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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    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mudcrutch
    All these happy concessions, along with the strong emphasis on instrumental interplay, give Mudcrutch the feeling of a true band effort, and even if it's not perfect--it is indeed possible to amble and ramble just a little bit too much--it's thoroughly winning because of its imperfections, as this is music that's all about cruising down the back roads on a sunny nostalgic day.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nine Lives
    Nine Lives is deeper, heartier, and braver lyrically than anything he's ever done.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This Kind Of Love
    For Carly Simon's fans, this will ultimately be a most welcome return to her songwriting form.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trash, Rats & Microphones
    While Heloise & the Savoir Faire don't come close to the effortless flair that Blondie had with mixing these styles, Trash, Rats and Microphones still has enough, well, savoir faire to make it worth adding to the mix.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Langhorne Slim
    It's not that there aren't any engaging moments here--'Restless' is nicely minor and introspective, and the simplicity of 'Oh Honey' actually works quite well--but there are too many misses in between, enough to mar the good parts of Langhorne Slim, making for a sadly unfulfilling release.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Colourful Life
    Cajun Dance Party aren't doing anything too unique or special here, but they do what they do with conviction and guts--and that's enough to make this a very good debut.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Seldom Seen Kid
    The Seldom Seen Kid is Elbow's most self-assured and enjoyable album so far.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Everywhere At Once
    Everywhere at Once is reminiscent of what's already been done, either by the rapper himself or by another artist, almost derivative of itself, and as a whole, altogether disappointing.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mr. Love & Justice
    The scope of Mr. Love & Justice is often modest, but it speaks with grace, wisdom, and heart, and finds Billy Bragg a bit older, a bit wiser, and still committed to fighting the good fight; it's a return to form, a step forward, and a potent reminder of why Bragg's music still matters.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Elephant Shell
    So even though these tunes remain brief and concise (only one song, 'Your English Is Good,' tops the three-minute mark), they're also varied, which makes Tokyo Police Club's official debut seem less like the work of hyper-caffeinated teens and more like the promise of a smart, evolving band.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bittersweet World
    Bittersweet World is the first time that she has made a record that lives up to her happily empty persona, something that's truly fun junk.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Flight Of The Conchords
    The music is clever and catchy enough to give it merit for repeated listens. Buy the DVD first to get the full story and then pick this up for road trip sing-alongs.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
    Hardcore fans will be down with every cold hard minute, everybody else gets a B+ effort, and the hip-hop game as a whole gets a really good reason to save Prodigy's place at the table for the next three-and-a-half years.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    See You In Magic
    Add the Night Marchers to Speedo's roll of triumphs and feel free to rank See You in Magic as one of his finest moments. It's really that good.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    From The Valley To The Stars
    From the Valley to the Stars is a fairly magical trip to the center of heartache.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Liars And Prayers
    Liars and Prayers' only flaw may be that its unflagging intensity is almost overwhelming, given that the album is nearly an hour long, but it's still some of Zedek's most thoughtful and full-bodied work.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cryland
    It isn't a disaster by any means--well-recorded, enthusiastic sounding songs are always a treat--but it's in the end pleasant, not striking.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    E=MC2
    Like so much of "Emancipation" and E=MC2, which is a virtual replica of its predecessor in almost every way, 'Touch My Body' is all about sound, rhythm, and texture and not so much about song, something that helps sustain Mariah Carey's run at the top the charts, but something that also pushes melodic hooks, and in the process singing, into the background.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Saturdays=Youth
    As super-stylized as its sounds and emotions are, Saturdays=Youth always seems genuine, even when it feels like its songs are made from the memories of other songs.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Konk
    Everything about this album shouts masterpiece, a set that will thrill listeners for years, nay decades, to come.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lady Antebellum
    At this point, Lady Antebellum is a group that seems to know the basics of contemporary country but isn't ready to move beyond them or redefine them for its own ends. Still, this is a good beginning.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Raise The Dead
    Even with a few stumbles, Raise the Dead is among Phantom Planet's most enjoyable albums.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
    Despite relying on too many tricks from the Daft Punk playbook, they prove there's more up their sleeve than just vocoders.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Bloody Underground
    Hellbent on pushing the envelope, Newcombe shines as a prolific madman once again and as recycled as the ideas are, My Bloody Underground is a fantastic new direction and a forward thinking album that indicates that however combustible, there is a lot more life left in BJM, in any incarnation.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Live in Liverpool
    It's intriguing that Live in Liverpool is the Gossip's first release for Columbia's Red Ink imprint--it's not exactly an ideal introduction to the Gossip's fiery music, but it is a great testament to why fans are so devoted to the band.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Just Us Kids
    Just Us Kids is an album very much of its time that also speaks to the larger ideas of life in America in an uncertain age, and it's brave, smart, and pithy music that captures James McMurtry at the top of his game.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Spirit
    It's a highly polished, professional sounding debut, with Lewis hitting all the right notes even when she warbles up and down the scale.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    What it all comes down to is that Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is a Bad Seeds record that ups the ante once again.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ghosts I-IV
    It's meant to be taken as surface, perhaps skimmed for samples, but generally to be used as mildly unsettling mood music--a specialty of Reznor's, to be sure, but he's better and scarier when his ideas are more finely honed than they are here.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mountain Battles
    And, though the album covers a lot of territory--13 songs in 36 minutes!--it doesn't feel scattered; scattered implies no purpose, but Mountain Battles' songs land, eventually, exactly where they need to.
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