AllMusic's Scores

  • Music
Select another publication »
For 18,293 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: 15,342 out of 18293
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18293
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18293
18293 music reviews
view
per page
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Need You Now
    On their sophomore effort, they stick very close to the formula of their debut: a slew of mid- and uptempo love songs, a sad ballad, and a couple of rocked-up good-time tunes--all self-written with some help from some of Nashville’s most respected writers.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Heart Of My Own
    Those who gravitated toward her debut will feel a similar pull to this album, though, which essentially reprises "Oh, My Darling’s" sound with slightly more confidence.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Calcination Of Scout Niblett
    Calcination is a harrowing, emotionally draining 51 minutes; it can’t be judged on anything but its essences lyrically and musically, making it an abundantly successful endeavor.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    To Realize
    To Realize is an album that will certainly reward those willing to give in to the band's grand design.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A Reality Tour
    This is Bowie in his mode as a crowd-pleasing professional, playing with considerable charm and skill, offering no surprises but plenty of pleasure: it's not the first album that will come to mind when thinking of live Bowie, but as it's playing, it's hard to resist.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Five American Portraits
    The RK has been making weirdly wonderful recordings for over 40 years, but this one, as lovely and angular as it is, is one the of the strangest. Yet, it’s also -- if you stick with it -- among their most enjoyable.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Orchestrion
    As an album, Orchestrion is as ambitious as "Secret Story and The Way Up," but it is no less brilliant. Here Metheny exceeds our expectations, and perhaps even his own.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Downtown Church
    It's no surprise that Downtown Church is a beautiful album, as Patty Griffin has been making beautiful albums since 1996, but here she's reaching for something deeper than she has on much her previous work, and the search that informed these 14 songs is compelling and joyous to hear, regardless of your religious convictions.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Boca Negra
    Boca Negra is the most sophisticated and improvisationally complex recording CUD has ever recorded, while easily being its most accessible.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Harvey Milk
    Rather than showing the humble beginnings of an experimental band, this album highlights the fact that, even from the very beginning, they were the enigmatic and impossibly heavy group that they are today.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    What Is Love
    Ingle's ability to write a pop melody is promising, perhaps, yet it's too hampered by nasal vocals to make much of an impression, and the album’s short running time proves to be one of its biggest assets.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Return To Form
    With this album, Major Stars show their talent as songwriters, creating a collection of songs that manages to rope you in with a solid rock foundation before attempting to blow your mind with fuzzed-out fretboard acrobatics, making the title a statement of purpose rather than empty posturing.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    No Hope, No Future
    No Hope, No Future doesn’t always play to the band’s proven strengths, but it shows that Good Shoes are a thoroughly independent, even contrary band that's unafraid of change, even when it’s difficult.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In This Light & On This Evening
    While it seems they will probably never equal the majesty of their debut, Editors have dug themselves out of their artistic cul de sac at least long enough to plan their next move.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Colossus
    The Colossus finds Rjd2 back to doing what he did when he first began recording: simply curating excellent productions instead of wooing a new audience by creating expressly written songs or telling a story with his full-lengths.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Transference
    Given Spoon's reputation for consistency, it's not a surprise that Transference is good. However, it manages to be good in surprising ways.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    End Times
    This is a dark, sparse, elegantly--and enjoyably--somewhat mopey, paradoxical album. It’s emotionally raw, but devoid of self-pity. It's charming in its sense of irony and self-awareness.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Real Life Is No Cool
    Just about all of the new tracks would make fine A-sides, though they all fall into place as part of a flowing album.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Dinosaur Life
    Even after ten years of navigating the new millennium's punk-emo scene, Motion City Soundtrack sound positively hungry. My Dinosaur Life is a sugar rush without the crash at the end, just the insatiable need to hear it all again.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Behave Yourself [EP]
    Streamlined, confident, and cohesive, Behave Yourself finds Cold War Kids getting their groove back.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Turn Ons
    It’s a hell of a good time and it does what a great covers album should: the band never lets their deep, enduring love get in the way of inspiration or imagination.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    %
    It’s hardly a consistent listen, and sometimes the journey seems directionless, but the battle between spastic outbursts and atmospheric slosh keeps the listening experience as thrilling as it is challenging.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sweet Heart Rodeo
    What any of this has to do with rodeos (although they come up in the lyrics) is anybody's guess; Dawn Landes is no cowgirl, but rather a quirky indie singer/songwriter with a light touch.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Graphic As A Star
    While all of Foster’s work is provocative, this proves the warmest, loveliest, and most beautifully articulated recording in her catalog.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    OST
    Musically it’s the performances by Bridges that are the most arresting here.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    You & Me
    You & Me makes sure his six-string gifts remain in the forefront of the listener's mind. And while the reigning mood of the album is one of warm, Southern California breezes and sun-splashed sojourns to the Pacific Ocean, other influences pop up along the way, particularly a fondness for British folk-rock.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pizza Box
    Pizza Box is a long way from the punky bluegrass of the Bad Livers, and may be the best album Barnes has ever made.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pictures
    Pictures is one of the rare albums that manages to hold tight to what is good about a band (in this case, energy and hooky songs), and add on new things (wider instrumentation, better arrangements) without compromising their strengths.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Contra
    With Contra, Vampire Weekend make Auto-Tune and real live guitars, Mexican drinks, Jamaican riffs and Upper West Side strings belong together, and this exciting lack of boundaries offers more possibilities than anyone could have expected.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky
    They resisted the temptation to knock out another collection of power pop and instead hibernated for a few years, eventually teaming up with Dave Fridmann--a former member of Mercury Rev best known for his production work with the Flaming Lips--with the intention of reinvention, resulting in the mildly bewildering Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.
Page: