AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,282 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: 15,331 out of 18282
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18282
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18282
18282 music reviews
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    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Some People Have Real Problems
    The newly varied arrangements, moods, and textures of this album, from the mournful piano-led cover of the Kinks' 'I Go to Sleep' through the horn-based R&B swing of 'Electric Bird' to the sarcastic bounce of 'The Girl You Lost to Cocaine,' make Some People Have Real Problems Sia's most engrossing and satisfying album yet.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Volume 2
    Volume Two is certainly more cohesive than Volume One, but that doesn't make it the stronger album.... The pop/rock songs here are simply lacking great hooks, though they are quite endearing. While Volume Two is a strong album, Volume One had more ragged, unfocused joys.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    MDFMK
    MDFMK charts the same breakbeat industrial-thrash that has long been a staple of any KMFDM album, complete with ranting vocals, aggressive songwriting, heavy-metal chords that sound vaguely familiar, and solid programming that reveals a surprising pop sense.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Encore
    Encore never resonates the way his first three endlessly fascinating albums do.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Third Gleam
    Stripped of any studio sheen, the songs hearken back to the siblings' early work when they were still sculpting their heartfelt hipster hobo aesthetic.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Trouble with Fever
    While most of The Trouble with Fever concerns itself with personal issues, it isn't insular; the sound is alluring and open, an invitation for relaxation as much as it is for reflection.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Complete Strangers
    The duo's desire to strip the music of all energy leaves the songs limp, unable to make an impression in an age when songs are screaming for attention everywhere you turn.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Life Coach
    Life Coach is surprisingly mellow considering the heavier and louder sounds Manley has pursued for most of his career, but it's never boring: the way it encompasses the pop and avant sides of his music will please fans of his other work.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Swoon
    It's pleasant enough, particularly when the breathy vocals fade away to leave behind cascades of guitars, but even at its best, it's nothing more than an approximation of Smashing Pumpkins at their peak, with all the interesting parts stripped away.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All At Once
    At first, the album seems slightly anticlimactic and even perplexing, but upon repeated listens, All at Once shows that Young People remain fascinating.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Climate Change
    Pitbull manages to provide enough variety on Climate Change to at least maintain his position as one of the globe's most enduring peddlers of positive vibes.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    DVA
    The debut is the one with the hits that draw you into her dark mood, while DVA is the sludgy one you sink into and wallow in for a while.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fandango
    It's still a verdant, imaginative, lush, and occasionally unsettling work that hits the sweet spot more often than it misses its mark, and while it may not shake the rafters, it most certainly fills up the room with sound.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Anthem
    While they're still enjoyable--they're talented craftsman with an innate ear for pleasing pop hooks--the insistence on making everything bigger and bolder than previously turns Anthem a little wearying over the long haul, but when sampled in small doses the trio remains a reliable pop pleasure.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rize of the Fenix
    Rize of the Fenix does amount to a rousing comeback for Tenacious D: they're back to their old tricks, oblivious to whether the world at large actually cares about their shenanigans.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Give the Drummer Some
    As a showcase for Barker's production and drumming skills, Give the Drummer Some definitely gets the point across, proving that there's room for more than just Phil Collins and Dave Grohl in the world of drummers successfully going solo.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Takasago Army
    While the album certainly delivers on the darkness, it manages to keep from being too suffocating thanks to the band's bombastic power metal.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Zero
    All in all, Zero is an ambitious album that's amazing not just in how well done it is for a post-hardcore concept record, but in the way it shows that Hawthorne Heights aren't afraid to take risks 12 years into a long and successful career.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A Christmas Album
    What follows is a sort of half-comforting, half-sad jamboree with Oberst and a small army of friends at his house playing through Christmas standards.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Copper Gone
    Copper Gone is a mix of tried and true plus smarter and new, and it's an excellent reason to check in on Sage's evolution.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    City Club
    City Club may not be what fans were expecting, but it's by far the Growlers' most immediate and accessible collection of songs to date.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pacific Daydream
    Beneath its glossy surface, there's not only plenty of melody, but a perverse sense of humor that keeps the record from sounding too smooth and settled.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Life Processes
    The utter zeal and conviction with which they play are often breathtaking, even if they don't leave room for much subtlety or humor, and can be more than a little exhausting for listeners who are not as impassioned as ¡Forward, Russia! so clearly are.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Colonia
    Colonia may share with the Cardigans' late records that polished yet entirely too comfortable sound that reveals few insights, but it deftly presents Persson's uncomfortable vision of a world with little left to hold onto.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fluorescence
    Fans of the early dream pop stuff may have difficulties accepting a cleaner, more synthesized pop approach.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Paradise [EP]
    For all the progress and growth Del Rey shows in the vocal realm, her songwriting appears to be in stasis and the productions behind her have actually regressed from Born to Die.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blue Lambency Downward
    It will take a minimum of several spins all the way through to even try to grasp all that's going on here. It's fair to say that perhaps you shouldn't have to work that hard, yet there is no real work involved; there is only delight, amusement, humor, and sometimes awe.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Talk That Talk
    Behind Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R, this is Rihanna's third best album to date. Minus the fluff, it's close to the latter's equal.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    C, XOXO
    At its best, C,XOXO is a vibes album, musical perfume -- a spritz of Cabello's "meteor shower" pop moment.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Harsh Light of Day
    With each multi-layered cut, the trio shows pop songwriting skills not often seen in such cookie-cutter times -- especially in the particularly staid field of alt-rock.... this bold album takes you on an aural adventure of strings, guitars, and hooks paired with intelligent lyrics and taut instrumentation.
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