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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    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nektyr
    Nektyr would've been perfectly at home on 4AD or Projekt during the late '80s or early '90s, and might have been among their best releases, but its weightlessness and otherworldliness can't be attached to any specific time period.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    That's What I Heard
    At a time when deep Southern soul isn't doing a whole lot better than the blues in the marketplace, Robert Cray is an effective cheerleader for both forms, and That's What I Heard shows that after 40 years of record-making, he's in no way tired or short on ideas and inspiration.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Midnight Manor
    The resulting follow-up, Midnight Manor, finds the six-piece still cranking out riff-fueled, freewheeling rock jams about booze and women (and the music industry). ... Filler-free album.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Miracle
    Thematically inward-gazing, Lung reflects on matters of loneliness, substance abuse, and mental health, though the music comes across as inspired rather than overtly dour.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mandatory Enjoyment
    Mandatory Enjoyment is much more than a dusty museum piece, and while Dummy may be proudly retro, like their heroes Stereolab they make their love of the past sound brand new and exciting.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Crystal Nuns Cathedral
    As with every Guided by Voices album, fans will find some songs excellent and some unmemorable, but Crystal Nuns Cathedral's steady approach and considered construction make for more keepers than duds, and one of the band's stronger entries.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Side-Eye III+
    The wait was worth it: Side-Eye III+ is the most holistic, tender, and joyful recording from the guitarist in more than a decade.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Lotus Bridge
    Everything -- from the vocals to the production -- is top-notch, and the record is a glittering late-career triumph.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Whole Love
    Quite simply, this is the work of a great band at the peak of their powers, and The Whole Love is a joy to hear, revealing more with each listen and confirming once again that Wilco is as good a band as American can claim in the 21st century.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bubblegum
    The fantastically produced full-band sound serves as a lush backdrop for Devine's often political or culturally critical lyrics.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Vivian Line
    On The Vivian Line, he hits the sweet spot between challenging himself and not fixing what isn't broke. It's a gem.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ice Cream Spiritual
    At times, the album's extended jams get a bit wearing, but Ice Cream Spiritual! shows that Ponytail's music is still equal parts challenging, melodic, and fun.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Transgender Dysphoria Blues
    It is to their considerable credit that Transgender Dysphoria Blues never sounds like the work of a band falling apart; if anything, they're reinvigorated, playing with a purpose lacking on 2010's softly unfocused White Crosses.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Weathervanes
    This LP is a triumph, an outstanding set of songs and performances from someone who has already proved they're one of the strongest, truest voices in American roots rock.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blood Mountain
    Blood Mountain is everything fans both hoped for and feared. Mastodon has dug even deeper in its foray into prog metal, but without losing an ounce of their power, literacy, or willingness to indulge in hardcore punk, doom, and death metal.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Full Communism
    Full Communism would be the perfect soundtrack for the victory celebration--you'd have to go back to the MC5 to find a band that combined purposeful rage and passionate rock & roll energy as well as Downtown Boys.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cenizas
    Curiously [on the final track], the drums briefly mutate into skittering drum'n'bass breakbeats before everything goes silent, approximating the sensation of suddenly being jolted awake from a vivid dream. Moments like these keep the album intriguing, and they resonate more deeply with repeated listens.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Profound Mysteries
    Less sonically aggressive than their previous album, Profound Mysteries still has something of an edge to it and its overall tone of ghostly enchantment makes for a strangely captivating listen.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dance Music 4 Bad People
    Dance Music 4 Bad People stands out as one of the most joyous, accessible, and immediate entries in his bottomless discography.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Blue and Lonesome
    It's artistically satisfying because it's the Rolling Stones allowing themselves to simply lay back and play for sheer enjoyment. It's a rare thing that will likely seem all the more valuable over the years.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pearls to Swine
    If the rest of the album is a hair more mystical in scope, his wide, introspective vistas are still quite compelling.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    AAARTH
    That AAARTH feels cathartic comes as no surprise, as the trio have long been purveyors of both aural and emotional heft, but this time around they've managed to crystallize both aesthetics into something truly sublime, fulfilling the promise set forth on 2011's The Big Roar.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    At the Party with My Brown Friends
    Neither as radically charged or emotionally turbulent as her debut, At the Party is still an engaging listen whose charms come by way of connection and compassion rather than discord.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Active Listening: Night on Earth
    Equal parts impact and emotion, Active Listening: Night on Earth is a breathless joyride. The nine songs rise and fall in cresting waves of noise, confusion, longing, and abandon for one of the most captivating chapters of punk's continuing evolution.
    • 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.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Viewfinder
    Throughout, Eisenberg defies the concept of following a single path, instead finding a way to arrange it all so deftly that every disparate sound and conflicting idea becomes a passenger on the same vessel.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Phonetics On And On
    This is special, timeless music that speaks equally to the heart and the brain and it positions Horsegirl as the keepers of the indie rock flame.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Teen Dream
    Though it's not as eclectic and whimsical as their earlier work, Teen Dream is some of their most beautiful music, and reaffirms that they're the among the best purveyors of languidly lovelorn songs since Mazzy Star.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Foundling
    There is no album in her catalog like The Foundling; it's a terrible beauty whose jewels gleam darkly, endlessly. Its songs hold truth for anyone who has either shared this experience or merely has the willingness to ask difficult questions with an open heart.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ramble at the Ryman
    mble at the Ryman may not be the same as hearing Levon Helm play for a few dozen guests at his studio--or for a few thousand fans at one of America's most venerable venues--but it captures a living legend on-stage proving he doesn't have to rest on his laurels to win applause, and this is a hell of a party coming from a guy well past retirement age.
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