AllMusic's Scores

  • Music
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:
18325 music reviews
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Elaenia is fated to become one of those albums that inspires ritualistic listening parties held by small groups of audiophiles. That shouldn't be held against it.
    • 99 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    By breaking down the barriers that separated these three albums, The Cutting Edge shows how for Dylan during this blinding, brilliant peak his music was a living thing, evolving from song to song, take to take, where the quest itself was as transcendent as the final destination.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimately, it's the unexpectedly appealing combination of Goulding's distinctive voice and the melismatic R&B bent of the songs on Delirium that makes for such an ecstatic listen.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Though it might not be as substantial or as neatly tied together as No Better Time Than Now, the EP is easy to enjoy and full in form.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A leaner, at times heavier album than its predecessor, Rehumanizer still satisfies as it proves that Maserati's music is built for endurance as well as speed.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There's so much good chemistry and a sense of purpose on Bad Neighbor that it's easy to see why this crew reunited, and while this is a loose posse effort and not the artistically weighty material fans usually get from the members individually, both MED and Blu's discographies get one their tightest releases to date.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wolf Eyes are more than just another noise project, their world-view is intact, and I Am a Problem: Mind in Pieces is strong meat for those willing to take a healthy bite.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An already bright field of songs that have been treated with the utmost care and concern, which is a testament to both MacColl's great body of work and the musicians who were affected by it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Silver Bullets fits together as a whole and doesn't need a pop hit, heavenly or otherwise, to be interesting or worthwhile. It's enough that The Chills are back and just as good as they were when they left off.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sonically, Manhattan is one of Lewis' clearest, best-recorded and arranged albums to date, with masses of swirling, atmospheric sounds augmenting the more detailed tracks (the sounds of crowded New York City streets and subways seep into some of the songs).
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Its base is the four original songs the band self-released on singles during 2013 and 2014, and each one is represented here, with the references to specific disco and post-disco artists and bygone production touches less obvious, a little more concealed than they are on the 2011 album.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Peppered with swears and PG-13 imagery, not all of Return to the Moon is radio-friendly, but it is ear-friendly, even at its most earnest or wry.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The brass in question swells and sways capably throughout, but ultimately feels like window-dressing, never fully delivering the arm hair-raising crescendo that one would expect from an army of cornets, trombones, and euphoniums, though this is mostly the fault of the source material, which ultimately lacks the structural boldness with which to support such finery.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Manual elevates more often than it wallows, and most importantly, it never fails to surprise or entertain.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All told, Many Moons is not only worthwhile for fans of Real Estate and related projects, but for lovers of the honeyed melodies and genial jangle of the pleasantest of power pop.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    By the end of the album, as the waltzing piano ballad "Oh! Starving" fades, it's impossible not to be knocked out by what has come before and be super stoked for what might come next.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    This is surf music for street goths and beach bums with bad attitudes.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's Great to Be Alive! is a bit less than the definitive document of the live DBT experience, but if you want to know why this is a great band and how good it can be on-stage, this set will tell you just about everything you need to know.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If the Yawpers are trying to make sense of the soul of America in the 21st century, their mind/body balance makes for some powerfully satisfying music, and American Man is an impressive debut from a band that appears to have some very serious potential.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A few of the songs sound a lot like one another, and, like any rock & roll, The Things We Do can come off as risible to the rational heart and sensible head, but for the uncertain and, to refer to the Replacements, unsatisfied, the album is potentially relatable and potently cathartic.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Even with its banjo, organ, and sitar adornments, Dream All Over has a wide-open, arid feeling to it as if the band broke down in the crusts of the Mojave en route to their final destination. It also has the distinction of featuring some of Gun Outfit's loosest performances, while also being their most focused record.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you're looking for something cool and groovin' to put under your tree or to slap on the stereo while you and your friends knock back some eggnog, It's a Holiday Soul Party is a hip, stylish, and rollicking good time.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    c rhymes. Best experienced end to end, Evermore: The Art of Duality is a dense journey worth taking, but one decidedly filled with more questions and ideas than answers.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sometimes troubling, frequently joyous, and always articulate and thoroughly individual, Son Little's cross-genre shape-shifting reveals more compelling nuances with each listen, and this is one of the most interesting and rewarding debuts of 2015.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    If Hi Honey is a resurrection, think of it as a rowdy revival tent: they're preaching the gospel of good old rock & roll sleaze and boogie, sounds that are always infectious when they sound as good as this.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With his steady touring lineup of guitarist/keyboardist James Doviak, bass player Iwan Gronow (the Mutineers, Haven), and drummer Jack Mitchell (Haven, Bad Lieutenant), he showcases his rhythmic, textured guitar playing and reinforces the fact that he's not a bad vocalist, either.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    As a thematic mood piece, Panhandle Rambler hits its mark squarely, and the songs themselves are of the consistent high quality listeners have come to expect from Ely who, for reasons unknown, still seems to be one of Texas' more underappreciated exports.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    South Broadway Athletic Club seems like a typical Bottle Rockets album on the surface, but dig a bit deeper and you'll find a set of songs as strong and emotionally powerful as anything this band has delivered since 24 Hours a Day.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    On Mythologies, Cheatahs expand on the surreal, otherworldly aspects of their sound, and seem to take abundant pleasure in wringing sweetness out of caustic, discordant noises.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All this flair is a welcome reminder that, for all his vaunted blues purism, Gibbons remains something of a futurist, happily blurring the lines between the present and past along with obliterating the lines between cultures.