Revolve
    Its wider emotional range and stylistic switch-ups, none of which is outside Newman's grasp, give it a slight edge.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
    At nearly an hour long, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure is a dense, rewarding listen from an artist who's becoming more complex, and more direct, with each album.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Thank Your Lucky Stars
    In its own way, Thank Your Lucky Stars is just as rewarding as Depression Cherry, and arguably more immediate. Instead of releasing another mammoth effort like Bloom, they've delivered two smaller-scale triumphs that can be appreciated separately or together.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    To Those of Earth & Other Worlds
    It's another dense, thrilling journey into the daunting catalog of the most intergalactic musician of all time.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Communion
    A haunting debut, Communion finds Rabit living up to his potential in stark, beautifully ugly and angry ways.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    West Kirby Country Primary
    As personal and inward-gazing as Ryder-Jones' songs are, he imbues them with a weary comfort, inviting listeners along rather than detaching himself, and if making fine albums like West Kirby County Primary is his form of therapy, he's bound for success.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Early Risers
    Maybe Soldiers of Fortune aren't a band, but they know how to rock, and Early Risers shows they can do that even with tongue in cheek and hipster cred in check, making the achievement all the more impressive.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings
    This is not just a nostalgic look back at a classic album, but Merchant fully inhabiting the material in the present tense. The depth in these recordings makes it a welcome companion to Tigerlily.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Get Weird
    Ultimately, Little Mix's stylish, decade-blending synergy works, and Get Weird ends up being a lot of fun.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Making Time
    It's another batch of nuanced, quietly intense songs that have some degree of heartache to them.
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