AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,299 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: 15,348 out of 18299
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18299
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18299
18299 music reviews
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    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Blue World
    While completely enjoyable, Blue World's true value perhaps lies in revealing the quartet encountering this older material with a fully developed musical character, and changing its shapes, accents, colors, and textures according to its own expressive signature. These versions differ (often significantly) from previously issued ones, making Blue World a necessary addendum to the recognized historical record to be sure. But just as importantly, it adds another very satisfying entry to the music libraries of Coltrane's legions of fans.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ghostface Killahs
    The album seems somewhat patched-together compared to other Ghostface albums, but it still boasts some excellent tracks. The main problem is the blatantly homophobic and misogynistic lyrics which crop up throughout. Not that this is anything new, or unexpected, but it still mars an otherwise strong album.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Look Up Sharp
    Look Up Sharp is more forthright than dal Forno's previous work, but it still retains a deep, intriguing sense of mystery.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Easter is Cancelled
    Easter Is Cancelled is a soaring and melodic evolution for The Darkness, a fresh step into maturation that retains their campy, fun-loving spirit without all the sleaze and filth.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Closer to Grey
    Closer to Grey feels more like a loose assemblage of good-to-great tunes than it does a cohesive album, especially with the level of production perfectionism Johnny Jewel and company are known for. It's a curious piece of the never-ending Chromatics puzzle, and an excellent offering to tide fans over as the they wait for the next piece to fall into place.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Carnage Hall
    It's a strong debut from an excitable band barely able to contain themselves as they blow through their songs like a friendly tropical storm.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lahs
    There may be moments that give fans expecting another laidback psych record pause, but on the whole the band succeed in refurbing their template and coming up with something that's both extremely chill and interesting at the same time.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Pill for Loneliness
    A Pill for Loneliness suffers from its own consistency as one vaporous, albeit pretty, track blends into the next without leaving much of an impact. Still, as a vehicle for Green's talents, it hits enough highs to mark another worthwhile chapter in City and Colour's development.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Somebody's Knocking
    More than a few of Lanegan's longtime fans will be puzzled by his transformation into the party animal of the dark side, but his vocals are typically strong, and he sounds fully engaged with the material, happy to be visiting the VIP section of the Place Where Nothing Living Goes, and he's excited and challenged in a way he's hasn't sounded in a while.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    85 to Africa
    Jidenna's cosmopolitan hip-hop is deepened with his second album. 85 to Africa lacks a track with the ferocity of "Long Live the Chief," and nothing is either as charming or as instantly memorable as the multi-platinum "Classic Man," but it's more substantive.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Metal Galaxy
    Metal Galaxy tweaks the recipe just enough to feel fresh while maintaining the meticulous attention to detail and decibels that have made the group such an unlikely international success.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    2020
    Richard Dawson is an eccentric but clear-eyed observer of the human condition, and just as he brought something fresh to the U.K. folk tradition on 2017's Peasant, 2020 reveals how he sees the details of everyday life in a way that slips past most writers. And if it isn't always fun, the honesty and passion in this music deliver more than enough reward for your time.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Blossoms
    Logically, Blossoms doesn't have the sort of strangely human touch of Emptyset's 2017 releases, but it's still a compelling, somewhat frightening hybrid of organic and synthetic processes.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Pt. 2
    Whether or not they needed two full-length albums to fill up the dancefloor this time around is up for debate, but while Foals may be peddling a familiar product, there's no denying its efficacy.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Vagabon
    The decision to make the album an eponymous one becomes more meaningful as lyrics reveal themes of both self-sufficiency and, as in the case of "Home Soon," a sense of belonging.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    When I Say to You Black Lightning
    Artful, spooky, and fascinating, When I Say to You Black Lightning's beguiling contradictions are likely to compel repeat listens.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heavy Lifter
    The result is a more coherent set of tunes that don't veer far from Hovvdy's established ruminative demeanor.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Shiny New Model
    Shiny New Model definitely lives up to the title. The EP takes the best parts of the band's debut (their energy and snarky lyrics), adds dynamic tension and focus, and ends up being just a little better and just a little more exciting.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    One Step Behind
    One Step Behind sees Garcia Peoples continuing their rapid, curious evolution. That the band can take such a huge leap from their previous material in such a short period of time points to an even more radical exploration of what's to come.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    No Holiday
    Kim Shattuck loved rock & roll and was too grateful to her muse to take it for granted, and No Holiday is a joyous if bittersweet testament to her spirit and her gift.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Colorado
    At a time when a great album from Neil Young would have been more than welcome, Colorado is instead a good one, but it's recognizably the work of a great artist, and that's more than can be said of the last few offerings Young has given us.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Let It Burn
    GospelbeacH are a great rock band, but on this album at least, it's their softer, more stripped-down tunes that carry the day and provide Let It Burn's most memorable moments.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wave
    There are some glitchy electronic beats and questionable structural turns during the album's back half that feel a little bit out of place, but the overall vibe remains one of deep and heavy existential pain. Wave is an acutely overcast album, but Watson's gift for melody, narrative lucidity, and retro-pop sensibilities help to keep things more melancholic than maudlin.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pyroclasts
    The forward evolution of Life Metal has been balanced and extended into a mercurial spirit through formless, receptive interaction on Pyroclasts.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    PONY
    They work best as intimate revelations about his own experience and never achieve the level of universal pop standard that his forebears made their stock and trade. Nonetheless, there are a few memorable moments here in the cheeky, synth pop-influenced "Never Had the Balls" and the orchestral R&B groover "It Gets Better." Both songs make good on O'Connor's developing talent, and prove he has the ability to translate his quirky, wordy aesthetic into the occasional hooky anthem.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jesus Is King
    Despite the occasional lyrical misstep, Jesus Is King is a wonder of production, housing some of West's most focused and inspired work since 2013's Yeezus.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    STIR
    MacKay and Kleijn have performed and recorded with a large number of musicians in their careers, but STIR reveals they push one another to especially imaginative and expressive work, and this collaboration hardly appears to have made use of all their inspiration just yet.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Daylight
    Daylight works best when Potter is steering the ship. Even with the considerable and seasoned talents of Valentine, Nocturnals alum Benny Yurco, and keyboardists Larry Goldings and Benmont Tench behind her, Potter commands the room.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Up on High
    It's a clear and focused return to the peaks the band found in the mid-2000s, and as enjoyable a listen as the best of their work.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sweating the Plague
    Sweating the Plague is best taken as a whole rather than in smaller portions; it works as a clever but swaggering dose of rock & roll, and it plays to this band's strengths while showing how much they've expanded their sonic palette in over three decades...or in a single year, for that matter.
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