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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    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Jawbone [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
    The songs "The Ballad of Jimmy McCade" and "Bottle" hail back to "English Rose," while "Jawbone" simmers to funky wah-wah rhythms and swaths of psychedelic guitars. These grab the attention--the other three short selections are essentially incidental music, even "Jawbone Training" with its hyperactive hi-hats--but the album's centerpiece is its opener, "Jimmy/Blackout," a 21-minute suite that builds from atmospheric electronics to a shimmering sung denouement from Weller.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Forget
    Dark and luminous at the same time, Forget allows Xiu Xiu to redefine pop in a way that's true to their volatile--but always gripping--nature.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    World Eater
    World Eater's focused chaos is some of his finest work yet.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    I'm Only Dreaming
    I'm Only Dreaming's brightest highlight is "A Song for the Birds," a bright guitar pop song featuring DuPree-Bemis' husband, Say Anything's Max Bemis, that feels like a sequel to their previous collaboration, Perma. Moments like this suggest that this incarnation of Eisley sound best when they're creating new traditions instead of holding onto old ones too tightly.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    New Gen
    At 17 tracks, it covers a lot of ground and not every track is a winner, but there's a decent number of promising artists here.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams
    A hard sell that pays off with a lasting impression.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Reassemblage
    The album is intriguing and accessible, yet just strange enough to stand out among all the other experimental electronic artists mining the early new age era for inspiration.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wild Cat
    Wild Cat is a wild ride from one of the best hard rock bands treading the boards today, and it's a fine introduction to their high-octane style and certain to please loyal fans.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cinderland
    The album feels intimate and delicate without sounding rustic. The album always maintains an undercurrent of fear or despondency, but it never gets too overbearing, and stays intriguing throughout.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Grinding Wheel
    Grinding Wheel never feels like anything less than vital. Overkill, or to be more specific, founding vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni, have been at this racket for nearly four decades now, and the fact they're continuing to dial up the intensity instead of resting on their considerable laurels is impressive, to say the least.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Watercolor
    Too often, however, he gets mired in sexual pursuits, as well as excessive drug talk. The album's vinyl edition is 18 tracks long, including bonus songs and instrumentals, but even the 13-track standard CD version is exhausting, at 52 minutes.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Black and White Rainbows
    Overall, Black and White Rainbows is an interesting piece of the Bush discography, hinting at a late-era trajectory shift and a reinvigorated spirit for Rossdale and company. While he nurses fresh wounds that have stripped his world of color, at the very least he can still see beauty and hope through the gloom.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Providence
    It's a daring album, and in its best moments, the listener gets a sense of how fulfilling and soul-cleansing its production must have been.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yours Conditionally
    The revamping of style and substance on Yours Conditionally is also something special, helping it to become the best record they've made so far.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Divide
    Throughout the record, Sheeran seems assured in his smooth schtick, and that cheesy confidence, combined with the hints of new style, help make Divide his easiest album to enjoy.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Condition
    Mostly though, the record is pure, creepy uneasy listening, a well-thought-out and executed deconstruction of their sound.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Navigator
    Certainly, this album feels richer than previous Hurray for the Riff Raff records, which all benefitted from the stripped-down aesthetic that often signifies authenticity in Americana, but this broadening of Segarra's scope hardly constitutes pandering.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Semper Femina
    Having entered the limelight early, the 27-year-old singer/songwriter has now settled into a comfortable groove to on this finely honed career highlight.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    50 Song Memoir
    50 Song Memoir is a rare example of Stephin Merritt offering a look into his offstage life, but just as importantly it's a reminder of why he's a truly great songwriter, and this ranks with his finest work.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heartworms
    Though it takes a few listens to get to the heart of Heartworms, fans who have stuck with Mercer for this long will find it time well spent.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Digging a Tunnel
    The tempo would benefit from being quickened at times, as one track blurs into another, and given the range of styles and instrumentation you would hope for a more multicolored experience. But Digging a Tunnel remains a fascinating collage that suggests Wästberg has the imagination and ability to build on these worthy foundations in the future.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Up and Coming
    Up and Coming clocks in at under 50 minutes. Its compositional and improvisational economy is countered by the quartet's disciplined ability to colorfully and authoritatively illustrate an abundance of creative ideas without even hinting at compromise.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everybody Works
    Everybody Works displays huge breadth, which is often disguised by a relaxed pace and its effortless segues between styles.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Order of Time
    Where the slightly showier Pushin' Against a Stone covered a wider variety of styles, The Order of Time tends to flow more smoothly and gives the feeling that you've stumbled on a 45-minute section of ongoing music that has no beginning and no end.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Piano Song
    Piano Song is an excellent and accessible introduction that surrenders nothing in terms of creativity. For fans, this authoritative statement is a revelatory chapter from one of the most fascinating musicians since 1980s.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Universe and Me
    Sprout either can't or won't produce songs at the same pace as Robert Pollard, but what he does bring us is consistently pleasurable, and The Universe and Me is a lovely reminder of how many good things he brought to GbV--and how much he still has to offer on his own.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Max Richter: Three Worlds – Music from Woolf Works
    Although the work as a whole is not a film score, it has the flavor of one, and it opens up intriguing possibilities for the expansion of that language to other settings. Certainly recommended for anyone who has noticed and liked the music for Arrival.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    DJ-Kicks
    Punctuated by DJ Khalab (and Baba Sissoko)'s rolling and disorienting "Kumu," this is Dear's funnest and oddest mix yet.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Gentlewoman, Ruby Man
    Part of the problem lies in the wispiness of both White and Morrissey. Neither vocalist is a strong presence, so their voices wind up not as the focal point on the record but as an element in the tapestry.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dumb Blood
    It's not Crass, the Clash, or the Pistols, but it's certainly of its generation.
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