AllMusic's Scores

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For 18,280 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: 15,329 out of 18280
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18280
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18280
18280 music reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Floatr
    The album's diverse arrangements but consistent, sighing mood give Floatr a low-key cinematic quality on top of its meditative one. Though it may not be Happyness' most playlist-friendly set, it still lingers.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Scacco Matto
    It's simply fresh, exciting, beautiful music.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shelby Lynne
    Shelby Lynne is a profound meditation on amorous complexity and cost; it's arguably the most powerful record in the songwriter's catalog.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Singing for My Supper
    Singing for My Supper is unapologetically rooted in the past, but James is just idiosyncratic and genuinely talented enough to avoid pastiche, as he effortlessly amalgamates Southern blues, country, folk, pop, and jazz into something that evokes Jason Isbell by way of Lee Hazlewood or Tim Buckley.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Goodbye Tour Live 1968 [Box Set]
    It's clear Cream went out on a peak, but it's also evident that the tensions between the trio were too great for them to regroup for another tour or album. Thankfully, this fine box preserves their glorious farewell, which happens to double as the best document of the band's on-stage prowess and might.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ghosts VI: Locusts
    As a reflection of the times, Ghosts VI: Locusts might be the more accurate soundtrack to a world on the brink of an uncertain future, wiping away any goodwill fostered by the deceptive serenity of Ghosts V: Together.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ghosts V: Together
    Of the two, Ghosts V: Together is the one to help lift spirits and calm the soul, a welcome escape from the tension and paranoia of the real world.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    La Vita Nuova
    It takes courage to make an album like La Vita Nuova, and it takes a rare talent to make it work, and this leaves no doubt Maria McKee has plenty of both.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Rakka
    Absolutely astonishing work, and easily up there with Delay's early-2000s masterpieces Multila and Anima.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Put the Shine On
    Ultimately, Put the Shine On is a very CocoRosie album -- while it's not totally satisfying, it's another example of how they always challenge themselves and their audience.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible
    Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is either the best or the worst Enter Shikari outing to date. What it certainly isn't is dull.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Selbstportrait Wahre Liebe
    Simply incredible, timeless, and placeless music.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hunted
    A striking and necessary companion to Hunter, Hunted expands that album's world -- and Calvi's artistry.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Oneiric Formulary
    Sir Richard Bishop is an artist who has shown he can point his music in any number of directions, and the ten tracks on Oneiric Formulary each lead the listener to someplace worth visiting.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Agitprop Alterna
    Where Stevens and Peel Dream go wrong is by not adding anything distinctive or interesting to the mix. All that's left is a nostalgia trip that comes across like the Rutles minus the jokes or Beatlemania minus the mania. Somehow Agitprop Alterna is even more pleasantly derivative than their first album, and that's saying a lot!
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Good Souls Better Angels
    As fine as that is, it comes from someone who is capable of better work, and though this is still recommended to fans, it's ultimately a good album from someone who has been consistently great in the past.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Blame It on Baby
    Blame It on Baby is pretty evenly divided between strong songs and duds.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    What the Dead Men Say
    While Trivium have always been stubborn about following their own way, What the Dead Men Say sounds like an intentional gift to longtime fans. Its consistency, diversity, energy, and songwriting prowess put the set on par with the band's very best work.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    We Still Go To Rodeos
    Rose may tend to nod at the past but she's not a revivalist, she blends these familiar sounds in slyly idiosyncratic, personal ways that give We Still Go to Rodeos a handsome, modern feel that's distinct from other retro-minded Americana records, her previous albums included.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sex Education [Original Soundtrack]
    A warm throughline of empathy courses through the 19-song set, with tender acoustic numbers like "Splash of Light" and "Every Feeling," and nervy rockers such as "Love you So Bad" -- from the excellent Perpetual Motion People -- and "Restless Year" -- from the even better Transangelic Exodus -- dovetailing into emotionally satisfying moments that evoke John Hughes by way of Wes Anderson.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Shortly After Takeoff
    Written from the heart and dredged from pop music's boneyard, Shortly After Takeoff feels like the album Christinzio has been working toward his whole career.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wake UP!
    Steered by the singer's winsome, breathy vocals, even that message goes down easy, with an implied fluttered lash extension, on an album that aims to please and largely succeeds.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dear Life
    It's exciting to hear Benson take some new risks with these songs, but also a relief that he never gets too far away from the deft songwriting and pop sensibilities that he's been refining for all these years.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For Their Love
    For Their Love is still almost alarmingly ornate -- some of that might have to do with the omnipresent cathedral-like reverb -- but much like 2015's similarly outstanding (and elaborate) Rituals, there's really never a dull moment.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Earth
    At times it almost feels like an alternate-history tendril of pre-Kid A Radiohead that kept its groove going into the coming decades. While those layered textures, pulsing beats, and unfolding guitar loops are fine, it's EOB as a reflective acoustic singer/songwriter that provides Earth's most authentic moments.
    • 98 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Rage sits alongside heartache and humor, the shifts in mood occurring with a dramatic flair and a disarming playfulness. The unpredictable nature feels complex and profoundly human, resulting in an album that's nourishing and joyfully cathartic.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Ripple Effect
    The Ripple Effect is offered as a standalone purchase and is easily enjoyed as such given the high quality of the duo's interaction.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Juice
    Canada's Born Ruffians continue to hone their exuberant sound on their sixth album, 2020's punchy and inspired Juice. Produced by Graham Walsh, who has previously worked on similarly inventive efforts by Alvvays, !!!, and Holy Fuck, Juice is a live-sounding album, full of hooky shouted choruses, and tactile, analog instrumentation.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Knuckleball Express
    Occasionally, Knuckleball Express' loose ends threaten to unravel, but for the most part, the album is held together by the feeling that Hagerty is having more fun making music than he has in some time.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Brother Sister
    The group does touch on that raucous, open-heartedness with a closing cover of Charley Jordan's old country-blues standard "Keep It Clean," featuring cameos from John C. Reilly, David Garza, and Gaby Moreno. Arriving after such a sweet, soft collection of songs, it's a welcome burst of gusto, yet the rest of Brother Sister is attractive in its own right, highlighting the family bond between the titular Watkins siblings.
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