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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    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Philadelphia Freeway
    Freeway delivers a strong album that should lay to rest the speculation that his unique vocal style -- alternating between a scratchy crack and an anything-but-gruff shout, filtered through a consistently high pitch -- would have difficulty remaining tolerable across a full album.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    OST
    Sure, there's a couple of tracks that fall flat - Young Zee and Obie Trice feel strained - but it all flows well, and it's all strong.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Reality
    It's a little artier than Heathen, but similar in its feel and just as satisfying.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Magic Time
    Magic Time is one of those rare, intermittent Van Morrison records that consciously offers a bird's eye view of everywhere he's been musically and weaves it all together into a heady brew.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Catastrophe Keeps Us Together
    At this point it seems that Rainer Maria are much more modern rock than emo, but that doesn't mean that Catastrophe Keeps Us Together isn't a good album.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Junior
    Royksopp remain among the best at middlebrow dance-pop, crafting music that can and will rule the supermarket aisles while still having a shelf-life longer than the canned ham you'll find there.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jonny
    Jonny's 2011 self-titled debut is a collection of bright, literate, and catchy '60s-influenced pop.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs for Children
    Viers' simple, honest delivery helps to keep the mood fun, yet stable and sweet, without the inevitable sugar rush.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tiden
    Tiden may be listened to passively and with great enjoyment, but to do so would be to miss its sense of invention and adventure.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Keep Me Singing
    Morrison delivers each of these songs with attentiveness; the material is consistently presented with finesse. Nothing further is required.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Snow Bound
    The songs are definitely there, Phillipps' wonderfully light vocals are as strong as ever, and the sound is a perfect example of how to make a record that sounds as big as a stadium while still being driven by real emotion.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Us
    Where it differs from the debut is in lyrics that are heartfelt but deliberately less personal than Me.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    DJ-Kicks
    Vynehall's DJ-Kicks plays like a set by adventurous college radio DJs eager to show off every record that's been exciting them lately.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Quickening
    The quiet and gently unfolding "18 to 1" stands as the album's prettiest and most tonally pleasing cut, though for the patient listener, there is plenty of magic throughout the set as these two masters intertwine their ample talents.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Temple
    While the bulk of the album may be less infectious than that tune ["How Could I"] or the record's defiant predecessor, Temple's wonky mix of pop, rock, and hip-hop hooks remains engaging and recognizably theirs.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hvarf/Heim
    Hvarf/Heim isn't the album to mark a musical departure for Sigur Rós.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Held in Splendor
    Held in Splendor shows that Quilt are defined, but not confined, by their affinity for the sounds of the '60s. Instead, they're using it in ways that may be slightly more down to earth but also cover more ground.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In/Out/In
    The next best thing to sitting in on a Sonic Youth jam session, In/Out/In distills the band's essence so brilliantly that fans will fall in love all over again.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Got to Be Tough
    Singing, however, is always what Toots has done best, and Got to Be Tough confirms that he takes a back seat to no one when he steps up to the mike, and its arrival is a joyous occasion.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dear Heather
    If this is indeed his final offering as a songwriter, it is a fine, decent, and moving way to close this chapter of the book of his life.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    One Time Bells
    While the appealing rawness of their early material is occasionally missed here, the strides forward that the group makes on this album more than make up for it.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trouble
    Unlike many bands that have tried similar ways to change things up, Hospitality make all the right moves on Trouble, and not only equal their impressive debut but surpass it both sonically and emotionally.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Have Already Gone to the Other World
    The duo [are] at the top their game, effortlessly weaving the past into the future (and vice-versa) with undeniable skill and refreshing amounts of empathy.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Spark
    There's a lot to love here, especially on some of the more idiosyncratic offerings like "Airfield" and "Shinrin-yoku," but listeners expecting to bloody themselves in the electronicore, stadium-screamo assault of past outings might want to take a pass.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    KIN [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
    Where Mogwai's other scores pushed their boundaries, KIN simply restates their strengths--which, fortunately, are as formidable as ever.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Egypt Station
    The thing that Kurstin brings to the table is a refinement, letting Paul's ideas shine incandescently while also revealing that a record this clever isn't tossed off, it's crafted in every respect.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Heart on My Sleeve
    The lack of variance in tempo across the hour-long sequence makes Heart on My Sleeve downright torpid at points. All upticks are welcome -- the one with an incongruous Kirk Franklin appearance included -- but slow and low is undeniably the singer's forte.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Little Red
    In the wake of crossover dance acts who scored after the success of On a Mission, Katy B remains in a class of her own.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    What Comes After The Blues
    A record of quiet fire, fueled by an electric/acoustic guitar dynamic and the determined waver in Molina's vocals, which have strengthened considerably since Songs: Ohia.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Voices
    A moody, intense, dramatic, and orchestrated second full-length tour de force.
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